Pro-Kremlin officials have said three parts of occupied Ukrainian territory have chosen to join Russia, following votes that Kyiv and the West dismissed as “sham referendums”.
Voting started in the provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia last Thursday, shortly after a series of humiliating military setbacks for Moscow. In recent weeks, Ukraine has recaptured thousands of square kilometres of land, most notably in the northeast regions of Kharkiv.
