UPDATES: Over 50% of Voters Cast Their Ballots in LPR Referendum in 3 Days - Civic Chamber of Russia

People in the DPR and LPR. as well as in Zaporozhye and Kherson regions are voting in referenda that will determine their future within Russia. The polling began on Friday and will last through Tuesday. The US, together with its allies, refuses to recognize the legitimacy of referenda and threatens Russia with sanctions if these territories become part of Russia.

Turnout in the Donetsk People’s Republic has exceeded 50%, according to the chairman of the Donetsk Civic Chamber, Alexander Kofman. A referendum requires more than 50% of registered voters to cast a ballot for it to be valid. The republic’s governor, Denis Pushilin, said foreign observers had reported no violations.

Sullivan told NBC that the sanctions were coordinated by G7 nations. They will target Russian "structures and companies" that supported what he called "sham referendums" in Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.

The four republics and regions called the referendums to obtain security guarantees from Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would accept any outcome of the voting.

Turnout in the Donetsk People’s Republic has exceeded 50%, according to the chairman of the Donetsk Civic Chamber, Alexander Kofman. A referendum requires more than 50% of registered voters to cast a ballot for it to be valid.

Turnout in the Lugansk People’s Republic referendum on joining Russia topped 76% after the third consecutive day of voting, the head of the election commission said Sunday.

"This figure means that the referendum was successful," Yelena Kravchenko told reporters.

A hundred foreign observers have been present at referendums in the Lugansk and Donetsk people’s republics as well as in Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, a senior Russian official said Sunday.

Referendums on whether the republics and regions should join Russia have been underway since Friday and will close on Tuesday.

"More than 100 international observers from 40 countries are present," Alexander Malkevich, deputy chair of a public oversight coordination center at Russia’s Civic Chamber, told reporters.

The two republics and two regions called the referendums to obtain security guarantees from Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would accept any outcome of the voting.

The White House will announce new sanctions against Russia in the coming days that will target companies outside Russia, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.

Sullivan told NBC that the sanctions were coordinated by G7 nations. They will target Russian "structures and companies" that supported what he called "sham referendums" in Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has promised to pay 100,000 rubles ($1,700) to an agent for a planned poisoning of a senior official in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), according to an audio recording of the conversation obtained by Sputnik on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the LPR state security ministry said that it had thwarted Ukraine’s terrorist attack ahead of the referendum to join Russia. The SBU was reportedly plotting to eliminate a high-ranking LPR official by poisoning.

The LPR obtained the audio recording of the conversation between an SBU officer and their recruited agent, who was supposed to work as a waiter. The agent was instructed to add the poison from an ampule into the drink of the LPR official.

"Let's just do the special operation for two months then... We pay your family 100,000 rubles for two months starting today, and we get another 100,000 rubles for mobility costs, that is, for gas, for phones... Our unit does not take money, on the contrary, it gives out [money], you understand? Well, I guess the state gives the money," the SBU officer can be heard saying in the recording.

The SBU official also promised to evacuate the agent after the operation.

Two explosions hit the Russia-controlled town of Berdiansk on Sunday as people in the Zaporozhye region went to the polls to vote on whether it should join Russia, local authorities said.

The first blast erupted near the local township at noon (09:00 GMT), the regional interior ministry said in a statement. The second bomb went off in a trashcan in a park two hours later.

Berdiansk authorities said no one was hurt in the explosions and no damage was caused to the administrative building. Investigators are working on the sites.

The Berdiansk administration blamed the explosions on the Ukrainian security services and called Ukraine a state sponsor of terrorism. It said the attacks were aimed at disrupting the referendum, which is in its third day. Polls will close on Tuesday.

The official stressed that the death of every Kherson resident is a sorrow for everyone and an irreplaceable loss for relatives and friends.

"I mourn with you at this difficult time," Eliseev said.

Voting in the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, as well as in Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, began on Friday and will close on Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that Russia would accept any decision made by the people during these referendums.

Ukrainian troops shelled a hotel in the center of Kherson, where journalists were staying, on a tip-off from NATO intelligence service, a law enforcement official told Sputnik on Sunday.

According to the official, Ukraine targeted the hotel in coordination with NATO representatives, on their tip and using their intelligence.

Regional administration said they qualified the missile strike as a terrorist attack, adding that the hotel was not used for military purposes and only had journalists and hotel staff inside.

"The missile attack on the hotel is a planned terrorist act, the responsibility for which is borne by the military and political leadership of Ukraine," the regional administration said.

The hotel was not used for military purposes and only had journalists and hotel staff inside, the spokesperson said.

"The building was not used for military purposes, only journalists and hotel staff were inside — peaceful and unarmed people," the spokesperson said.

The Kherson administration said that the rescue work in the aftermath of the missile strike has not yet been completed. The emergency services are removing the rubble. All the victims were promptly taken to hospitals, where they received all the necessary medical care.