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Putin Has Big Plans to Steal Ukraine’s Territory for Good

Soldiers with the Ukrainian army’s 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade train with a DShK 12 mm machine gun during their training cycle at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center on the International Peacekeeping and Security Center near Yavoriv, Ukraine on Sept. 6. Yavoriv CTC Observer Coach Trainers, along with mentors from the Polish army and the U.S. Army's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, led the training for soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade during the battalion's rotation through the Yavoriv CTC. The 45th is deployed to Ukraine as part of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine, an international coalition dedicated to improving the CTC's training capacity and building professionalism within the Ukrainian army. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Eric McDonough, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team)
Soldiers with the Ukrainian army’s 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade train with a DShK 12 mm machine gun during their training cycle at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center on the International Peacekeeping and Security Center near Yavoriv, Ukraine on Sept. 6. Yavoriv CTC Observer Coach Trainers, along with mentors from the Polish army and the U.S. Army's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, led the training for soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade during the battalion's rotation through the Yavoriv CTC. The 45th is deployed to Ukraine as part of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine, an international coalition dedicated to improving the CTC's training capacity and building professionalism within the Ukrainian army. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Eric McDonough, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team)

Russia Will Annex Four Parts of Ukraine Tomorrow: Following a series of illegal referendums in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Thursday that Russia would formally sign agreements to annex the four regions. It comes after the Kremlin claims to have received as much as 99% support from local people in the referendums, in some parts of the four regions, for leaving Ukraine and joining the Russian Federation.

The unbelievably high amount of support for Russia in the referendums can be blamed on the fact that millions of Ukrainians have already abandoned the war-torn regions, and many Ukrainians simply refused to take part – or the results were just made up, which seems highly possible.

On Thursday, Peskov said that Russia will hold a signing ceremony on Friday at 3 pm Moscow time. The ceremony would focus on “agreements on the accession of new territories into the Russian Federation,” Peskov claimed.

The problem? Russia does not only not have full control over these four regions, but Ukrainian forces have made significant dents in the territories presently controlled by Russia within each region. Arguably the only territory Russia can still claim to have a reasonable amount of control over is Luhansk, but with Ukrainian troops making gains every single day, it’s potentially only a matter of time before Russian forces are completely forced out of some of these regions that will be annexed by tomorrow.

The statement from Peskov did not confirm whether Russia will formally declare the four Ukrainian regions as Russian territory by tomorrow, or whether the ceremony simply indicates that the process is underway.

Peskov also told reporters that the Russian president plans to make a “substantial speech” during the ceremony, where he will sign “treaties.” The ceremony will also be attended by Kremlin-appointed officials.

Zelenskyy Requests Urgent Meeting

As Russia moves ahead with plans to annex four regions of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy spokesperson Serhiy Nykyforov confirmed the planned meeting in a post on Facebook, writing that the president had requested an “urgent meeting” scheduled for tomorrow.

Nykyforov also promised to reveal other details about the meeting, including the agenda, later in the day.

The meeting will likely discuss not just the illegal referendums held in four Ukrainian regions, but also how they expect Russia will respond to continued fighting in these regions after they are annexed or “officially” declared part of the Russian Federation.

Written By

Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive's Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.

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