I have heard numerous times from libertarian personalities, most recently from Dave Smith’s last appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, a talking point regarding the Ukrainian regions Donbas/Luhansk’s referendums that is factually incorrect. Even anti-war foreign policy juggernauts like Scott Horton repeat this whenever they speak on the matter.
I feel the need to correct this as when one is speaking out against the establishment, it is best practice to avoid factual errors so as to not harm your credibility in the eyes of spectators and validity of your message. While there is no doubt that they are knowledgeable about the inner workings of the foreign policy and war machine, it is these seemingly inconsequential mistakes that can be used by establishment opponents to dismiss them entirely.
This error is regarding the Donbas/Luhansk referendums that were held on May 11, 2014, in which Horton, Smith, and others claim that the people of these regions voted to join the Russian Federation through annexation, which Russia then refused to do. However, this is not correct. What these regions voted for was regional autonomy, not joining the Russian Federation. A scan of the Donetsk referendum ballot is pictured below:
The important part of this ballot is the question that these two regions were voting on: "Do you support the Act of State Self-rule of the (region name)?” The important word is самостоятельности, which translates roughly to ‘self-standing'. This implies either independence as a separate state or federalization for greater autonomy within Ukraine. However, joining the Russian Federation is not part of the ballot.
Russian President Vladimir Putin asking on May 7, 2014 for the referendum to be postponed to wait for better conditions for “direct, full-fledged dialogue between the Kiev authorities and representatives of southeast Ukraine”. However, Russia recognized the result of the referendums on May 12 and asked European authorities and Kiev to assimilate the results.
This you? "Invasion of Donbas and Lugansk has no strategic value for Russia. Russia could have integrated that territory in 2014 when the eastern regions held referendum votes to join the Russian Federation, and Putin denied them."
https://basedhoppean.substack.com/p/towards-a-new-multipolar-world