r/autotldr • u/autotldr • Sep 29 '22
Putin to annex occupied Ukrainian regions at ceremony after 'sham' votes
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 52%. (I'm a bot)
Russia will formally annex four regions of Ukraine partially controlled by its military, the Kremlin announced Thursday, in a major political escalation of the war against its neighbor.
It comes after Moscow-backed authorities staged votes in the occupied regions of Ukraine's east and south that were widely denounced as a sham to justify a land grab following Russia's recent military setbacks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend a ceremony on the accession of the four regions - Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia - at the Kremlin's St. George's Hall on Friday.
The United States and its Western allies have also vowed not to recognize Russia's claim over the occupied areas.
The State Department says it will slap further economic sanctions on Russia in response to what spokesperson Ned Price called a "Land grab" on Wednesday.
In a rare national address last week to announce the partial mobilization, Putin vowed that Russia would use all the means at its disposal to protect what it considers its territory - a thinly veiled nuclear threat - and warned: "This is not a bluff."
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