WAR IN UKRAINE: September 21, 2022

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 210

Four areas of Ukraine under Moscow's control have announced plans for urgent so-called referendums on joining Russia, which would pave the way for Russian annexation. Russian-backed officials in the east and south say they want votes on joining Russia starting this week. The deputy head of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said early on Tuesday that holding votes in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk - also known as Donbas - would correct "historical justice" and be irreversible: "After the amendments to the constitution of our state, no future leader of Russia, no official, will be able to reverse these decisions." Soon afterwards the two breakaway Russian-backed authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk said they would stage votes on 23-27 September. They were both recognised as independent by President Putin three days before Russian troops invaded Ukraine from the north, east and south. Russian-installed officials in the southern region of Kherson said they would also hold a vote, and a similar declaration came from Russian-occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia. Russian state media said people would be able to vote in person or remotely - BBC
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday that "sham 'referendums' will not change anything". U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington rejected any such referendums "unequivocally," while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron both used the word "sham" to describe the referendums that pro-Moscow separatists said would be held starting on September 23 in four territories occupied by Russia. "Russia, its political leadership, and all those involved in these 'referenda' and other violations of international law in Ukraine will be held accountable, and additional restrictive measures against Russia would be considered," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. He said the votes cannot be considered "as the free expression of the will of the people" in these regions.
Russia's State Duma approved a bill toughening punishments for desertion, damage to military property, looting, defection, and insubordination if committed during military mobilization or combat situations. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. television that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to swap 200 prisoners in one of the largest exchanges of the seven-month war - RFE/RL
CNN International Security Editor, Nick Paton Walsh, got access to a town in Eastern Ukraine under constant shelling as Russia, desperate for soldiers, recruits convicted felons to their ranks. Watch the CNN Video here
A former national staff member of the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has been sentenced to 13 years incarceration by the Russian-backed thugs in Luhansk. A sham trial imposed the sentence after the staffer, Dmytro Shabanov, was nabbed after the OSCE mission was suspended. Unlike other diplomatic entities, the OSCE did not offer evacuation of national staff when Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine.
Separately, a former international staff member of the OSCE SMM, Canadian Laurence Couture-Gagnon, has been found dead in Quebec, along with her six-month-old son. Laurence was a close friend and a former member of my SMM communications team based in Donetsk and on secondment from Canada. She then moved onto to become a delegate with the International Committee of the Red Cross. Laurence gave birth to her son, Leo, in Lviv shortly after Russia’s full scale invasion got underway. The family had fled Kyiv on March 5. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documented her difficult journey out of the country - as well as the challenges women face when having to give birth during war time. According to Quebec media, Laurence complained about handling of her case by the Canadian Government- saying it was difficult to obtain papers for her newborn in immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “She wanted better support for nationals escaping Putin’s shots,” the report said. As I wrote on Twitter, Laurence was a brave, hardworking and passionate soul who loved Ukraine. Her energy and passion was infectious. She represented the best qualities of Canadians working abroad, prepared to take risks in such sensitive and dangerous operations as prisoner swaps. Her death is a loss not only for our country but for the aid sector as a whole. During my research for a CNN Opinion piece for World Humanitarian Day in which I documented the mental health crisis among aid workers, Laurence told me that even her employer at the time had difficulties granting time off for rest and recuperation. My thoughts and prayers are with her family. May Laurence and Leo be guided to Heaven by the angels. Vichnaya Pamiat. Eternal Memory. We shall miss you immensely!