Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (5) signed the law on the annexation of the four regions of Ukraine and the decrees officially appointing the rulers that Moscow has already established in these territories.
In the texts signed by Putin, it is stated that Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions are accepted within the Russian Federation according to the country’s constitution.
Despite international anger and military defeats on the battlefield, Putin annexed four territories partially controlled by the Russian military and acknowledged that they had rightly returned to Russia after the hasty organization of controversial referendums.
Putin also signed decrees appointing current Moscow-backed leaders in the four regions as official authorities.
Prior to Putin’s signature, the annexation law was unanimously supported by the lower and upper houses of the Russian parliament.
Putin presided over a grand ceremony in the Kremlin on Friday, where he signed annexation agreements with officials assigned to the four regions, despite criticism from Kyiv and Western powers.
The four regions form an important land corridor between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.
The five regions make up about 20% of Ukraine, but Russian forces do not have full control over Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Moscow did not say which parts of these territories were annexed.
source: Noticias
