What are the implications of the referendums on Russia's annexation of 4 Ukrainian regions on the course of the war?

 What are the implications of the referendums on Russia's annexation of 4 Ukrainian regions throughout the war?

The destruction of the war in the Ukrainian city

The referendums that Russia is conducting from Friday to Tuesday to annex four Ukrainian regions under the control of its forces are of paramount importance to Moscow, which seeks to expand its territory again, as happened in Crimea years ago. On the opposite hand, there are great dangers to the region and also the world, as Russian officials threaten again to use nuclear weapons to defend Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia, if the course of the war turns from an operation abroad to war to defend lands that may become Russian, in step with the predetermined results of the referendum.

From Friday to Tuesday, Russia is organizing referendums to annex four regions on Ukrainian territory that its forces control in whole or partially, namely Donetsk and Lugansk (east), Kherson and Zaporizhia (south), representing a minimum of 15 percent of the country's area, which drew condemnation from Kyiv and Western countries. She described the move as a "sham" and vowed to not acknowledge its consequences.

Russia's lower house of parliament (the State Duma) is scheduled to carry out deliberations on September 29 on proboscides to integrating the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, the Russian press agency TASS reported.

The referendums come after Ukrainian forces this month managed to regain control of huge areas within the northeast within the largest counter-offensive since the Russian offensive began on February 24.

By merging these regions, Moscow could consider attacks to retake them as attacks against its own territory, which worries Kyiv and its Western backers.

"Warning...and legitimizing the nuclear strike"

In this context, independent Russian analyst Tatiana Stanovaya considered the referendums a "Russian warning to Ukraine and also the West" and incorporate them to go back to avoid a nuclear war. "The annexation process will legitimize Russia's right to resort to nuclear weapons to safeguard its territory," Stanovaya said. As reported by the Associated Press.

On the opposite hand, Margarita Simonyan, head of the Russian RT channel, said in a very tweet on Twitter that in the week will witness either our "imminent victory" or an imminent "nuclear war".

Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin said in his last speech that his country would "use all available means" to shield itself. In comments that were seen as a threat to the possible use of nuclear weapons, Putin said, "This isn't a hoax."

The authorities appointed by Moscow within the areas under its control are seeking to prepare the referendum within the four regions for months, but the recent victories achieved by Ukraine after its sweeping counter-attack prompted it to hurry up setting a date for the referendums.

'A decisive American response'

In contrast, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that his country would respond decisively to any use of nuclear weapons by Russia against Ukraine, which Washington had made clear to Moscow the "catastrophic consequences" it might face. "If Russia crosses this line, there'll be catastrophic consequences for Russia. The u. s. will respond decisively," Sullivan told NBC.

Sullivan's comments are the newest US warning after the threat made by Putin last Wednesday during a speech within which he also announced the primary military mobilization of his country since war II.

What are the implications of the "annexation referendums" on the course of the war in Ukraine? How will Russia answer the Ukrainian attacks against these regions? Will Moscow use nuclear weapons to defend those regions, as Putin hinted in his last speech? How will the West and therefore u? s. reply to it? Questions were answered by Mahmoud Al-Effendi, a political analyst and professor of the Russian Academy, and Rami Al-Qalyubi, professor at the upper School of Economics in Moscow.

What are the possible repercussions of the referendums on the course of the Ukrainian war?

Mahmoud El-Affendi distinguished that the “annexation referendums” are after all only results of a response to “the speech of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on August 5, 2021, who said that whoever feels from the eastern regions that he's Russian should visit Russia to preserve his life and therefore the lifetime of His sons and grandsons. The residents of those areas answered the decision and can move to Russia, but with their legitimate lands. The areas that are witnessing the referendums are vast, rich in wealth and resources, and are historically Russian."

The professor of the Russian Academy said: "At the start of the activity, the West provided Ukraine with defensive weapons only. In his first speech, Putin set red lines that the West adhered to. But with the passage of your time and also the start of negotiations, u. s. and Britain decided to cross these lines, which negatively affected the progress of the negotiations. In the end, Ukraine lost 20 percent of its territory. the most reason is to supply the Ukrainians with offensive weapons, especially since there's a discussion about providing Kyiv with combat aircraft, modern defensive measure systems, and long-range missiles capable of reaching Russia." Our interviewer added: "Russia has decided to arrange the referendum to safeguard these areas. Those lands will legally return to Russia and can come under its protection."

For his part, Rami Al-Qaliubi said: "The annexation of those lands (Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia) to Russian sovereignty means the number of Russian regions will increase from 85 to 89 regions. The outbreak of any hostilities in them will mean reclassifying the war in Ukraine from a special operation in abroad to an activity to defend the Russian territory.

Will the Russian army recruit residents of the areas annexed under the referendum?

Al-Effendi explained: “As for Lugansk and Donetsk, the forces have already mobilized since the start of the operation. As for Zaporizhia and Kherson, of course, the identical law is going to be applied, and also the mobilization and recruitment will begin in them, especially since the reserve forces that are called up now are tasked with protecting Zaporizhia and Kherson. In fact, there'll be mandatory recruitment and mobilization there.” ".

In turn, Al-Qalyubi believes: “This point has not yet been clarified. But from a purely legal point of view, as long as these residents