Russia to postpone plans to announce annexation of occupied parts of Ukraine: Report

Russia will postpone its plan to announce the annexation of occupied parts of Ukraine. Russian authorities will postpone their plan as their decision will not leave a "desired PR effect" on the people of Russia as they are not satisfied with mobilization, reported Meduza. The report comes at a time when referendums were organised in occupied parts of Ukraine, including Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk. 

One of Meduza's sources claimed that Russia might postpone its plan to annex parts of Ukraine to leave a gap for negotiations with Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his address at United Nations Security Council asserted that Russia's recognition of "sham referenda" and another attempt to annex the region of Ukraine demonstrates that "there is nothing to talk" about with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy urged UNSC to take action as Russia is "constantly" escalating the situation.

Russia to postpone plan to prohibit men from leaving nation

Earlier, the UK Defence Ministry said that Putin might announce the "accession" of Moscow-occupied territories of Ukraine into Russia while addressing both houses of Russia's Parliament on Friday, 30 September. Russian authorities will also postpone their plan to prohibit men of draft age from leaving the nation. Notably, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization in Russia on 21 September. He called the decision "fully adequate" to the threats faced by Russia to protect their territory and "liberated regions." Following Putin's announcement, protests erupted in Russia and over 2,60,000 Russian men have fled the nation as of September 26, as per the Kyiv Independent report.    

Results of Referendums in occupied parts of Ukraine

Most of the people in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region have opted to join Russia, TASS reported. The voting in the four regions took place for four days from September 23 to September 27. According to the final results, 87.05% of those who voted in Kherson supported the region's accession to Russia. The accession of Luhansk to Russia was supported by 98.42% of the total voters, while 99.23% of voters favoured Donetsk's accession to Russia, as per the TASS report. 

As many as 93.11% of voters have supported Zaporizhzhia joining Russia. Meanwhile, the Russian-backed leader in Donetsk Denis Pushilin has called on Russian authorities to admit the region as a separate constituent member of Russia. Similarly, the Russian-backed leader of Kherson Vladimir Saldo has also requested Putin to admit the region into Russia and declare it as a new constituent entity. He claimed that the referendum was conducted according to international law.  

Image: AP