Four areas of Russian-occupied Ukraine have started to hold referendums, which have been condemned as illegitimate by Kyiv and are seen as paving the way for Moscow to formally annex some 15 percent of Ukrainian territory.
Voting in Luhansk and Donetsk, self-proclaimed “independent republics” controlled by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014, as well as in southern Kherson and Zaporizhia provinces will continue until September 27.
