Russia’s observers in Ukraine ‘referendums’

The Russian state news agency TASS has over the past week regularly quoted the observations of people it calls international observers as proof that the so-called referendums being held in the occupied portions of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions are free and fair.
a German and European Union-backed NGO, said Tuesday. “It’s a political activity that is only masquerading as election observation.”

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/27/europe/russia-ukraine-referendum-intl/index.html

These are international observers. Many of them are saying the referendums are fair and the best the opposition can do is say they were fooled? Sounds pretty weak to me.

Are the referendums really a sham? I am always skeptical when the news media outright calls them a sham as if it is a fact and not an allegation. They are international observers. Am I supposed to believe all of these non Russians are Putin worshiping political activists?

@metal-brain said
The Russian state news agency TASS has over the past week regularly quoted the observations of people it calls international observers as proof that the so-called referendums being held in the occupied portions of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions are free and fair.
a German and European Union-backed NGO, said Tuesday. “It’s a political activi ...[text shortened]... ervers. Am I supposed to believe all of these non Russians are Putin worshiping political activists?

Well, according to your article, some of these international observers are on a fake list.
And some of their quotes didn’t seem very objective.

99% of the population in 1 region voted to be part of Russia.
That is the true signal that something’s not right.

And the images of armed soldiers guiding people to place their votes in a see-through container doesn’t help either.

Calling a referendum and holding it within a couple of days… doesn’t open oppertunity for debate. And a free and fair election can only be achieved with an educated opinion.
Obviously “educated” is debatable, but less than a week to decide doesn’t even give that opperunity.

And another important point is that the regions at the time of the referendum were internationally recognised as being part of Ukraine. Which means that Ukraine has to hold the referenda.

You can’t have Italy deciding that New Jersey is having a referendum on whether it remains in the US or returns to Italy’s control (because of Maffia connections and lots of people eating pizza).

@shavixmir
Yeah, like ANYONE thought that was a free and open election!

@sonhouse said
@shavixmir
Yeah, like ANYONE thought that was a free and open election!

It’s actually truly bizarre.

How deluded does Putin have to be if he actually thinks anyone swallows that?

@shavixmir said
Well, according to your article, some of these international observers are on a fake list.
And some of their quotes didn’t seem very objective.

99% of the population in 1 region voted to be part of Russia.
That is the true signal that something’s not right.

And the images of armed soldiers guiding people to place their votes in a see-through container doesn’t help e ...[text shortened]... he US or returns to Italy’s control (because of Maffia connections and lots of people eating pizza).

"And another important point is that the regions at the time of the referendum were internationally recognised as being part of Ukraine. Which means that Ukraine has to hold the referenda."

So put a dictatorship opposed to it in charge of the referendum? That would be even worse. Ukraine didn't hold a referendum on applying for NATO membership. Ukraine does not respect referendums.

"some of these international observers are on a fake list."

What fake list? Doesn't that imply the list does not exist?

"A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth."
Who am I quoting? It didn't originate with Goebbels, Hitler or Lenin, although they all used it in multiple forms.
Oldest form of it I can find is in "The Crown of a Life" by Isa Blagdon in 1869, but the concept shows up in much earlier records.
Its wholesale acceptance in modern times isn't called propaganda. It's now called advertising.

@Kewpie
I can't tell you how much I dislike ads. Like the med ones, TELL YOUR DOCTOR if you have hepatitis, what the hell kind of clap trap is that? I thank the gods of tech there is DVD on my box, so we record the shows and FF the stupid ads. I hate em because they WORK so I don't want to be part of their gist, like The price is right. Show every new contraption on the market. Nice scam.

@shavixmir said
It’s actually truly bizarre.

How deluded does Putin have to be if he actually thinks anyone swallows that?

He held a referendum in Crimea first. Everyone swallowed that except for people who didn't want to believe it like sonhouse.

@Metal-Brain
Try also about 6 billion OTHER people.

@sonhouse
The majority of people in Crimea are ethnic Russians. Nobody but an idiot would call that referendum a sham.

@Metal-Brain
Today is not 2014, so stop bringing up old news, you just want to distract AGAIN from the REAL fight, Putin wanting ALL of Ukraine and just had a fake 'referendum' with 99% of the vote? Get real.

@metal-brain said
"And another important point is that the regions at the time of the referendum were internationally recognised as being part of Ukraine. Which means that Ukraine has to hold the referenda."

So put a dictatorship opposed to it in charge of the referendum? That would be even worse. Ukraine didn't hold a referendum on applying for NATO membership. Ukraine does not respect ...[text shortened]... tional observers are on a fake list."

What fake list? Doesn't that imply the list does not exist?

Read the article you posted yourself.

The list isn’t fake, it’s a list with fake observers. Read your own fukking link.

@sonhouse said
@Metal-Brain
Today is not 2014, so stop bringing up old news, you just want to distract AGAIN from the REAL fight, Putin wanting ALL of Ukraine and just had a fake 'referendum' with 99% of the vote? Get real.

"just had a fake 'referendum' with 99% of the vote"

What is your source of information?

@shavixmir said
Read the article you posted yourself.

The list isn’t fake, it’s a list with fake observers. Read your own fukking link.

I didn't post the link because I believe it all.
Show me the list of international observers so I know it exists.

@Metal-Brain
Aljeezera:

"Luhansk authorities said 98.4 percent of people there had voted to join Russia. In Zaporizhia, a Russian-appointed official put the figure at 93.1 percent. In Kherson, the head of the voting committee said the “yes” vote was above 87 percent.

Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said 99.2 percent of participants in the region had voted to join Russia. In all four areas, officials said all the ballots had been counted."

Sure, it could happen. In a pigs ASS.