- Paul Kirby
- BBC News
Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold an official ceremony on Friday, when he will announce the annexation of four more regions of Ukraine.
This comes after “referendums” were held in those regions, amid criticism from Ukraine and the West.
Russian-backed officials said the five-day vote saw near unanimity in joining Russia.
Russia says it held votes in Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, and in Zaporizhia and Kherson in southern Ukraine.
The Russian president will deliver an official speech at the Kremlin.
photo released, Archyde.com
Preparations have already taken place on Red Square in Moscow, and banners have been erected attributing the four regions to Russia
Preparations have already taken place on Red Square in Moscow, and banners have been erected ascribing the four regions to Russia.
This scene dates back to 2014, and the activities of the annexation of the Crimea, which followed the referendum process whose legitimacy is disputed. None of these polls received independent monitoring.
Nor has the Crimean annexation process been widely recognized by the international community.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Tomorrow at 12:00 GMT, St. George Square of the Kremlin Palace will witness a signing ceremony for the annexation of the new regions to Russia.”
Two Russian-backed separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine are expected to attend the ceremony.
The Russian parliament will play a role in ratifying the annexation of the four new regions to Russia, which is rejected by most countries in the world.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the referendums as null and of no value and did not change reality.
“Ukrainian territorial integrity will be restored. Our reaction to the recognition of referendum results by Russia will be very sharp,” Zelensky said.
The United States has pledged to impose sanctions on Russia over the referendums, and European Union member states are considering an eighth round of measures.
On Thursday, German Foreign Minister Annalina Birbock said that people in the occupied Ukrainian regions were taken from their homes and workplaces by force and sometimes at gunpoint.
“This is the antithesis of free and fair elections. This is the antithesis of peace, it is the peace dictated by force,” Beerbock said.
Referendums began in about 15 percent of Ukraine last Friday, and were not previously announced until a few days ago.
The official Russian media defends that the use of armed soldiers was for security purposes. But the impact of that armed presence was evident in the fear of civilians in those areas. A woman from the city of Enerhodar in Zaporizhia told the BBC: “You have to answer by voice, and then the soldier will mark for you in the referendum paper.”
In Donetsk, armed soldiers escorted polling officials who roamed the city house to house to vote
Russia does not fully control any of the four regions it decided to annex. Moscow controls only 60 percent of Donetsk, but most of Luhansk’s territory is still under the control of Russian forces.
Seven months after Russian forces invaded Ukraine from the north, east and south, war is still raging on the front lines in all four regions.
The capital of the Zaporizhia region in southern Ukraine is under the control of the Ukrainian government, and a counterattack is now underway in the Kherson region.
For several months, Russia-appointed officials have been calling for an official annexation process, but it seems that the series of military victories that Ukraine achieved last September forced the Kremlin to take the step.
The Ukrainian army was able to regain control of large parts of the north-east of the country. Ukraine said Thursday that its forces were surrounding Russian forces in the strategic city of Lyman, located in Donetsk.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called the referendums “void and worthless”. It said in a statement that it will continue its pressure and efforts to liberate the occupied territories by Russian forces.
And if Russia annexes the four regions it does not fully control, it could take the war to a new level, as Moscow portrays any attempt by Ukraine to reclaim them as an attack on Russian sovereignty.
Russia is expected to quickly introduce new laws on the annexation of these four disputed regions, and has threatened to use more lethal weapons if they are targeted in the future.
Last week, Vladimir Putin announced a military mobilization, threatening to use all means at his disposal, including nuclear weapons, to defend what he considers Russian territory.
By annexing occupied areas of Ukraine, Putin can argue that Russian territory is under threat from Western weapons, hoping that governments will stop their military support for Kyiv.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said the referendums would have no effect on the ground.