Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted on Saturday that the residents of four Ukrainian regions, which Russia unlawfully annexed a year ago, had willingly chosen to align themselves with Russia. He contended that this annexation was executed "in full accordance with international norms."
In a statement released in the early hours to commemorate the first anniversary of the annexation, Putin emphasized that the residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions had once again expressed their desire to be part of Russia through local elections held earlier this month. Russia's Central Election Commission reported that the ruling party secured the most votes in these elections.
However, these referendum votes were carried out last year and the recent ballots have been widely condemned by Western nations as fraudulent.
These votes took place as Russian authorities sought to tighten their control over territories that Moscow unlawfully annexed a year ago, territories that are still not under their complete authority. A concert was organized in Red Square to mark the anniversary, but Putin did not participate.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the country's air defenses reported shooting down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones that were targeting provinces including Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Vinnytsia overnight. Vinnytsia regional Governor Serhii Borzov revealed that air defenses successfully intercepted 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region. However, a drone strike resulted in a significant fire in the town of Kalynivka when it struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.
Romania's Ministry of National Defense disclosed that there was a possible unauthorized entry into its national airspace overnight during the bombardment. The radar surveillance system of the Romanian Army detected this possible breach, with a signal directed toward the city of Galati, near the Ukrainian border.
While no objects that fell onto Romanian territory were identified at the moment, NATO allies were promptly informed, and search operations continued into Saturday.
In recent weeks, Romania has encountered drone fragments on its soil as Russian forces engage in ongoing attacks on Ukraine's Danube ports.
Russia's Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that it had successfully intercepted nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which shares a border with Ukraine. Local authorities in Russia's Bryansk region, also bordering Ukraine, reported disruptions to the power supply following an unspecified attack on the town of Pogar. Drone strikes and artillery shelling in these Russian border regions have become recurrent incidents.
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