"Pseudo-referendums are an illegal and forceful attempt to annex part of Ukraine's territory," - a statement of the AUCCRO

They called it "a mockery of democracy and discrediting legitimate state institutions that operate on the basis of international law".

The AUCCRO called on all states of the world not to recognize the pseudo-referendums held by the Russian occupation authorities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Spiritual leaders ask all Ukrainian citizens living in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine not to participate in pseudo-referendums.

Religious leaders called on the Russian authorities to abandon the criminal annexation plan.

STATEMENT
of All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations
on pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine

Recently, the Russian occupation authorities announced the holding of pseudo-referendums on joining the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine.

In this regard, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations declares as follows:

1. The sovereignty of Ukraine extends to its entire territory. The territory of Ukraine, within the existing border, internationally recognized and enshrined in the Constitution, is integral and inviolable.

2. The full-scale war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine aims, contrary to international law, to seize part of the territory of Ukraine and destroy the Ukrainian state.

3. The conduct of pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine at gunpoint, in conditions of military occupation, when there is no personal freedom and respect for the dignity of human life and calling for it as something plausible, is a mockery of democracy and discrediting legitimate state institutions operating on the basis of international law. Since the true expression of will or any other vote in such a situation is impossible.

4. Such arbitrary actions of the occupier constitute an illegal forceful attempt to annex part of the territory of Ukraine, just as it was committed in 2014 in relation to the Crimean Peninsula, an arbitrary violation of international legal norms and contractual obligations of the Russian Federation to Ukraine.

That said, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations urges:

o all states of the world not to recognize the pseudo-referendums held by the Russian occupation authorities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine;
o all citizens of Ukraine living in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine refrain from participating in pseudo-referendums and be aware of their responsibility to God, their own conscience, previous, current and future generations, as well as to the Ukrainian people;
o the authorities of the Russian Federation to abandon the criminal plan of annexation, which violates not only the human laws of the cohabitation of peoples but also the relevant regulations of the Christian, Islamic and Jewish Holy Scriptures.

Lord, oh the Great and Almighty,
protect our beloved Ukraine!

Kyiv, September 23, 2022