Russia’s president Vladimir Putin “completed the formal annexation of more than 15% of Ukraine on Wednesday just as Russian forces battled to halt a Ukrainian counter-offensive across swathes of the territories,” Reuters reports. “In the biggest expansion of Russian territory in at least half a century, Putin signed laws admitting the [so-called] Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the [so-called] Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR), Kherson Oblast and Zaporizhzhia Oblast into Russia.”
After holding its sham referendums in Ukraine’s seized regions on Sep. 23-27, Russia announced the annexations. The ballots, according to Western nations and Kyiv, violated international law and were forced and misrepresentative.
Not all territories that Russia has formally and illegally annexed are under terrorist control. The actual borders of the annexed territory are not clear and are being elucidated.
While in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts the sham “independent republics” were created before the annexation, areas in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts were annexed without a semblance of such organized activity. The occupiers have already spread maps of the fakely annexed Ukrainian territories among their people.
Up until 2026, the annexed areas would go through a “transitional period,” according to fantasies of Russian authorities. For 2023, the occupiers have already begun to prepare “elections” to the fictitious “parliaments.”
The civilized world has spoken strongly against the illegal annexations and declared that these territories would never be recognized as Russian. President Volodymyr Zelensky clearly stated that he would not hold any talks with Russia as long as Putin is in power.
In the photo above, Ukrainian soldiers pose at an entry to the city of Lyman, Donetsk Oblast. The city was liberated just when the fake referendum results were celebrated in Moscow. (Photo: Serhiy Kozak via Radio Liberty)
After the liberation of Lyman, the Russian flags were thrown down from the City Hall roof
