Live: Putin to host Kremlin ceremony annexing four parts of Ukraine

Issued on: 30/09/2022 – 07:40

7:15am: Russia set to annex four Ukrainian regions at Kremlin ceremony

Russia is set to annex four occupied regions of Ukraine at a lavish Kremlin ceremony later today that follows a threat by President Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons in their defence.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the annexations would be formalised at the ceremony and Putin would deliver a “major” speech.

The four territories – Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south and Donetsk and Luhansk in the east – create a crucial land corridor between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

Together, all five make up around 20 percent of Ukraine, whose forces in recent weeks have been clawing back ground.

4:25am: Russia says military campaign to continue at least until it controls all Donetsk region

The Kremlin has said that the “special military operation” in Ukraine must continue until Russia takes full control of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the military campaign in Ukraine would continue “at a minimum” until the “liberation” of the “Donetsk people’s republic”, referring to the region’s self-declared, Russian-backed administration.

9:45pm, September 29: Biden says US will never recognise Russian claims on Ukraine

President Joe Biden has said the US will “never, never, never” recognise Russia’s claims on Ukraine’s sovereign territory as Moscow prepares to annex some occupied areas of the country.

Speaking to Pacific island leaders, Biden denounced the referendums that pro-Russian forces conducted in occupied areas of Ukraine as an “absolute sham”, adding, “the results were manufactured in Moscow”.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)