Russian so-called military commanders have started talking about a referendum in the Kursk region. Despite the fact that earlier the executive body of the Sumy district called the inclusion of Sudzha in the territorial boundaries of the community a fake, one suspects that the Russians themselves want to secede from Russia 
In a referendum in Novoivanovka, Kursk region, they decided to dot the i’s and cross the t’ s and become Novoivanovka, jokes former MP Anton Gerashchenko on his telegram channel. He posted a video of the military changing the name of the settlement to Ukrainian.
Apparently, this is the only “referendum” that is possible in the occupied territories of the Russian Federation, but propagandists are creating panic.
“Military channels report that Ukraine is planning to hold a referendum on 6 September on the accession of the Kursk region to Ukraine. There is no official confirmation of the information from Kyiv,” the Briefing Telegram channel writes.
The State Duma, in turn, rejects this scenario. Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma Defence Committee, believes that the Russian reserves will knock out the Ukrainian forces any day now.
By the way, a week has passed since the official’s statement. Ukrainian troops are still advancing in the Kursk region.
Moscow will try to hold local elections earlier
The occupiers have reasons to worry. Specially for
“It’s an interesting coincidence that local elections are due to take place in September across Russia. And Kursk region is no exception. The Russian Central Election Commission even decided to hold the elections in advance. Moscow is very worried that, for example, in the second half of September, those regions that still have the opportunity to vote today will not be able to do so because they will be under the control of Ukraine,” said Andrey Bulgarov.
So, Bulgarov says, local authorities are being given the opportunity to vote early, most likely because of the operation in Kursk.
Moreover, the Russian Central Election Commission has already been forced to cancel elections in a number of localities. In particular, in the border districts of Belovsk, Bolsheysoldatsk, Glushkov, Korenovsk, Suzhan and Khomutov, as well as in the city of L’gov.
Publicist Bulgarov also considers another scenario of the Russians’ will. He says that we can do without referendums on the separation of a part of the territory from Russia or its incorporation into Ukraine. Instead, we can show the world real democratic elections.
“There is an option for Sudzha to take part in the Russian elections. To give people the opportunity to vote for something different and show our Western partners how real democratic elections are held. And there could be very interesting results,” says Andrey Bulgarov.
The entire Kursk operation has shown that there are no red lines, Bulgarov adds. “We have seen nothing from Putin except threats. This means that the dictator can simply turn a blind eye to a problem. Why not demonstrate this once again to the West?
What to do with the seized territories of the Russian Federation?
The Russian territories controlled by Ukraine are just a bargaining chip for Donetsk and Luhansk, says publicist Andriy Bulgarov. Although this operation is approved by Western partners, no one will approve it if a humanitarian catastrophe occurs in the Kursk region.
“Despite the talk about referendums and elections in Russia, we must clearly understand one thing: we need to provide these territories with some kind of security until the exchange. Because it is precisely these territories that we will exchange the land seized by Russia for,” said Andriy Bulgarov.
The offensive operation, which began in Kursk region, will expand to other regions, possibly bordering Ukraine (Bryansk or Belgorod), the publicist concludes. However, according to Bulgarov, the main attack of the Defence Forces will be made towards the Azov Sea, to reach the border by 2022. Then comes the battle for Crimea.
The publicist hopes that by the end of this year, Ukraine will have a chance to reach the borders on 24 February 2022.
The author: Anastasia Fedor