The speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin on possible mobilization and "referendums" on the annexation of the occupied regions of Ukraine for unknown reasons did not take place.
Three sources close to the presidential administration told RBC about Putin's possible appeal to the Russians on September 20. The performance was expected before the end of the day.
After several news stories in the Vremya program, Channel One turned on the broadcast of the series Mosgaz. Case No. 8: Trap. There were no reports of the President's speech or its cancellation on the air. Other media were also waiting for Putin's appeal. The Moscow 24 TV channel changed the start time of the broadcast on the YouTube channel several times.
According to Telegram channels, Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov does not get in touch with journalists.
On September 20, it became known that the Russian authorities from September 23 to 27 plan to hold "referendums" on the accession to the Russian Federation of the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
The so-called people's councils of the "LNR" and "DNR" were the first to confirm the dates of the "referenda". Following them, the “vote” was announced by the “head of the military-civilian administration” (VGA) of the Kherson region Volodymyr Saldo and the “head” of the Zaporozhye region Evgeny Balitsky.
On September 20, the State Duma introduced a package of amendments to the bill amending the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which introduces the concepts of “mobilization”, “martial law” and “wartime” in Russia. It was adopted on first reading in July. Now the bill was adopted immediately in the second and third readings.
The bill introduces a whole set of new articles of the Criminal Code, including "Voluntary Surrender" and "Looting". As an aggravating circumstance, the commission of a crime “during the period of mobilization or martial law, in wartime” is indicated. Voluntary surrender in this case provides for from 3 to 10 years in prison.
As lawyer Pavel Chikov explained to The Insider, the changes introduce criminal liability for persons who are in the reserve and are called up for military training or mobilization on subpoenas. From the moment the storekeepers are called up for military training, they are considered liable for military service.