Russia to formalize annexation of occupied Ukrainian territories
Residents of Lugansk fix a Russian flag the day after the end of the referendum on an annexation of the Ukrainian region by Russia, September 28, 2022. AP
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4 mins
Russian President Vladimir Putin will formalize Friday, September 30 in Moscow the annexation by Russia of Ukrainian territories.
An annexation widely denounced by the international community, but which Moscow has threatened to defend even with nuclear weapons.
The measure was announced by the Kremlin on Thursday, following referendums launched in territories occupied by pro-Russian forces.
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kyiv, supported by the West and its arms deliveries, has sworn to continue its counter-offensive which has been pushing the Russian army back for almost a month, forcing Vladimir Putin to hastily mobilize hundreds of thousands of civilian reservists.
The Kremlin will host a ceremony on Friday at which
the annexation of the Ukrainian regions
of Donetsk and Lugansk (East), as well as Kherson and Zaporizhia (South) will be formalized.
"
A ceremony for signing agreements on the entry of new territories into the Russian Federation will be held tomorrow at 3
p.m. (12 p.m. UT)
in the Kremlin
," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“
Vladimir Putin will deliver a voluminous speech at this event
,” he added.
The Russian capital was preparing for festivities to mark the annexation of the four Ukrainian regions, which comes after “
referendums
”
condemned by most of the international community
.
Motor traffic will thus be prohibited in a large part of the city center on Friday, while a concert will be organized, according to Russian media, in the shadow of the Kremlin walls.
The Russian president could make an appearance there.
Officials installed by Moscow in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, in the South, have already been in Moscow since Wednesday evening, September 28, according to Russian news agencies.
China is critical
Faced with a vast Ukrainian counter-offensive, Russia accelerated the process of annexation with the hasty organization of “
referendums
” under the control of armed soldiers.
These votes have been called a “
masquerade
” and a “
sham
” by Kiev and its Western backers.
Images have been broadcast showing armed men escorting voters to transparent ballot boxes, in particular.
Even China, Moscow's closest partner, has been critical of a violation of the territorial integrity of a sovereign state.
Like other allies of Moscow,
Kazakhstan has shown its willingness to protect Russians fleeing
mobilization.
► Also to listen:
The Russians trapped in the war
Russia is following the scenario of the 2014 annexation of Crimea, a peninsula in southern Ukraine: Vladimir Putin then also delivered a speech with great pomp under the golds of the Kremlin.
Ukraine has denounced these annexations and swept away Mr. Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons, pursuing a counter-offensive in the East and South.
“
Significant fights
” still ongoing
After having reconquered most of the North-East, Ukraine seems launched in the recovery of Lyman, a city in the Donetsk region and an important railway hub that the Russian army has controlled since May.
Ukrainian forces remain silent on ongoing operations, but authorities loyal to Moscow in the region have acknowledged tough fighting.
"
The adversary is making regular attempts to attack to create the conditions for an encirclement
," senior Donetsk official Alexei Nikonorov told Russian television.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American research centre, noted that "
significant combat
" was taking place in the area, and that if
Ukraine recaptured Lyman
it would allow him to advance to the both in the regions of Donetsk and the neighboring region of Lugansk.
On the ground, Russian bombardments continued to hit Ukrainian cities, killing a child in particular in the night in Dnipro.
At least five civilians were also killed in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region.
Young Russians leave everything behind: “
Always better than killing
”
In Russia,
the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of civilian reservists
to reinforce the Russian lines continued.
Consequently, tens of thousands of Russians continue to take the road of exodus fearing to be mobilized.
A young man in his twenties, who arrived in Mongolia via the land border, prefers to remain anonymous to explain the reasons which led him to flee Russia.
“
It was very difficult to leave everything behind.
My home, my country, my loved ones.
But it's always better than killing people
,” he told AFP in Ulaanbaatar, the capital.
► To read also:
"People were in shock": in Russia, the partial mobilization causes panic
(With AFP)
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Russia
Ukraine
Vladimir Poutine
Volodymyr Zelensky
Defense