Moscow is on the verge of annexing part of Ukraine after presenting the results of so-called referendums in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Kyiv and the West condemned as fake, illegal and held at gunpoint.

Vladimir Putin may soon announce the annexation of the occupied territories of UkrainePhoto: DreamsTime

Highlights of Thursday, the 218th day of the Ukrainian war, LIVETEXT:

07:18Russia’s main allies are beginning to doubt Putin. After seven months of war in Ukraine, Russia’s support in the international community is becoming less and less.

07:13A Russian court on Wednesday ordered the jailing of three young poets who took part in an artistic moment against mobilization to fight in Ukraine, one of whom said he was raped by police during his arrest.

01:41How to explain the gas leak from the Nord Stream. Different hypotheses of sabotage

A brief summary of recent events:

  • On Red Square in Moscow, a tribune was installed with giant video screens with the inscriptions “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – Russia!”.
  • The head of the upper house of the Russian parliament said he may consider joining the four regions on October 4, three days before Russian President Putin’s 70th birthday.
  • Residents who fled to Ukrainian-controlled territories in recent days said that people were forced to mark their ballots on the street at gunpoint.
  • The United States has announced it will introduce new sanctions against Moscow through “referendums” and the EU executive has proposed additional sanctions, but the bloc’s 27 member states will have to overcome their own differences to implement them.
  • Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said that Russia will have to continue fighting until it takes control of all of Donetsk. About 40 percent is still under Ukrainian control and is the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war.
  • The Armed Forces of Ukraine, as part of a counteroffensive, struck Russian troops in four directions near the city of Kherson, and their aircraft hit six objects, the Southern Command of the Armed Forces of Kyiv reported.
  • The United States is preparing a new $1.1 billion military aid package for Ukraine, which will be announced soon, US officials said.
  • Large-scale gas leaks continue in the Baltic Sea for a third day after several explosions ruptured underwater pipelines built by Russia and European partners.
  • The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which was once the main route for Russian gas to Germany, has already been closed and is now not easily reopened.
  • NATO and the European Union have warned of the need to protect critical infrastructure from “sabotage”, but Western officials have not yet identified who attacked the pipelines.
  • The Embassy of the United States of America in Moscow asked American citizens to “immediately leave Russia”.

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  • Wednesday’s events were broadcast live on HotNews.ro

(article photo: © Rokas Tenys | Dreamstime.com)