Tomorrow, President Putin Is Planned To Announce The Four Territories Of Ukraine

JAKARTA - President Vladimir Putin is planned to sign an official document on Friday declaring Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian territories, rushing to seal territorial claims.

The move, one of the legal steps Russia says will lead to the official annexation of 15 percent of Ukraine's territory, asserting President Putin doubled his war against Ukraine, despite a massive military reversal this month.

The annexation, after what Kyiv and Western countries say is a false referendum carried out by brandishing weapons in Russia-controlled Ukrainian territory, has been internationally dismissed as an illegal seizure of land seized in war.

Washington and the European Union will impose additional sanctions on Russia over the plan. In fact, some of Russia's close traditional allies, such as Serbia and Kazakhstan, said they would not admit the annexation.

The signing ceremony will be held in one of the grandest halls of the Kremlin with pro-Russian figures Moscow considers to be leaders of four Ukrainian regions, Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk. Russia says the referendum is genuine and shows public support for the move.

After days of speculating on how exactly Russia would mark the annexation, Putin Dmitry Peskov's spokesman confirmed several details of the ceremony on Thursday.

The agreement "regarding access to new territory into the Russian Federation" will be signed "with the four regions holding referendums and making appropriate requests to Russia," Peskov said.

President Putin will deliver a keynote address on the matter, Peskov said. Big rock concerts will be held on Friday at Moscow's Red Field, where a stands with a giant video screen have been established, with billboards reading "Donetsk, Luhansk, Zapoirzhia, Kherson - Russia!"

Peskov did not say whether President Putin would appear at the concert. In the past, President Putin did so at a similar event in 2014, after Russia declared it had annexed Ukraine's Crimea region.

President Putin publicly supported the annexation plan in a speech last week, in which he also announced the summons of hundreds of thousands of Russian reserve troops, and threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia's territory if necessary.