Zelenskyy slams Russia's "sham" referenda and calls for funding and security guarantees to defend Ukraine

zUnited Nations — Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke live by video conference on Tuesday to world powers at the U.N. Security Council, slamming the illegitimate votes that Russia is forcing on citizens in occupied Ukraine. His speech came as Moscow-backed officials declared that all four regions voted in favor of joining Russia.

"In front of the eyes of the whole world, Russia is conducting this so-called sham referenda on the occupied territory of Ukraine," Zelenskyy said. "People are forced to fill out some papers while being threatened by submachine guns."

He said that the proposed annexation of occupied territories in Ukraine, as a result of the vote, "is an attempt to steal the territory of another state...a very cynical attempt to force the male population in the occupied territory of Ukraine to mobilize into the Russian army in order to send them to fight against their own homeland."