Four Russian occupied territories of Ukraine voted in a huge favor to join Russia in a Kremlin-orchestrated referendum.
According to the published results, 93% of the ballots cast in the Zaporizhzhia region supported annexation, as well as 87% in the Kherson region, 98% in the Luhansk region and 99% in Donetsk. These four areas accounted for about 15% of Ukraine’s territory.
The United States of America and the United Nations called the vote a ‘sham referendum’ after several western media reported that voters were held at gunpoint to agree on the annexation.
Following the voting results, the U.S. would move on with its pre-prepared new round of sanctions against Russia should it annex four Ukraine’s territories. The world’s largest economy would also send a $1.1 billion arms package for Ukraine, but without military forces.
Earlier, German officials stated that they believed the incident that caused damage to three lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline systems in Baltic Sea in one day was the result of sabotage.
The Nord Stream 2 was not operational at the time the war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, while Moscow completely shut down Nord Stream 1 in early September.
It has been reported that Germany’s gas storage has more than 90% of its capacity, but some economists doubt whether it would be enough to get through this winter.
Benchmark European gas prices rise as much as 12% on Tuesday.
