President Vladimir V. Putin will sign agreements on Friday to add four new territories to the Russian Federation, the Kremlin said on Thursday. He has outlined plans to annex those Ukrainian regions after referendums that have been widely acknowledged as a sham.
Authorities in Moscow put up billboards and a giant video screen in Red Square as the Kremlin prepared a show designed to lend an air of legitimacy to its annexation of the Ukrainian regions into the Russian Federation. The move has generated international condemnation.
In an overnight speech, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine reiterated his denunciation of the votes and said he was working with foreign leaders to coordinate a strong international response.
“Our key task now is to coordinate actions with partners in response to sham referenda organized by Russia and all related threats,” Mr. Zelensky said.
Billboards in Moscow’s Red Square proclaimed: “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson — Russia!” naming the regions in southern and eastern Ukraine that voted in the last week. All four regions are partially occupied by Russian troops and the referendums, put on hastily in the face of military setbacks for the Kremlin, returned big majorities in favor of joining Russia.
