The Russian authorities claim that each pseudo-referendum received 87 to 99% approval from the people of Ukraine.

So 

On September 30, as Putin's spokesman Dmytro Peskov said, the Kremlin will announce the annexation of the captured territories of Ukraine.

The USA and the EU have already declared that such a decision by the Russian dictator will have grave consequences for the Russian economy.

In turn, Ukrainian President Volodymyr

Zelenskyi emphasized that the Russian Federation's implementation of the so-called Crimean scenario and another attempt to annex Ukrainian territory will mean that there is nothing to talk about with Putin.

Why did the Kremlin need this decision, burdened with serious consequences, and how events will develop further,

TSN.ua

collected the opinions of experts on possible scenarios after the annexation.

Why does the Russian Federation want to annex the captured Ukrainian territories

The Ministry of Defense of Great Britain

explains the urgency of the Russian Federation's annexation of the territories of Ukraine and the simultaneous announcement of partial mobilization in Russia by the failure of Putin's "special operation".

"This urgency is probably caused by fears of an imminent attack by Ukraine and the expectation of greater security after formal accession to Russia," British intelligence reports.

Defense Express editor-in-chief

Oleg Katkov

believes that Russia can formally add Ukrainian territories to its composition

as a pretext for using weapons of mass destruction

.

All the more so because the speech of the Russian dictator Putin himself was accompanied by nuclear threats, when he announced his speech about the holding of so-called "referendums" in Ukraine and partial mobilization in the Russian Federation.

"The Russian Federation can formally annex Ukrainian territories to its composition as an excuse to use weapons of mass destruction. But this is probably an attempt to buy time, to intimidate, to show weapons. Let's hope that it will not come to that. In my opinion, the annexation of territories is nothing will change," Oleg Katkov emphasized.

Oleksandr Merezhko

, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy ,

also believes that Russia decided to annex the captured Ukrainian territories in order to blackmail the world with nuclear weapons.

"The Kremlin planned to hold such fake referendums in advance. It is a means of political pressure and blackmail. The fact is that the Kremlin uses such referendums for the possibility of annexation of the occupied territories. And then such annexation gives the Kremlin the opportunity to blackmail the world with the possibility of using nuclear weapons," Merezhko explained.

At the same time, military expert

Mykhailo Zhirokhov

says that in this way the head of the Kremlin will try to transfer the "special operation" to a different format and start mobilizing Ukrainians from the annexed regions.

He added that the so-called "referendums" were held in order to secure the occupied territories at the legislative level and to announce mobilization. 

Zhirokhov doubts that Putin will declare war after this.

Most likely, the Russian Federation will transfer its "special military operation" to the "counter-terrorist" border.

This is what happened in Chechnya from 1994 to 2004 - that is, it will be interpreted that it is allegedly "Russian territory" and there are "terrorists", Zhirokhov suggests.

What will happen after the annexation: scenarios of the development of events

1. Russia wants to play the "Crimean scenario" a second time and take the rest of the occupied territories in the same way.

After the pseudo-referendums, the Russian Federation will most likely also declare the inviolability of their borders in order to deter the Armed Forces from a counteroffensive.

Stanislav Zhelikhovskyi, a leading expert of the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine named after Hennadiy Udovenko at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told about this in a comment to TSN.ua.

"It is quite obvious that Moscow prefers to repeat the so-called Crimean scenario. To, as in 2014, declare the inviolability of borders after a pseudo-referendum. All for the sake of the international community restraining the counteroffensive of Ukrainian forces, as was the case 8 years ago in relation to Crimea "The Russian regime wants to enter the same river twice, exploiting the same narratives," Zhelikhovsky said.

2. Putin's regime will be under real threat.

The whole civilized world, except for Russia, will consider these territories to be Ukraine.

British analyst Anatol Lieven believes that the holding of "referendums" in the occupied territories of Ukraine is perhaps a more dangerous sign than the announcement of mobilization.

"If this happens, it will mean that Moscow is ready to fight indefinitely, and Ukraine will be left to hope for an unstable ceasefire with breaks for active hostilities," the author writes. 

He is convinced that if the Kremlin does go for immediate annexation, discontent will grow in Russian society, and then Putin's regime will be under real threat.

"Then a person may come to power who will blame Putin personally for the failure and decide to expand the war beyond the borders of Ukraine and announce total mobilization," the analyst believes.

3. Even greater economic and political isolation of the Russian Federation.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that she plans to introduce a resolution condemning Russia for the so-called "referendums".

The diplomat called on the Security Council to condemn the use of force to redraw borders.

She also explained that the 

fake "referendums" of the Russian Federation can open a "Pandora's box"

that they will not be able to close later.

"We must have courage and support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. This is the protection of our collective affairs. This is truly peace and security," the American ambassador concluded.

As for the

sanctions

, they will be strengthened in response to the annexation

and will have serious consequences for Russia

.

White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre made this statement. 

"We are prepared to impose additional swift and severe economic consequences on Russia - along with our allies and partners - in response to these actions if they (the Russians - ed.) go ahead with the annexation," said a representative of the Biden administration.

She reminded that the United States and other G7 member countries made a joint statement that they would never recognize the Russian Federation's claims to the sovereign territories of Ukraine, nor would they recognize any results of fake referendums.

It will be recalled that 

the ISW explained why Putin wanted to annex the territories occupied after February 24.

Read also:

  • Duda compared Putin to Stalin and recalled the Holodomor

  • "De-occupation will go faster": the expert told how to act in Ukraine against the background of the "referendums" of the occupiers

  • Mobilization and the announcement of a pseudo-referendum: what Fuhrer Putin is preparing for