Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized the independence of two more Ukrainian regions, a precursor to their annexation by Russia. Russia's plan to annex more of Ukraine is an escalation of the war and is expected to isolate the Kremlin further.
“You do not have to die in Ukraine,” he said, wearing a black hoodie that read in English “I’m Ukrainian,” and standing in front of a plaque in Kyiv memorializing what he called a Dagestani hero. He called on the ethnic minorities to resist mobilization.
Ukraine’s Western supporters have described the stage-managed referendums on whether to live under Russian rule as a bald-faced land grab based on lies. They say some people were forced to vote at gunpoint in an election without independent observers on territory from which thousands of residents have fled or been forcibly deported.
Lipavsky described the pro-Russia referendums as “theater play” and insisted the regions remain “Ukrainian territory.”German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Russia’s moves were “the opposite of peace.” — Moscow-installed officials in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region reported that about 30 people were killed when the Ukrainian military shelled a refugee convoy.— A Russian rocket attack on Kramatorsk, an eastern Donetsk city that Ukraine still holds, wounded 11 people and inflicted damage, Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko said.
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