Russia will “
consult
” the population to establish the borders of the annexed regions of Kherson and Zaporijjia, in southern Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press on Monday October 3.
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"
We will continue to consult the population of these regions
," said Dmitry Peskov, when asked whether Russia was annexing all of these regions or only the parts it occupies.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin formalized the annexation of Kherson and Zaporizhia, as well as two other Ukrainian regions -- Donetsk and Lugansk -- at a ceremony Friday at the Kremlin.
The regions of Donetsk and Lugansk were annexed in their entirety, Moscow having recognized the sovereignty of pro-Russian separatist regimes at the end of February, just before the Russian assault on Ukraine.
But the Kremlin said last week that the borders of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions needed to be "
clarified
".
According to the American think tank ISW (Institute for the Study of War), Moscow controls 72% of the area of the Zaporizhia region.
And some 88% of that of Kherson and its eponymous capital are under Russian occupation, according to the same source.
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Russia had hastily organized so-called referendums in all four Ukrainian regions, widely denounced by kyiv and its Western allies, following a Ukrainian counter-offensive that forced the Russian army to cede thousands of square kilometers of land .