Vladimir Putin
Early Saturday, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin stated that inhabitants of Moscow-held regions in Ukraine confirmed their desire to be part of Russia in recent local elections, repeating referendums last year that Western countries condemned as unconstitutional.
Putin stated in a video speech published on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s controversial announcement that it would annex four areas of Ukraine that the decision to join Russia was strengthened by this month’s municipal elections, which returned politicians who supported Russia’s annexation.
“Just as a year ago in the historic referendums, people again expressed and confirmed their will to be with Russia and supported their countrymen who, through their labor and real actions, proved worthy of the people’s trust”, he stated in a video with slightly over four minutes released.
Putin reiterated that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 protected people from nationalist authorities in Kyiv who had unleashed a full-scale civil war and terror against those who think differently.
Parts of four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia – were legally integrated into Russia on September 30, 2022, following referendums that Moscow said yielded huge majorities in favor.
Western countries denounced the results as worthless and unlawful annexation, based on voter pressure.
Russian soldiers do not fully control any of the regions.
Ukrainian soldiers, aided by Western weapons, resisted initial Russian advances on Kyiv, and the fighting shifted to Russian-held territory in the east and south. In June, Ukrainian soldiers launched a counteroffensive to retake those territories.
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