Russia’s parliament was briefed by Putin on plans to annex four Ukraine regions.
The head of Russia’s lower chamber of parliament announced on Friday that President Vladimir Putin had informed the house of plans to officially annex four regions of Ukraine by admitting them to Russia.
Putin ally and State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on the Duma’s official Telegram channel that the president had notified the parliament of the regions’ official requests.
Russia had held what it called referendums in four partially-occupied areas of Ukraine – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and said they had produced overwhelming majorities in favour of joining Russia.
The votes, according to Kyiv and Western powers, were not representative and breached international law given that they were coerced.
Later on Friday, Putin was scheduled to preside over a signing ceremony with the Russian-installed heads of the four regions in the Kremlin.
