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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will officially begin annexing four more regions to Ukraine in a signing ceremony following the conclusion of the self-managed referendum this week that the West and Kiev denounced as a farce.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the ceremony will take place in Moscow “on agreements on the accession of new territories to the Russian Federation,” Reuters reported for the first time.
The “agreement” will apparently be signed “with all four territories that have held referendums and made corresponding requests to the Russian side,” he added.
Konstantin Ivashchenko (L), former CEO of the Azovmash plant and appointed pro-Russian mayor of Mariupol, visits a polling station as people vote in a referendum in Mariupol on September 27, 2022.
(STRINGER / AFP via Getty Images)
RUSSIA PLAYS IN DEFENSE AS UKRAINE ADVANCES LUHANSK DESPITE THE REFERENDUM
Moscow-based regional officials of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaphorizhzhia, and Kherson are expected to represent the four regions after claiming they got a monumental demonstration of support for Russia’s illegal seizure of Ukrainian territory.
The polls close on Tuesday after five days of voting organized by Russian delegates who claimed to have garnered 93% of civilian support in Zaporizhzhia, 87% in Kherson, 98% in Luhansk and 99% in Donetsk.
Western officials have repeatedly rejected the referendum and pointed to Russia’s latest move to annex parts of Ukraine when it held a vote in 2014 in Crimea and said around 97% of Crimeans were in favor of leaving Ukraine.
A military from the Luhansk People’s Republic votes at a polling station in Luhansk, Luhansk People’s Republic, controlled by Russian-backed separatists, eastern Ukraine, on Friday, September 23, 2022.
(Photo AP)
RUSSIAN DELEGATES INTIMATE UKRAINIANS AND THE REFERENDUM OF THE VOTE FORCE ON THE ANNEX: LOCAL OFFICER
Reports later showed that the elections had been faked with only 30% of Crimea voting in the proceedings and with only 15% supporting the annexation of the peninsula.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week accused the Kremlin of hiring Russians to vote in referendums, and Ukrainian officials over the weekend reported coercive tactics involving intimidation to force Ukrainians to vote.
People walk past a “Forever with Russia” billboard in Luhansk, in the Russian-backed separatist-controlled Luhansk People’s Republic of eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, September 27, 2022.
(Photo AP)
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The annexation of the four eastern and southern regions means that Russia will start claiming another 15% of Ukraine as Russian territory.
Moscow has repeatedly said it will view an attack on regions, where heavy fighting has persisted for seven months, as an attack on Russia itself, leaving some defense officials concerned that Russia may resort to even more aggressive tactics such as nuclear escalation.
Putin is expected to give a speech after the ceremony.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
