2022 annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine has goal Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts
Kherson Oblast
The Russian military occupation of parts of Kherson Oblast began on 3 March 2022, when its capital city was captured by the Russian military after the six-day Battle of Kherson.On 12 March, Ukrainian officials claimed that Russia was planning to stage a referendum in Kherson to establish the Kherson People's Republic, similar to the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic. Serhii Khlan, deputy leader of the Kherson Oblast Council, claimed that the Russian military had called all the members of the council and asked them to cooperate. Lyudmyla Denisova, Ombudsman of Ukraine, stated that the referendum would be illegal because "under Ukrainian law any issues over territory can only be resolved by a nationwide referendum". Later that day, the Kherson Oblast Council passed a resolution stating that the proposed referendum would be illegal.On 11 May 2022, Kirill Stremousov, a deputy head of the Kherson military–civilian administration, announced his readiness to send President Vladimir Putin with a request for Kherson Oblast to join the Russian Federation, noting that there would be no creation of the "Kherson People's Republic" or referendums regarding this matter. Commenting on these statements, Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that this issue should be decided by the inhabitants of the region and that "these fateful decisions must have an absolutely clear legal background, legal justification, be absolutely legitimate, as was the case with Crimea".In June 2022, Stremousov, in a video message on the Telegram channel, said that the Kherson region began to prepare for a referendum on joining Russia. The referendum was going to be prepared by the pro-Putin United Russia party, but members fled the region towards the end of July after Ukrainian forces shelled the Antonivka Road Bridge. Authorities in the occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast region have not ruled out the possibility of a joint referendum.On 5 September, Stremousov announced that the referendum in Kherson Oblast had been postponed due to "security reasons."On 7 September, Andrey Turchak, secretary-general of the United Russia party, stated that it "would be right and symbolic" to hold the referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine on 4 November, Russia's Unity Day; Stremousov stated that preparations would be made for this date, "even if we are ready for this referendum to take place right now".On 20 September, Head of the Kherson Oblast Military–Civilian Administration Volodymyr Saldo announced that the referendum on the entry of the Kherson Oblast into Russia would be held from 23 to 27 September.Zaporizhzhia Oblast
The Russian military occupation of parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast began on 27 February 2022, when the port city of Berdiansk was captured by the Russian military after a three-day battle.In July 2022, Yevhen Balytskyi, the Russian-installed Mayor of Melitopol and the head of the military-civilian administration of the oblast, signed an order for the Central Election Commission of Zaporizhzhia to begin investigating the possibility of a referendum for the region to join the Russian Federation.On 8 August 2022, he signed an order on the preparation of the organization of the referendum. This decision was unanimously supported by 1500 delegates of the forum of the movement "We are Together with Russia", which was held on the same day in Melitopol. This was endorsed by the military-civilian administration. The date of the referendum on the entry of the Zaporizhzhia region into Russia will be determined "as soon as its security and freedom of expression are guaranteed," Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional administration, told the media.On 11 August 2022, authorities in the occupied region expressed their desire to hold the referendum on 11 September 2022.On 26 August 2022, the Electoral Commission for the preparation of a referendum in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast began work.On 22 September, the Russian head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military–Civilian Administration, Yevhen Balytskyi, announced that the referendum on the entry of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast into Russia will be held from 23 to 27 September. This would include all of Zaporizhzhia, including territories  not controlled by the Russian military administration. Vladimir Rogov, a collaborator with the Russian administration, demanded Ukrainian troops leave the region "immediately," and that after the referendum "they will be considered occupiers." At the time of the referendum Russia controlled 73% of the region's territory but not its capital, the town of Zaporizhzhia.On the first day of the "referendum", Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Main Council of MCA, said that the Russian-controlled part of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast will be de jure independent for "some time" following the referendum.Possible consequences
The referendums have resulted in annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts of Ukraine by Russia.On 22 September, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that any weapons in Moscow's arsenal, including strategic nuclear weapons, could be used to protect territories annexed to Russia from Ukraine. He also said that referendums organized by Russia-installed and separatist authorities would take place in large swathes of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory and that there was "no turning back". Medvedev said that Donbas republics and other territories "will be accepted into Russia" and mobilisation will also be used to protect the annexed territories. Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev warned that after the referendums, "protecting people in this region will not be our right, but our duty. An attack on people and territories will be an attack on Russia. With all the consequences." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov did not rule out the use of nuclear weapons to defend annexed Ukrainian territories.Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of occupied Melitopol, stated that the main reason for the pseudo-referendum in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast is to conscript local men into military service for Russia, just as was the case in the "people's republics" of the Donbas region during the mobilization in Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics on 19 February 2022.Some estimates suggest that reconstruction of the war-torn annexed territories would cost Russia between $100 and $200 billion. The reconstruction of Mariupol alone will likely cost more than $14 billion.