President Vladimir Putin completed the formal annexation of more than 15 per cent of Ukraine on Wednesday just as Russian forces battled to halt Ukrainian counter-offensives across swathes of the territory. In the biggest expansion of Russian territory in at least half a century, Putin signed laws admitting the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR), Kherson region and Zaporizhzhia region into Russia. “President Vladimir Putin has signed four federal constitutional laws on the entry of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation,” the lower house of parliament said. “He also signed the relevant laws on ratification,” the Duma said.

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