Ukraine’s second-largest city to host federalization gathering

Pro-Russian forces are planning a referendum gathering to be held on March 16 in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. “There will be only one question: federalization. But I think we’ll approve a resolution at that gathering,” Yegor Logvinov, a member of the Kharkiv Gathering executive committee, told a March 12 press conference. The resolution will call for the restructuring of law enforcement structures and assistance from the Russian Federation in the form of “peacekeeping contingents” to be posted throughout eastern Ukraine. A “people’s governor” will be declared at the gathering as well.

Meanwhile, Russia is reportedly accumulating military forces in its Belgorod Oblast that neighbors the Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainska Pravda reported on March 13, citing a blog with photo and video evidence posted by Russian journalist Vladimir Varfolomeyev.

Zenon Zawada: Such developments confirm the Russian government’s intention to further encroach upon Ukrainian territory. No one doubts that the majority of Kharkiv residents are against federalization. Yet their passivity to such Russian-orchestrated referenda is what makes most of eastern Ukraine’s regions vulnerable to the current Russian invasion.

Such efforts are also intended to delegitimize the current Ukrainian government in the eyes of the world, demonstrating that it doesn’t control much of Ukraine’s territory. Any efforts by the current government to stop the referenda will result in violence on the streets of the cities in which they are held, giving the Russian military the pretext to intrude into eastern Ukrainian regions. A military invasion is possible regardless of whether violence erupts, and could be based on the script used in Crimea.