Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Moscow tries to legitimize its aggression in Ukraine through sham referendums

| updated on 9/21/22 11:04 AM
Vladimir Putin
Photo: EPA/BGNES

In a televised address, Russian leader Vladimir Putin supported the "spontaneous" decision of separatists in the occupied Ukrainian territories to hold referendums on joining Russia. Putin announced a partial military mobilization of 300,000 reservists for the war in Ukraine and threatened that Russia was ready to use nuclear weapons. The Kremlin also announced a mobilization for the Russian military industrial complex.

"Sham referendums have no legitimacy and do not change the nature of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter. The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said Brussels would not recognize the results of the referendums. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington unequivocally rejects these referendums.

French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of imperialism. He described plans for referendums in war-torn territories as a "parody".

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has commented that Russian President Vladimir Putin's "imperial ambitions" could lead to devastation in Ukraine and Russia, if Putin did not admit he cannot win the war.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Silvi Kirilov

Minister of Health to inaugurate helipad at Gabrovo Multiprofile Hospital

Health Minister, Silvi Kirilov, will officially open the newly built helicopter landing pad at the Dr Tota Venkova Multiprofile Hospital for Active Treatment in Gabrovo today, the hospital's press office has announced. The helipad was certified at the..

published on 10/14/25 8:15 AM

Cloudy with showers in the east and in the mountains

On Tuesday, minimum temperatures will range from 5 to 10°C , 7°C in Sofia. There will be significant cloud cover throughout the day, with light precipitation in some eastern and mountainous regions. Maximum temperatures will range from 15 to 20°C ,..

published on 10/13/25 7:05 PM
Academician Georgi Markov is pictured with Petar Beron (L).

Intellectuals propose a monument to Khan Asparuh on the site of the former Soviet Army monument

An initiative committee led by the historian Georgi Markov, has proposed that a monument to Khan Asparuh, the founder of the Bulgarian state, be erected on the site of the former Soviet Army Monument in Sofia, in order to serve as a unifying symbol for..

published on 10/13/25 3:51 PM