Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine would not negotiate with Russia if it held "referendums" on its occupied parts of Ukraine on joining its territory.

“The position of our state remains the same: we will not give up anything of ours, and if the occupiers go through pseudo-referendums, they will close for themselves any possibility of negotiations with Ukraine and with the free world, which the Russian side will definitely need at some point,” the President of Ukraine said in a video message , speaking about Russia's intentions in the south of Ukraine.

The first occupied territory of Ukraine, which the Russian authorities planned to include into Russia according to the Crimean scenario, was the Kherson region. First, in early May, the Russian-appointed "head" of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov , announced that the region would become part of Russia without any referendum. But less than a month later, he changed his plans and said that the referendum would still take place.

According to Bloomberg sources, Russia intends to hold a referendum on the annexation of the occupied territories of Ukraine by September 15.