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President Vladimir Putin will formally annex four partially Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine on Friday, the Kremlin has said, a move already rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies as illegal and meaningless.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a ceremony to mark the incorporation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia into Russia would take place at 3pm Moscow time (12:00 GMT).
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced a partial military mobilization in Russia, putting the country’s people and economy on a wartime footing as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine continues.
In a rare prerecorded televised announcement, Putin said the West “wants to destroy our country” and claimed the West had tried to “turn Ukraine’s people into cannon fodder,” in comments translated by Reuters, repeating earlier claims in which he has blamed Western nations for starting a proxy war with Russia.
Ukraine’s counteroffensives in the country’s south and northeast are gaining momentum, President Zelenskyy said, retaking territory and pressuring Russian troops. Ukrainian forces have recaptured 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of land, he said in his nightly address.
Over the summer, Ukraine had said it would launch a counteroffensive to retake the southern city of Kherson, but had not mentioned any plans to counterattack in the northeastern Kharkiv region or elsewhere in the east. Analysts say Kyiv could now be taking advantage of Russia’s decision to redeploy troops to southern Ukraine.
A surge in fighting on the southern front line and a Ukrainian claim of new attacks on Russian positions fed speculation Tuesday that a long-expected counteroffensive has started to try to turn the tide of the war.
But Ukrainian officials warned against excessive optimism in a war that has seen similar expectations of changing fortunes before, and the Russian defense ministry claimed an attempt by Ukraine’s troops to launch an offensive had failed and caused heavy casualties.
The relevant statement was made by Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Head Oleh Syniehubov on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“During the night, Russians launched massive rocket attacks on Kharkiv. Russian terrorists again targeted peaceful ‘sleeper’ neighborhoods with civilians,” Syniehubov wrote.