Russian forces have launched new strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kremlin-orchestrated votes continue in occupied regions of Ukraine to pave the way for their annexation by Moscow.
To carry out the referendums that started Friday, election officials accompanied by police officers carried ballots to homes and set up mobile polling stations, citing safety reasons. The votes are set to wrap up Tuesday. Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said
Elina Sytkova, 21, a demonstrator who has many relatives left in Mariupol even though the city spent months under bombardment, said the vote was"an illusion of choice when there isn’t any.” The Russian leader and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the order applied to reservists who had recently served or had special skills, but almost every man is considered a reservist until age 65 and Putin's decree kept the door open for a broader call-up.
After some of the pilots of the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot and other airlines reportedly received call-up notices, pilots and traffic controllers unions moved quickly to secure a government promise that they, too, would be excluded from the mobilization.
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