• Russia has begun staging referendums in occupied parts of Ukraine today 
• Police will take ballots door-to-door to ensure that people are casting votes 
• Result is guaranteed, with Putin set to claim parts of Ukraine as Russia next week 
• That will allow him to spin the lie to his own people that Russia itself is under attack, paving the way to escalate his war and possibly respond with nukes 
• Russia has begun staging sham referendums in occupied regions of Ukraine that are almost certain to end with Moscow declaring them to be part of the mainland. 

  'Voting' will last for five days, but for the first four of those residents will be unable to attend regular polling stations - instead, police and Russia officials will take papers door to door and will invite people to makeshift voting boots in residential areas.

  Moscow claims this is for safety reasons to stop the voting stations being attacked, but in reality will provide ample opportunity for intimidation. Polls will also be opened within Russia itself, giving further opportunities for vote-rigging.

Tuesday next week will be the only opportunity for people in the occupied areas to attend regular polling stations, with preliminary results to be released Wednesday.

It is expected that all occupied areas will 'vote' to join Russia, almost certainly with 80 or 90 per cent of people 'voting' yes - as happened when the Kremlin staged a similar stunt in occupied Crimea in 2014.

Western leaders have declared the ballot to be a sham, saying they have no legitimacy and urging other governments not to recognise the results.

Voting begins in Russia's sham 'referendums'Loaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMuteCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:20FullscreenNeed Text