Russian President Vladimir Putin used a speech in Moscow on Friday to falsely proclaim four Ukrainian regions were now part of the Russian Federation, a move that comes amid Moscow’s growing battlefield setbacks in its war in Ukraine and a decision to call up tens of thousands of reservists.
Putin claimed the illegal annexations were “the will of millions of people” to huge applause during a signing ceremony in the Kremlin’s St. George’s Hall despite widespread reports of voter coercion and people being pressured at gunpoint.
The illegal occupation could potentially raise the stakes of Russia’s seven-month-old war in Ukraine because Putin vowed to defend the annexed territories with “all available means,” a veiled reference to his insistence he would be prepared to use nuclear weapons if Russia’s territory is threatened.
Russia is incorporating the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas of Ukraine – representing roughly 15% of Ukraine’s territory – following widely discredited referenda that mirrored a similar move to annex Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014.
During his wide-ranging address Putin called on Ukraine to negotiate over the war Russia started and restated a laundry list of complaints against the West, such as that it “doesn’t want us to be a free society” and it wants Russia to be a “colony.” His address was full of historical inaccuracies about the fall of the Soviet Union. Putin also accused the U.S. and Britain of sabotaging Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
Other developments:
► To celebrate the incorporation, which Ukraine and U.S. officials have called illegal and illegitimate, an evening concert in Moscow’s Red Square is also expected.
►Overnight, Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office said at least 25 people were killed after a Russian missile hit a convoy of civilian vehicles in Zaporizhzhia attempting to deliver humanitarian aid.
Annexation follows widely discredited referendums
Ukraine and Western officials have characterized the move as little more than a land grab and desperate tactic by Putin to disguise growing battlefield losses to Ukraine.
Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Only a handful of countries, such as North Korea and Syria, have recognized that annexation.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced legislation on Thursday that would prohibit countries that recognize Russia’s annexation of the four new regions from receiving economic or military assistance from the United States.
The bipartisan pair is also pushing for passage of legislation that would designate Russia a state sponsor of terror for over its actions in Ukraine. Just four countries — North Korea, Syria, Cuba and Iran — have the designation.
– Francesca Chambers and Kim Hjelmgaard
U.S. warns of possible new sanctions
Biden’s administration pledged new military support of $1.1 billion earlier in the week as Putin laid the groundwork for the annexation.
The White House also warned of the possibility of new punishing actions for Russia if Putin moves ahead with annexation.
“We are prepared to impose swift and severe economic costs on Russia when they move forward with annexation on individual entities inside and outside of the — of Russia that provide support for this action,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing.
Almost 40 countries have sanctioned Russia since its February invasion of Ukraine, freezing Russian assets abroad and seizing oligarchs’ property.
– Francesca Chambers
Russia calls in its reservists
Ever since Putin on Sept. 21 announced a call-up of reservists to fight in Ukraine, tens of thousands of men have fled Russia for neighboring countries such as Georgia, Kazakhstan and even Mongolia, where they have visa-free access.
Some Russian media have claimed the mobilization could allow up 1 million people to be conscripted, though the Kremlin denies this and Russia’s defense ministry says the true figure is closer to 300,000. Some European countries such as Germany and Finland have taken steps to restrict entry for Russian citizens, citing concerns that not everyone leaving Russia is doing so because they oppose Putin’s regime.
Military analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, believe Putin was forced to go ahead with the mobilization because of Russian battlefield losses to Ukraine at a time when Russia is running out of deployable troops. CSIS estimates that out of an initial invasion force of 190,000 Russian troops, the Russian army has sustained about 80,000 casualties.
– Kim Hjelmgaard
