Russian President Putin signed decrees admitting the "independence" of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. He refers to the "results" of the pseudo-referendum.
“RIA Novosti” writes about it.
In his decrees, Putin refers to the "right to self-determination of peoples." In his opinion, the "peoples" of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions expressed their support for joining Russia in pseudo-referendums. Now Putin admitted these two regions as "independent".
This step is another formality on the way to Russiaʼs annexation of four Ukrainian regions: Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, although the Russian Federation does not fully control any of them. The next stage will be the official request of local collaborators to Putin with a request to join them to Russia, which he will satisfy. Next, the Russian parliament must pass the relevant "laws", and Putin will officially issue a decree on the annexation of the territories of Ukraine.
- On September 23, the Russian occupiers started so-called "referendums" in the captured parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. On September 27, the occupiers announced the results of their pseudo-referendums, everywhere — more than 87% were in favor of "joining" Russia.
- A number of countries have declared that they do not admit the results of these pseudo-referendums, Russia has promised sanctions.