Putin defies international law as he signs treaty claiming to annex four regions of Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has signed laws claiming he is annexing four Ukrainian regions into Russia in defiance of international law.
The move illegally absorbs Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions into Russia, after widely-denounced referenda last week that the West rejected as a sham.
The Kremlin-orchestrated referenda are being used by Moscow as a pretext to claim to annex occupied regions of Ukraine with both houses of the Russian parliament ratifying treaties last week in the wake of the vote.
The illegal annexation could lead the eight-months long war into a dangerous new phase with Russia warning it could deploy nuclear weapons to defend what it considers its territory.
After the balloting, “the situation will radically change from the legal viewpoint, from the point of view of international law, with all the corresponding consequences for protection of those areas and ensuring their security,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The referenda ask residents whether they want the areas to be incorporated into Russia. The Kremlin portrayed them as free and fair and reflective of the people's desire for self-determination.
Tens of thousands of residents had already fled the regions where the Moscow-backed referendums are being held, with Russia claiming 95% of voters have shown support.
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Despite the Kremlin’s apparent political bravado, Putin's move comes as losses mount for Russia amid Ukrainian advances.
Over the weekend, Russian troops pulled back from the key city of Lyman, which they had used as a logistics and transport hub, to avoid being encircled by Ukrainian forces.
On Sunday, Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, declared the city was "completely clear" of Russian troops.
The city's liberation gave Ukraine a key vantage point for moving closer into Russian-held territories and underscored the disarray Putin faces as he attempts to draw up new borders. His troops abandoned Lyman so rapidly that they left the bodies of their comrades in the streets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ruled out talks with Russia, declaring that negotiations with Putin are impossible after his decision to take over the regions.
Speaking in his nightly video address on Tuesday, Mr Zelenskyy said dozens of settlements had been retaken “from the Russian pseudo-referendum this week alone” in the four annexed regions. In the Kherson region, he listed eight villages that Ukrainian forces reclaimed, “and this is far from a complete list. Our soldiers do not stop.”
After reclaiming control of Lyman in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian forces pushed further east and may have gone as far as the border of the neighbouring Luhansk region as they advanced toward Kreminna, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said in its latest analysis.
On Monday, Ukrainian forces also scored significant gains in the south, raising flags over the villages of Arkhanhelske, Myroliubivka, Khreshchenivka, Mykhalivka and Novovorontsovka.