The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, on Monday ratified the annexation treaties of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and the Kherson and Zaporijia regions, all on Ukrainian territory, signed on Friday by President Vladimir Putin.
The ratification laws were passed one by one and received unanimous support from Russian deputies, who welcomed the outcome of the electronic vote.
Putin in Moscow on Friday formalized the annexation of these four Ukrainian regions, areas partially occupied by Russia in eastern and southern Ukraine, after holding referendums, which much of the international community consider illegal.
The four regions represent about 15% of Ukraine’s territory, or about 100,000 square kilometers, slightly more than the size of countries like Hungary and Portugal or slightly less than Bulgaria, according to the Spanish agency EFE.
The Russian Federation, which has more than 147 million inhabitants, will exceed 150 million with these annexations.
Many of the countries and organizations of the international community condemned these annexations, saying they were the result of “false referenda”, and vowing not to recognize any validity of this decision.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on Feb. 24 has already resulted in more than 13 million people fleeing — more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.4 million to European countries — according to the latest data from the UN, which ranks this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the generality of the international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and impose it on Russia. political and economic sanctions.
Source: DN
