Seems like they didn’t even bother getting some idiot to mark the да boxes:
Those are just the ballots of the 2% or so that didn’t vote in support of joining Russia 
Seriously, if Russia wanted its sham referendums to look legit, why not give results like “57% of Khersonites voted to join Russia, 43% refused?” That looks a lot more plausible and respectable.
The regions have been vacated by large chunks of the residents. This is like saying that the 10 million residents of Antarctica all voted to be annexed by Russia.
Everyone knows that there aren’t 10 million people living in Antarctica, so the result is clearly not based on anything.
There’s really not much value in trying to make it seem otherwise.
Looks like Ukraine has captured their first POWs from the “mobiks”
It would be cool if I could understand one word of what he’s saying, or understand why he’s wearing an elf hat.
Did, maybe, the U.S. and Ukraine, act as barrier troops to German government option of having natural gas flow, part of negotiation with Russia? Or next level conspiracy. Did German government also go in on it, to eliminate the option as a hope for folks in Germany, in any negotiations?
Have to stay all in now. As there is no great benefit to negotiate now.
Pipeline go boom. Options go boom.
From the comments on that Twitter feed it sounds like he was drafted about 6 days ago. He gets confused at one point, claiming to have been drafted into the Soviet army and then realizing his mistake when his captors remind him that there’s no more Soviet Union.
The comments are brutal, including that he set the record for doing a “speed run” from his couch in Moscow to a Ukrainian prison.
A version with subtitles is posted on @wartranslated’s Twitter. I won’t post it, because IMO the guy is pretty clearly being coerced to read from a script. As violations of the Geneva conventions go it’s relatively small potatoes, but it nonetheless leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth.
Or what a ‘mobik’ is.
He’s a lucky man!
mo’ bad news for russia:
I see a 2nd Izyum in the cards (blue bubbles = settlements retaken by Ukr in the past day/days):
that is the pocket forming around Lyman and that will be another huge blow
The vertical lines to the right of the map are vital supply lines for the eastern and southern front… It’s def. an uphill struggle for the russians
Fairly sure that’s someone who was drafted. Although I’m pretty sure that should be “mobnik”, from mobilization + -nik “one associated with” (as in beatnik).
I’ve been following this pincer movement for days. Let’s hope the weather cooperates. I wonder if commanders in the field will obey Putin’s no retreat order, even if it means the loss or capture of ~3500 Russian troops currently in the salient?
I’m not sure they have a choice anymore. The road back through Zarichne is already close to being contested, and is most assuredly under the guns of a lot of Ukrainian artillery. It’s looking a lot like surrender or die fighting to the last man.
And Putin wants them to die.
It’s “mobik”. Not sure if it’s Ukrainian or Russian slang, even though the -nik of beatnik does indeed derive from Russian.
Differences between -nik and -ik endings, if one wants to get down in the weeds:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-ник#Russian
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-ик#Russian
Ukraine should release their own equally-valid poll results:
“98% of all Russians believe Vladimir Putin smells of wee”
New Russian milblogger Rybar map and update: