Russia is making moves toward annexing parts of Ukraine. The leaders of 4 separatist regions say they'll hold referendums on whether to formally join Russia, starting as soon as Friday.
A boy rides a bicycle near an armored tank with a Ukrainian flag in the town of Izium, recently liberated by Ukrainian armed forces, in the Kharkiv region on Monday. Russian troops occupied Izium on April 1.Oleksii Chumachenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
"The long-suffering people of the Donbas deserve to be part of a Great Country, that they have always considered their homeland," wrote Denis Pushillin, the separatist leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, tells NPR that Russia doesn't have the capability to host an annexation vote in the parts of Ukraine it occupies.
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