Putin set to annex Ukraine territories in Kremlin event

Ukraine, West say annexation illegal; EU and US to impose more sanctions on Moscow

MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin will sign formal documents on Friday to begin formally annexing four Ukrainian regions, presiding at a Kremlin ceremony to lock in territorial claims the Ukraine army is threatening to reverse on the battlefield.

The move, one of the legal steps that Russia says will lead to formal annexation of 15 per cent of Ukraine’s territory, confirms Mr Putin is doubling down on his war against Ukraine despite a major military reversal in September.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the ceremony would take place on Friday in the St George’s Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace to sign agreements on the accession of new territories into the Russian Federation”, adding that agreements will be signed with all four territories that held referendums and made corresponding requests to the Russian side”.

Ukraine and the West have rejected the hastily arranged votes held in the occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, seven months after Russia’s invasion, as illegitimate shams conducted at gunpoint.

Russia says the referendums were genuine and showed public support for the move.

Ukraine President Volodymr Zelensky promised a robust response to a step that he says has killed off chances of reviving peace talks.