About an hour after the end of Putin’s annexation speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published a video in which he announced that Kyiv is submitting an official request “in a quick procedure” to join the NATO alliance. He promised that “we will liberate the entire territory of our country from the hands of the enemy – the enemy not only of Ukraine, But also of himself, of humanity, law and justice.” Zelensky responded to Putin’s words that he suggests Ukraine return to the negotiating table, saying that he will not discuss with the Russians as long as Putin is the president: “We are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but with another president of Russia “.
“We will work to increase security in the new areas and defend our land with all the power and means at our disposal,” Putin clarified, hinting again at the possibility of using nuclear weapons. “Our brothers and sisters in Ukraine are part of our people.” At the same time, Putin called on Ukraine to return to talks with Russia: “We call on the regime in Kiev to immediately stop the hostile actions and return to the negotiating table – but we will not discuss the choice of the people in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. This choice has already been made. Russia will not betray them.”
The Russian president said that “the West continues to try to find ways to weaken Russia and is waging a hybrid war against us.” The West blamed Russia for the leaks from the Nord Stream gas pipelines, and Putin pointed an accusing finger in the other direction. “The sanctions were not enough for the Anglo-Saxons, so they switched to sabotage. It’s hard to believe, but it’s a fact that they organized the explosions in the gas pipelines.” He tried to rally public opinion in his country against the West and said, among other things: “We are witnessing pure Satanism. Do you want your children to have the possibility of sex reassignment surgery?”
In his speech – which lasted more than half an hour and in which he attacked the West non-stop – Putin said that Russia is not trying to re-establish the Soviet Union, but continued to threaten: “Russia will defend its values and the homeland”. After a series of threats from his associate, former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, regarding the use of nuclear weapons – Putin mentioned that “the United States twice used nuclear weapons in Japan. It created a precedent in the use of nuclear weapons.”
Immediately after the announcement of the annexation, the European Union published a strongly condemning message saying that it “strongly rejects and unequivocally condemns the illegal annexation by Russia of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions”.
Hundreds of senior Russian officials arrived at the event in the Kremlin and waited sitting in their chairs for long minutes before Putin’s arrival, quite late. Patriarch Kirill – the head of the Russian Orthodox Church – is sick with Corona and is not present. In preparation for the announcement, a stage was set up in Red Square in Moscow, where performances were also held. In addition, billboards with the inscription: “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson – Russia!” were placed yesterday in Moscow. The leaders appointed by the Kremlin to control the four districts arrived in Moscow, and they also signed the agreement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified earlier that an attack against the territories that will be annexed will henceforth be considered a “direct attack against Russia”, and yesterday Russian government officials said that all four districts will from the moment of annexation be part of Moscow’s “nuclear umbrella”. This is after last week Dmitry Medvedev, the former President of Russia and a close associate of Putin, threatened that his country will resolutely defend the territories that will be annexed – and will be ready to use any weapon at its disposal – including nuclear weapons. Throughout the war, Russia made a number of implicit threats regarding the possibility of using nuclear weapons, and the words of Medvedev, who serves as the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, caused concern in the West.
As mentioned, at the same time as Putin’s speech, the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a warning against conscription into the Russian army for Israelis entering Russia. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to bring to the public’s attention that an Israeli citizen who also holds Russian citizenship and who enters, stays or will stay in the territory of the Russian Federation, is subject to the law and regulations in Russia – including decisions concerning the recruitment of citizens to the Russian army and the possibility of leaving the territory of the country,” the travel warning reads. “Citizens of Israel who hold Russian citizenship are asked to take this information into account when planning their travels and staying in Russian territories.”
On the battlefield, Putin’s army is headed for another embarrassing defeat. Military experts stated that the Ukrainian forces are getting close to liberating the city of Leyman in Donetsk, and today the Russians admitted that their forces in the city are “partially encircled”. According to estimates, about 5,500 Russian fighters are hiding in the city, which has been under Moscow’s control since May.
Hours before Putin’s announcement, at least 25 people were killed and 50 injured in a Russian missile attack on a convoy of vehicles in the region of the city of Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine. The governor of the province, Oleksandr Strauch, said that “all the dead are civilians”. Zaporizhia is home to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, and the West has often expressed concern about possible damage to the two reactors operating there as a result of the bombings taking place there. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said following the attack that Russia is a “bloodthirsty terrorist scum”.
This week, the fabricated “referendums” ended in the Russian occupation zones, and many countries in the world – including Israel – announced that they would not recognize the annexation since these are votes whose results are dictated from above and known in advance. Following the annexation, the US and the European Union are expected to impose additional sanctions on Russia. Even some of Putin’s staunchest allies – such as Serbia and Kazakhstan – have announced that they will not recognize the annexation.
Ukraine and countries in the West claimed that these were staged referendums in which residents were subjected to threats. “Under threats and even at gunpoint, people were taken from their homes and workplaces, to vote in transparent polling stations,” German Foreign Minister Annalina Barbuk said yesterday. “It’s the opposite of fair and free elections, it’s the opposite of peace.” According to the authorities in the occupied areas, 93% of the residents of Zaporizhia supported the annexation. In Bharson the number of supporters reached 87%, and in Luhansk and Donetsk 98% and 99% respectively – clearly unbelievable rates. This was also the case in 2014, when more than 90% of voters in the Crimean peninsula supported annexation to Russia.
The four annexed districts make up 15% of Ukraine’s territory. In the meantime, Zelensky summoned the members of the National Security Council and his Defense Council to an emergency meeting that also took place today – in which they discussed the “continuation of the plan for the liberation of the occupied territories”.
The announcement of the annexation comes after a series of defeats on the battlefield in Ukraine, mainly in the Kharkov region in the north-east of the country. The Ukrainian forces continue to advance in the territory of Kharkiv, while at the same time liberating territories that were occupied in Donetsk – one of the districts that Russia will declare today about its annexation.
About 40% of Donetsk is in the hands of Ukraine, and intense fighting is going on in the region. Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Russia should keep fighting until it captures the entire district. Even in Kherson province, Kyiv continues to carry out attacks to liberate settlements. As part of the counter-attack, the Ukrainian army reported today on airstrikes against the Russian army, in four centers near the city of Kherson.
Following the developments in the war, last week Putin announced the recruitment of reserve soldiers – for the first time since World War II. The Kremlin decided to recruit 300,000 reserve soldiers to augment the forces in Ukraine, and since the announcement, thousands of Russians who do not want to enlist have fled their country.