Early Saturday, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin said that residents of Moscow-held regions in Ukraine expressed their desire to be part of Russia in recent local elections, reaffirming referendums last year that Western countries condemned as illegal.
Putin said in a video address released on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s controversial announcement that it would annex four parts of Ukraine that the decision to join Russia was reinforced by this month’s local elections, which returned officials who supported Russia’s annexation.
