The United States has learned that Moscow is planning to stage "sham" referendums in the zones of Ukraine it has tried to seize, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel claimed at a press conference on Tuesday.
Patel alleged that Moscow's officials will try to make the results of the referendums appear like Ukrainians in those areas want to join Russia. In a free vote, Ukrainians would vote against joining Russia, Patel added.
The plans for referendums on uniting with Russia have so far been announced in several regions of what the international community recognizes as Ukraine, such as the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia,
