Russia is set to annex four regions of Ukraine after referendums in each region approved the measure — Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. The regions in eastern Ukraine have been under Russian occupation and will formally become part of Russia in a ceremony at the Kremlin, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in attendance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Western leaders have denounced the referendums as “illegal, forced and rigged.”
