Russian President Putin declares the annexation of 4 regions of Ukraine amid global outcry

The West has blasted the annexation of occupied Ukrainian territory by Russia as an illegitimate land grab after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties on Friday. The president of Ukraine responded by suddenly submitting an application to join the NATO armed alliance.

Putin’s action and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s signing of what he called a “accelerated” NATO membership application sent the two leaders racing toward each other, raising the possibility of a full-scale battle between Russia and the West.

At a Kremlin signing ceremony, Putin renewed his warning to use “all available means” to protect the recently acquired parts of Ukraine. He again raged angrily against the West, charging that the United States and its allies wanted to destroy Russia.

Zelenskyy then organised his own signing ceremony in Kyiv and made a video of him signing what he claimed to be a genuine application for NATO membership.

Putin has made it quite obvious that any possibility of Ukraine joining the military alliance is one of his red lines and has used it as justification for his invasion, which has been going on for eight months and is the largest land conflict in Europe since World War II.

Putin urged Ukraine to participate in peace talks in his speech, but he emphasised he would not bring up the subject of returning occupied territory. There would be no negotiations with Putin, according to Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian leader declared, “We are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but … with another president of Russia.”

Putin accused the West of inciting hostilities to transform Russia into a “colony” and a “crowd of soulless slaves” at his signing ceremony in the opulent St. George’s Hall of the Kremlin. Tensions in the battle, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries, were already at levels unseen since the Cold War when he took a more rigid stance.

An avalanche of condemnation from world leaders, particularly those from the Group of Seven leading countries, followed, and the United States and the United Kingdom imposed additional sanctions.

“Make no mistake: These actions have no legitimacy.” stated Vice President Joe Biden of the United States in reference to Putin’s annexation of the provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

“America and its allies are not going to be intimidated by Putin and his reckless words and threats,” Biden added, noting that the Russian leader “can’t seize his neighbor’s territory and get away with it.”

Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the UN, denounced the Russian action in a statement on Thursday.

He declared, “The U.N. Charter is clear.” “Any annexation of a state’s territory by another state resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the Principles of the U.N. Charter and international law.”

A U.S. and Albanian resolution denouncing the “sham” Russian referendums and Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory was approved by the 15-nation Security Council at the UN on Friday. Due to Russia’s veto, the vote was defeated.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, repeated what Guterres said on Thursday, stating: “Putin miscalculated the resolve of the Ukrainians. The Ukrainian people have demonstrated loud and clear: they will never accept being subjugated to Russian rule. And so, the United States will never recognise any territory Russia attempts to seize or allegedly annex as anything other than part of Ukraine .”

The 193-nation General Assembly will now take up the demand for Russian forces to leave Ukrainian land, including the four regions that Russia is now claiming as its own.

It was “the largest attempted annexation of European territory by force since the Second World War,” according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Putin’s move to grab more land—Russia now claims sovereignty over 15% of Ukraine—marks “the most serious escalation since the start of the war,” according to him, and the conflict is at “a pivotal moment.” Regarding Zelenskyy’s request for fast-track NATO membership, Stoltenberg was ambivalent, saying that the alliance’s leaders “support Ukraine’s right to choose its own course and to decide what kind of security arrangements it wants to be a part of.”

Zelenskyy’s approach to the military alliance, according to Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, amounts to “begging NATO to accelerate the start of World War III.”

In spite of Putin’s advice that Kyiv shouldn’t attempt to retake what it has lost, Zelenskyy promised to continue fighting.

“The entire territory of our country will be liberated from this enemy,” he said. “Russia already knows this. It feels our power.”

Since approval required the unanimous consent of all members, the “accelerated” NATO application’s immediate effects were unclear. Ukraine has, however, already moved closer to the alliance’s orbit as a result of receiving Western weapons.

“De facto, we have already proven compatibility with alliance standards,” Zelenskyy said. “We trust each other, we help each other, and we protect each other.”

The Kremlin ceremony took place three days after the completion of Moscow-orchestrated “referendums” on joining Russia in the seized territories, which Kyiv and the West denounced as a blatant land grab conducted under duress and based on lies. Putin stressed that Ukraine approach the elections “with respect” in his vehement statement.

The leaders of the occupied territories who had been appointed by Moscow came around Putin once the event was over, joined hands, and chanted “Russia! Russia!” with the crowd.

As he charged that the United States and its allies wanted to destroy Russia, Putin struck a furious figure. He claimed that the West operated “as a parasite” and “to rob the entire world” with its riches and advanced technology.

He declared, “History has called us to a battlefield to fight for our people, for the grand historic Russia, for future generations.”

Since the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine declared their independence in 2014, a few weeks after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, Moscow has supported them. Soon after Putin dispatched soldiers into Ukraine on February 24, Russia seized control of the southern Kherson area as well as a portion of the adjoining Zaporizhzhia.

The annexation accords will receive final approval from Putin when the Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament approves them at its meeting the following week.

people waved Russian flags. According to Russian media, state-run company and institution personnel were instructed to show up, while students were permitted to miss class.

In an effort to prevent further military defeats that may endanger his 22-year rule, Putin made the decision and partially mobilised the troops. He appears to be trying to intimidate Ukraine and its Western backers by formulating Russia’s successes by threatening to escalate the conflict if they don’t back down, despite the fact that they have shown no signs of doing so.

Russia has taken over substantial portions of the Luhansk and Kherson areas, over 60% of the Donetsk region, and the Zaporizhzhia region, where it has taken control of the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe.

However, news of the impending Ukrainian encirclement of the eastern city of Lyman has the Kremlin on the edge of another painful military defeat. Taking it back could give Ukraine the opportunity to advance well into one of the annexations, Luhansk.

“It looks quite pathetic. Ukrainians are doing something, taking steps in the real material world, while the Kremlin is building some kind of a virtual reality, incapable of responding in the real world,” former Kremlin speechwriter-turned-analyst Abbas Gallyamov said, adding that “the Kremlin cannot offer anything comforting to the Russians.”

In its deadliest barrage in weeks, Russia attacked Ukrainian cities with missiles, rockets, and suicide drones, with one strike in the capital of the Zaporizhzhia region killing 30 people and injuring 88 more.

According to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, anti-aircraft missiles that Russia has repurposed as ground-attack weapons rain down on people waiting in cars to cross into Russian-occupied territory so they can bring family members back across front lines during the Zaporizhzhia attack.

Ukrainian military were blamed by Russian-installed officials in Zaporizhzhia, but no proof was provided.

Deep craters were made by the strike, and passengers were killed as shrapnel tore through the humanitarian convoy. Buildings close by were destroyed. Later, trash bags, blankets, and, in the case of one victim, a blood-soaked towel, were used to conceal the bodies.

Moscow’s supremacy on the battlefield has been undermined by an onslaught by Ukraine. As Ukrainian forces advance with the pincer assault on Lyman, a crucial hub for Russian military activities in the Donbas and a prized target, their control on the Luhansk region appears to be eroding. Denis Pushilin, the Donetsk rebel commander backed by Russia, claimed that Ukrainian forces had “half-encircled” Lyman. Ukraine still has a large presence in the nearby Donetsk region.

There have also been reports of Russian strikes in Dnipro. Regional Governor Valentyn Reznichenko reported that five persons had been hurt and at least three had died.

The southern Ukrainian cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa, according to Ukraine’s air force, were targeted by Russian suicide drones that had been provided by Iran.