Displaced Mariupol residents protest against referendum
STORY: Holding Ukrainian flags and posters, protesters gathered to draw attention to their cause and to state that Mariupol is a Ukrainian city regardless of the referendum's result.
“Today a referendum is taking place in Mariupol. I am strongly against it. It is not needed. How, say, I, a native Mariupol resident, am now able to say 'no' in this ballot? I have no such right. I considered myself, I consider myself a Mariupol resident and I want Mariupol to be Ukraine," said protester Oleh Sukhov.
“We want to support our city and prove to the whole world that Mariupol is Ukraine. And it does not need any referendum, any liberators. We are Ukrainians and we want to live on our Ukrainian land in our hometown”, said Yana Koshova, 33, internally displaced from Mariupol.
Russia launched referendums on Friday (September 23) aimed at annexing four occupied regions of Ukraine, drawing condemnation from Kyiv and Western nations who dismissed the votes as a sham and pledged not to recognize their results.
