Russian President Vladimir Putin officially confirmed the annexation of four occupied Ukrainian regions during a speech on Friday. These are Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk. “There are four new Russian regions. This is the will of millions of people,” he said.
According to Putin, the regions are mainly home to ethnic Russians who fought for Russia. He says these residents have been “held hostage” by the “cruel Ukrainian government”.
He goes on to say that “even in these areas” many people were separated from the “motherland” against their will when the Soviet Union disintegrated in the early 1990s. Putin therefore sees the inhabitants as part of the Russian people. The president insists that he has no intention of rebuilding the Soviet Union.
The Russian president is asking his Ukrainian counterpart to stop the counter-offensive in the areas. Putin, on the other hand, wants to return to the negotiating table. This possibility seems null and void, as Ukraine is successful with the counter-offensive.
Kiev confirmed its liberation plans on Friday. Summit meetings are taking place today in the Ukrainian capital. “We will protect the areas with all our resources,” warns Putin. He also criticizes the attitude of the West, which offers full support to Ukraine: “You are afraid of Russian culture”.
Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra calls the Russian ambassador to the Netherlands to account for the annexation of the Ukrainian territories. “Our message is clear: Ukrainian territory must and will remain Ukrainian territory.”
The Kremlin has not yet cleared the borders of the occupied provinces
Earlier in the day, the Kremlin released a statement detailing the national borders it wants to keep for Donetsk and Luhansk. It concerns the entire provinces, i.e. the borders that the self-proclaimed people’s republics themselves used in 2014.
The areas were not already completely in the hands of the separatists. However, Putin maintains the limits specified in 2014. For Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, the borders have yet to be established.
“We regard the attacks on those regions as attacks on Russian territory,” the Kremlin warned. In short, it reminds us that Putin can deploy additional resources in attacks on his country. For weeks, therefore, military experts warn of a nuclear threat. According to the Kremlin, this is not the case.
The Kremlin held bogus referendums on Russia’s accession
Fake referendums were held in the four regions last week. People were forced to vote to join Russia and the result was already determined: the areas remained almost exclusively Russian ethnic.
The West, including great powers like the United States, does not recognize the results of the bogus referendums. Putin has a very different view: “People have made the choice of him and it is final.”
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