Russia on Friday began staging U.N.-condemned “votes” on annexing the roughly fifth of neighboring Ukraine it occupies in a step that marks a new escalation in the spiraling conflict between President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. and its allies.
Russian state media reported overwhelming support for accession to Russia in the four regions that its troops partially control, according to an opinion poll this week. In Moscow, officials vowed to move quickly to finalize the absorption of the territories.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the votes a “violation of the U.N. Charter and international law.”
