Russia willto consultThe population will determine the borders of the annexed Kherson and Zaporizhia regions in southern Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press conference on Monday, October 3.
“We will continue to consult with the population of these marzessaid Dmitry Peskov, answering the question whether Russia annexes all these regions or only those parts that it occupies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin formalized the annexation of Kherson and Zaporozhye, as well as two other Ukrainian regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, during a ceremony in the Kremlin on Friday.
Donetsk and Luhansk regions were completely annexed, Moscow recognized the sovereignty of the pro-Russian separatist regimes in late February, just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But the Kremlin said last week that the borders of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions should be “clarified“.
According to the American ISW (Institute for the Study of War) analytical center, Moscow controls 72% of the territory of the Zaporizhia region. And about 88% of Kherson and its capital of the same name are under Russian occupation, according to the same source.
Russia hastily organized so-called referendums in all four of Ukraine’s regions, widely condemned by Kiev and its Western allies, after a Ukrainian counter-offensive forced the Russian army to cede thousands of square kilometers of territory.
Source: Le Figaro
