Putin signs laws on annexation as Kyiv takes back dozens of towns

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed laws formally absorbing four Ukrainian regions into Russia, even as its military struggles to control the territory that was illegally annexed.

The documents finalizing the annexation, carried out in defiance of international laws, were published on a Russian government website on Wednesday morning.

Both houses of the Russian parliament ratified treaties making the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions part of Russia. That followed Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums” in the four regions that Ukraine and the West have rejected as a sham. On the ground, Moscow's war in Ukraine has entered a new, more dangerous phase. Russia faces mounting setbacks, with Ukrainian forces retaking more and more land in the east and in the south — the very regions Moscow has pushed to annex.

Moscow’s hold on “annexed” territories (Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk) looks increasingly tenuous, with none of the regions fully occupied by Russian forces, and as Ukraine’s counteroffensives in the east and south maintain their momentum.

                                                                                                                           
Ukrainian troops reportedly advanced into the eastern Luhansk region, which Moscow illegally annexed last week. The province was previously completely under Russian control, but its Ukrainian governor Serhiy Haidai said: "Several settlements have already been liberated from the Russian army"

Kyiv says it has captured another key city in the southern Kherson region, where its forces have been steadily advancing this week More than seven months into a war that has killed tens of thousands and triggered the biggest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis, Russia's most basic aims are still not achieved. In recent days, Russian forces have withdrawn from areas of eastern and southern Ukraine where they have been under severe pressure from a Ukrainian counteroffensive which has prompted criticism from senior Putin allies of the war machine.
 

Together with Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, Putin's total claim amounts to more than 22 per cent  of Ukrainian territory, though the exact borders of the four regions he is annexing are still yet to be finally clarified.

Aid to Ukraine may cause direct military clash: Russia warns US

Russia’s envoyn to US, Anatoly Antonov, said it was an “immediate threat” to Moscow, describing the US as “a participant of the conflict”. Earlier, the US announced another $625m (£547m) in military aid to Ukraine.

Advanced US weaponry has been credited with helping Ukraine build momentum against occupying Russian forces. Ukrainian troops have made significant advances in the country's north-east and south in recent weeks.

The latest US hardware includes another four of the high-precision Himars multiple rocket systems.  In all, Washington has committed nearly $17bn in military support for Kyiv since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on 24 February. (Reuters)