\n Kremlin-held regions of eastern and southern Ukraine entered the second day of voting to become part of Russia on Saturday, in referendums dismissed as a \"sham\" by US President Joe Biden.\n<\/p>\n
\n The voting on whether Russia should annex four regions of Ukraine started Friday, dramatically raising the stakes seven months after Moscow's troops invaded.\n<\/p>\n
\n The same day polling got under way, UN and Ukrainian officials revealed what they said was more evidence of Russian \"war crimes\" -- including executions and torture.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Russia's referenda are a sham -- a false pretext to try to annex parts of Ukraine by force in flagrant violation of international law,\" Biden said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We will work with our allies and partners to impose additional swift and severe economic costs on Russia.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n It even prompted a reaction from Beijing, Moscow's closest ally since the war began in February.\n<\/p>\n
\n Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi -- in comments made to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba at the UN General Assembly Friday -- said the \"sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Ukrainian forces said they were clawing back territory from Moscow-backed separatists in the very lands Russia wants to assimilate.\n<\/p>\n
\n Voting is being held in Russian-controlled areas of Donetsk and Lugansk in the east, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south.\n<\/p>\n
\n Authorities there are going door-to-door for four days to collect votes. Polling stations then open Tuesday for residents to cast ballots on the final day.\n<\/p>\n
\n It was also possible to vote at the building in Moscow that represents the Donetsk breakaway region.\n<\/p>\n
\n Leonid, a 59-year-old military official, told AFP he was \"feeling happy\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Ultimately, things are moving towards the restoration of the Soviet Union. The referendum is one step towards this.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'No legitimacy' -\n<\/p>\n
\n The vote was announced earlier this week after a Ukrainian counteroffensive seized most of the northeastern Kharkiv region -- bringing hundreds of settlements back under Kyiv's control after months of Russian occupation.\n<\/p>\n
\n The four regions' integration into Russia would represent a major escalation of the conflict as Moscow would consider any military move there as an attack on its own territory.\n<\/p>\n
\n The referendums are reminiscent of the one held after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday denounced the polls.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The world will react absolutely justly to the sham referenda,\" he said, describing them as \"crimes against international law and the law of Ukraine\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Earlier Friday, G7 nations said the polls will \"never\" be recognised and have \"no legal effect or legitimacy\".\n<\/p>\n
\n - Evidence of 'war crimes' -\n<\/p>\n
\n UN investigators meanwhile on Friday accused Russia of committing war crimes on a \"massive scale\" in Ukraine -- listing bombings, executions, torture and horrific sexual violence.\n<\/p>\n
\n Erik Mose of the Commission of Inquiry -- an investigative team set up by the Security Council in March -- said they had seen evidence of a \"large number of executions\" and the rape and torture of children.\n<\/p>\n
\n In eastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian officials said Friday they had finished exhuming 447 bodies from a site near the city of Izyum, which was recaptured from Russian forces.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Most of them have signs of violent death, and 30 have signs of torture,\" said Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"There are bodies with rope around their necks, with their hands tied, with broken limbs and gunshot wounds.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n The Kremlin has accused Kyiv of fabricating evidence of the alleged war crimes.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Tomorrow you will go to war' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Putin this week warned that Moscow would use \"all means\" to protect its territory -- which former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev said on social media could include the use of \"strategic nuclear weapons\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Moscow began its mandatory troop call-up on Thursday after Putin called for about 300,000 reservists to bolster the war effort.\n<\/p>\n
\n But men were leaving Russia in droves before they were made to join, with flights to neighbouring countries booked up for days to come.\n<\/p>\n
\n Some, however, could not avoid the summons.\n<\/p>\n
\n Andrei, who turned 18 last week, was called up after being detained during the anti-mobilisation protests in Moscow.\n<\/p>\n
\n He recently began university and should not have been caught up in the recruitment drive, according to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu who had said students would not be called up.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"As we say, Russia is a country of endless possibilities,\" Andrei joked bitterly.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mikhail Suetin, 29, also detained at an anti-mobilisation protest, was also summoned.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"To be told 'tomorrow you will go to war',\" he said, \"that was a surprise.\"\n<\/p>\n
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Kremlin-held regions of eastern and southern Ukraine entered the second day of voting to become part of Russia on Saturday, in referendums dismissed as a \"sham\" by US President Joe Biden. The voting on whether Russia should annex four regions of Ukraine started Friday, dramatically raising the stakes seven months after Moscow's troops invaded. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-106938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n