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The Russian president signed on Wednesday, October 5, the laws for the formal assimilation of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, four Ukrainian regions. Russia’s annexation campaign comes as Moscow grapples with major military setbacks. According to kyiv, the Ukrainian forces have retaken territories in the east and south of the country, that is, the same regions that Russia intends to annex.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed four constitutional laws on the entry of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, and the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation, the Lower House of Parliament announced in documents published this Wednesday, October 5 .
Earlier this week, both chambers of the Russian legislature had already ratified the treaties that turn Ukrainian regions into Russian zones.
The movement establishes the Russian language as the official language of the four regions, although it does not restrict Ukrainian, and establishes the use of the ruble as the national currency.
These procedures take place after the votes organized by the Kremlin between September 23 and 27 in the occupied regions. The territories of eastern Ukraine had been consulted – according to Moscow – in the name of the “right to self-determination of peoples”.
The formalization of the annexation has been branded “illegal” by Ukraine and Western powers, which have responded with sanctions.
Putin signs the annexation of the 4 partially occupied regions in Ukraine. End of the (il)legal process. Russia gets 8.8 million extra inhabitants, increases its population by 6%. The borders of the country, still undefined and unrecognized, expand again to the west.
— Xavier Colas (@xaviercolas) October 5, 2022
“It is the will of millions of people,” Putin said during an official ceremony held on Friday, September 30, in the presence of hundreds of dignitaries, including members of the Duma.
The borders of the territories claimed by Moscow remain unclear, but the Russian leader argued in his speech last week that “the inhabitants of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia become our citizens forever.”
Putin added that the people had voted “unequivocally” for “a common future” and that these lands will be defended “with all our might and by all means” and evoking a fight “for the great historical Russia.”
The Kremlin leader’s speech was interpreted by some observers as a threat of nuclear war.
kyiv’s response and Moscow’s setbacks
Together, the four regions make up about 15% of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Western allies say Moscow’s annexation plans are an illegal land grab and will never be recognized. “Any Russian decision, any treaty with which they try to seize our land, all this is worthless,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky also signed a decree declaring that direct negotiations with Putin are impossible after the attempted annexation.
Thank you @POTUS for a substantial support for ??, including a new $625 million security assistance package! As usual, we had a meaningful phone call today. Our victories within the ongoing defense operation are a joint success of ??, ?? and the entire free world.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 4, 2022
In addition, the Ukrainian leader maintained that the country’s Army was making a “rapid and powerful advance” in southern Ukraine, which has led to the liberation of “dozens of towns” since the “false Russian referendum.”
“Our warriors are not stopping. And it is only a matter of time before we drive the occupant off all our lands,” he said.
Maps released by the Russian military on Tuesday confirm kyiv’s advance in the key Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv and Kherson.
At the same time, the Russian authorities that control part of southern Ukraine have called for “not to panic”, while more than 200,000 troops have been moved to the front since the announcement of a “partial” mobilization on September 21.
with Reuters