Putin's military is on the retreat as he formalizes annexation
Russian President Vladimir Putin formalized his claimed annexation of four Ukrainian regions Wednesday, even as his troops were in retreat across that territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to “stabilize” the situation in the four regions of Ukraine whose annexation he formalized on Wednesday, as Ukrainian advances exposed the Kremlin’s struggle to match its political theater with the reality on the battlefield.
Kyiv said that its forces were making rapid advances in the south and the east, retaking land after Putin escalated his seven-month war with the illegal annexation, renewed nuclear threats and a military call-up plagued by issues.
In a last symbolic step, Putin signed the decrees to legislate the absorption of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions early Wednesday after the two chambers of Russia’s parliament ratified the plan earlier this week.
Putin appeared on Wednesday at a televised meeting with teachers. Gavriil Grigorov / AFP - Getty ImagesResidents of the annexed regions will immediately be recognized as citizens of Russia, the state news agency Tass said Wednesday, while the transition period for the annexation will last until 2026.
Kyiv and its Western allies have decried the process as a “sham,” while it remains unclear exactly where the borders for this newly claimed land will be established.
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