Vladimir Putin has signed the ratification of annexing Ukraine’s 4 regions, the government website says. These will form new regions within Russia. Amendments to the Constitution will also be made. Putin has also formally appointed the governors of the annexed regions, all interim.
Russia’s Parliament ratified the annexation papers on 3 October (lower chamber) and 4 October (upper chamber).
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov specified that Russia would continue to “consult the population” of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions regarding their borders within Russia. There are no referendums planned on this issue, however.
The occupation “governments” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (“DPR” and “LPR”), as well as the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine, published the final results of the “referenda” on joining Russia on 28 September. The only country other than Russia to recognise the “referenda” so far is North Korea.
