Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of four regions in Ukraine that just concluded referendums that have universally been denounced by the West as illegitimate.
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Putin signed the accession agreements on Friday to annex the occupied regions of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
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“People have made their choice, and it’s definitive choice,” Putin said during the ceremony, maintaining the facade that more than 90% of residents in each of the regions voted to join the Russian Federation. He added that the “results have come through and the results are known.”
Putin also warned that Russia would defend its new territory, saying, “We will protect our land using all our forces, and we will do everything to ensure people’s securities.”
President Joe Biden was among those who rebuked Russia’s annexation plans ahead of Friday’s signing.
“The United States, I want to be very clear about this, the United States will never, never, never recognize Russia’s claims on Ukraine’s sovereign territory. The so-called referenda was a sham, an absolute sham. The results were manufactured in Moscow,” the president said. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said during Wednesday’s briefing that the results of the referendums “were manufactured and manipulated. Ukrainian civilians were forced to cast ballots under the watch of armed guards.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “Any decision to proceed with the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned. … Any decision by Russia to go forward will further jeopardize the prospects for peace.”
Jean-Pierre said last week that the Biden administration is “prepared to impose additional swift and severe economic costs on Russia along with our allies and partners” if they go ahead and annex the territory, though she did not elaborate.
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Last week, Putin announced the call-up of roughly 300,000 reservists, the first group of which has mobilized and reached Ukraine “in small numbers,” a senior U.S. military official told reporters on Wednesday.
Western officials have said the call-up demonstrates Russia’s struggle with manpower, though the West has also said that these soldiers will most likely not receive much training before heading into the war. Shortly after the speech, there was an exodus in which interest in plane tickets to nearby countries soared, while images from border crossings showed long lines of cars waiting to leave. Others have protested in the streets, which has resulted in roughly 2,500 arrests.
