KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed laws absorbing 4 Ukrainian regions into Russia, a move that finalizes the annexation carried out in defiance of international law.
The documents were published on a Russian government website on Wednesday morning.
Earlier this week, each houses of the Russian parliament ratified treaties making the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions a part of Russia. The formalities followed Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums” within the 4 regions that Ukraine and the West have rejected as a sham.
The move comes as Moscow’s war in Ukraine has entered a recent, more dangerous phase. Russia faces mounting setbacks on the battlefield, with Ukrainian forces retaking increasingly land within the east and within the south — the very regions Moscow has pushed to annex.
The borders of the territories Russia is claiming still remain unclear, however the Kremlin has vowed to defend Russia’s territory — the newly absorbed regions, too — with any means at its disposal, including nuclear weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the annexation by announcing a fast-track application to affix NATO and formally ruling out talks with Russia. Zelensky’s decree, released Tuesday, declares that holding negotiations with Putin has grow to be unattainable after his decision to take over the 4 regions of Ukraine.
On the battlefield on Wednesday morning, multiple explosions rocked Bila Tserkva, setting off fires at what were described as infrastructure facilities in the town to the south of the capital Kyiv, regional leader Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.
Early indications are that the town was attacked by so-called “kamikaze” or suicide drones, he said.
Bila Tserkva is about 50 miles south of Kyiv.
Russia has increasingly been using suicide drones in recent weeks, posing a recent challenge to Ukrainian defenses. The unmanned vehicles can stay aloft for long periods of time before diving into their targets and detonating their payload on the last moment.
Lots of the earlier attacks by the Iranian-made drones happened within the south of the country and never near the capital, which hasn’t been targeted for weeks.
In a later post, Kuleba said that a complete of six Shahed-136 drones struck the town, considered one of the most important within the region after Kyiv itself. One person was injured within the attacks.
Dozens of rescue staff were on the scene and still working to extinguish the fires hours after the attacks were reported, he said.
Ukrainian forces, within the meantime, continued to make gains within the south. Kyiv’s military said Wednesday they’ve recaptured more villages within the Kherson region as an element of their massive counteroffensive effort.
Operational Command South said that the Ukrainian flag has been raised above Liubymivka, Khreschenivka, Zolota Balka, Biliaivka, Ukrainka, Velyka and Mala Oleksandrivka villages.