Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, stated that today President Vladimir Putin will sign an agreement on the accession of the new territories in Russia. The signing will occur at 3:00 pm at the solemn St. George’s Hall in Moscow. Deputies from the lower house of the parliament are also invited to the ceremony. According to Peskov, first, there will be a voluminous speech, and after that, a big rally concert to be conducted in the middle of Moscow.
The documents signed by Putin and the “leaders” of the ostensible Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as the Moscow-installed wartime leaders of the occupied portions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, will almost certainly be ratified at meetings of the State Duma and the Federation Council at the beginning of next week.
The military-civilian administration of occupied territories from southern Ukraine had not declared “independence” and had no legal guidelines. After the declaration of Putin on February 21, he recognized the DPR and LPR as independent states. However, this announcement came just days before sending the army to Ukraine.
Referendums organized by Russia in four occupied regions of Ukraine from September 23 to 27 were harshly criticized by the U.S, Europe and many others. They declared that the referendums were not to be recognized. The decision made by the U.S and EU nations does not affect Putin, as his intentions toward Ukraine still haven’t changed.
According to the law “On acceptance into the Russian Federation,” Russia must first acknowledge Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as autonomous republics and specify the precise borders because not all those areas are occupied. The president then executes international agreements, the legality of which must be determined by the Russian Constitutional Court.