Russia ratified the documents on the annexation of the occupied territories of Ukraine

Yesterday, October 3, the State Duma of Russia ratified the treaties on the entry of the occupied so-called “DPR” and “LPR”, as well as parts of the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation, passing the relevant laws.

From September 23 to 27, pseudo-referendums on joining Russia were held in the temporarily captured parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. In all the occupied territories of our country, the Russian occupiers claim that “support” for joining Russia gained more than 97% of votes.

The Russian Federation emphasized that the so-called “L/DPR” and Zaporizhia region “are part of Russia in their administrative borders”, and Kherson region – with two districts of Mykolaiv region, in which a pseudo-referendum was allegedly held.

Today, October 4, the members of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation ratified agreements on the “admission into the Russian Federation” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and the occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine. All four documents were unanimously approved by the senators.

Ukraine, the 27 countries of the European Union, the G7 member countries, NATO and the United States condemned Russia’s attempt to annex Ukrainian territories, emphasizing its illegality and calling on the international community to “reject this illegal annexation unconditionally.”

“‎We will never recognize this illegal annexation. These decisions are void and cannot have any legal force. Crimea, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk are Ukraine. We call on all states and international organizations to unconditionally reject this illegal annexation,” the EU states said in a joint statement.

In response to the illegal referendums, Volodymyr Zelenskyi urgently convened a meeting of the National Security Council, as a result of which Ukraine submitted an application for accelerated accession to the North Atlantic Alliance. The President of Ukraine also stated that he will not negotiate with Russia while Putin is the President of the Russian Federation.

“It is obvious that this is impossible with this Russian president. He does not know what dignity and honesty are. Therefore, we are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but with another Russian president,” Zelenskyy said.

Currently, a third of NATO member countries have supported Ukraine’s accession to the Alliance. These are Canada, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia and North Macedonia, whose presidents issued a joint statement.

Tags: Ukraine, Russia, Luhansk region, war, Donetsk region, Kherson region