The mayor of occupied Melitopol Ivan Fedorov noted on September 26, 2022, that 90 % of Melitopol residents did not agree to support Russian pseudo-referendum aimed at mobilizing Ukrainians to the Russian army.
Source: The mayor of occupied Melitopol Ivan Fedorov
Only 10% of the city’s residents agreed to support the pseudo-referendum due to fear of possible torture and coercion by Russian soldiers.
“Russian troops faced the first problem when they could not find the necessary number of members of the so-called election commissions. Our residents did not want to cooperate. Only 10% agreed to support the fake referendum.”
Ivan Fedorov emphasized that Russians use pseudo-referendums in order to mobilize Ukrainian citizens.
“The main purpose of a pseudo-referendum is to mobilize our residents and use them as cannon fodder.”
In addition, since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization, it has been much more difficult for young men to travel out of occupied Ukrainian territories.
It should be noted that the statements of the Russian administrations regarding the pseudo-referendums on the accession of Ukrainian territories to the Russian Federation violate the legislation of Ukraine and a number of norms of international law and human rights.
See also: Russia may mobilize Ukrainian prisoners of war, – ISW
