“Georgia categorically condemns the unacceptable referenda in the Ukrainian regions under Russian occupation,” Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili stated on Tuesday.

In her tweet, the President said: “They are cynical violations of international law and of the will of the Ukrainian people that continues to heroically fight against invasion.”

Zourabichvili pledged Georgia to continue to “firmly” support Ukraine’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty.

“Today, as Georgia commemorates 29 years since the fall of Sokhumi, these words are even more important as they come from a nation that knows the pain of occupation,” the President tweeted.

Georgia categorically condemns the unacceptable referenda in the Ukrainian regions under Russian occupation. They are cynical violations of international law and of the will of the Ukrainian people that continues to heroically fight against invasion.

— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) September 27, 2022

The Russian-run so-called referendum was held in the breakaway eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as in Russian-occupied parts of the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Moscow-installed officials reported that an unprecedented majority of residents said yes to joining Russia on Tuesday evening.

Moscow could officially claim the regions – around 15 per cent of Ukraine – within days. Russia’s parliament has earmarked October 4 to consider annexation, according to Reuters.