The British Ministry of Defense says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to say that Ukrainian parts that Russia has taken over are now part of the Russian Federation during his speech to parliament on September 30.
The current referendums in these territories are set to end on September 27, according to the Defence Ministry’s daily Twitter briefing. “Russia’s officials almost definitely expect that any announcement of admission would be perceived as justification of the special military operation and would strengthen nationalistic support for the fight,” the report added.
The reports also came out on Tuesday, which was the last day of voting in Russian-held parts of Ukraine. The referendums are expected to be a pretext for Moscow’s annexation, which raises tensions between the Kremlin and the West because Russia has said it might use nuclear weapons.
The formal annexation of conquered sections of eastern Ukraine, which could happen as soon as Friday, ushers in a hazardous new phase in the seven-month conflict, with Russia telling the West that from then on, it will be protecting its own territory – and may resort to nuclear weapons to do so.
Faced with recent humiliating battlefield failures for the Kremlin’s forces in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to convince Ukraine to cease its counteroffensive through the voting box. If it doesn’t, the Kremlin has warned, the conflict will get worse and Kyiv may even have to use its nuclear weapons.
In the most direct words yet, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, which is chaired by Putin, outlined the threat in the most direct terms on Tuesday. “Imagine that Russia is compelled to employ the most powerful weapon against Ukrainian dictatorship, which has committed a large-scale act of aggression that threatens our state’s fundamental survival,” Medvedev said on his messaging app channel. “I believe NATO will avoid active intervention in the conflict in that case.”
Since February 2014, Russia and Ukraine have been at odds in the Russo-Ukrainian War. Russia started fighting with Ukraine soon after the Dignity Revolution. The main issue was the political status of Crimea and the Donbas, both of which are still seen as being part of Ukraine by the rest of the world.
Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory culminated in Crimea’s annexation, which was quickly followed by the outbreak of the Donbas war between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian state forces; fighting during the first eight years of the conflict included naval incidents, cyber warfare, and heightened political tensions. As Russia built up its military near Ukrainian territory in 2021, tensions between the two countries grew. On February 24, 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine, which was a major escalation.
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