Vladimir Putin has signed laws absorbing four Ukrainian regions into Russia, finalising the annexation of the occupied territories in defiance of international outcry.
It follows the so-called referenda in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, rejected as a sham by Ukraine and the West.
The areas being annexed are not even under full control of Russian forces.
Together with Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, President Putin’s total claim amounts to more than 22% of Ukrainian territory, though the exact borders of the four regions he is annexing are still yet to be finally clarified.
The move comes despite Ukrainian troops making “rapid, powerful” advances in the south and east of the country and liberating “dozens” of settlements over the past week – according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Defence forces have continued to make significant gains in Kherson Oblast while simultaneously continuing advances in Kharkiv and Luhansk Oblast.
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