Putin marks Ukraine regions’ annexation
RUSSIAN president Vladimir Putin has insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions illegally annexed by Moscow a year ago “made their choice to be with their fatherland”.
In an address released in the early hours to mark the first anniversary of the annexation, Mr Putin insisted it was carried out “in full accordance with international norms”.
He also claimed that residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions had again expressed their desire to be part of Russia in local elections earlier this month, in which Russia’s Central Election Commission said the country’s ruling party won the most votes.
The West has denounced the referendum votes carried out last year and the recent ballots as a sham. The votes were held as Russian authorities attempted to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control. A concert was held in Red Square on Friday to mark the anniversary, but Mr Putin did not participate.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, air defences shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Vinnytsia regional governor Serhii Borzov said air defences shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but a “powerful fire” broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.
Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said yesterday that “a possible unauthorised entry” into its national air space occurred overnight amid the bombardment.
It said the radar surveillance system of the Romanian army detected the possible incursion into the national air space of the Nato member, with a signal detected towards the city of Galati, close to the border with Ukraine.
“At this moment, no objects have been identified that fell from the air space on to the national territory,” the statement read, adding that Nato allies were informed in real time and searches will continue.
Emergency authorities issued text message alerts overnight to residents living in the counties of Galati and Tulcea, after detecting what the defence ministry said was “groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory” near the border.
In recent weeks, Romania has found drone fragments on its soil from the war next door at least three times as Russian forces carry out sustained attacks on Ukraine’s Danube ports.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said yesterday that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.
In other news, Ukraine has hosted an international defence industry conference as part of a government effort to increase weapons production in the country to repel Russia’s invasion and reduce foreign dependence on arms deliveries.
The event marked a new development in support of Ukraine, with the previous focus being on the delivery of weapons, repair of damaged equipment, and military training of Ukrainian soldiers.
The West denounced referendum votes carried out last year and recent ballots as a sham