The Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament, approved the incorporation of four Ukrainian regions into the Russian Federation on Tuesday, meaning Moscow is on track to complete the formal annexation of territories captured during the seven-month conflict, according to Reuters, Agerpres reads.

In a meeting held on Tuesday, the Council of the Federation unanimously voted to ratify the annexation legislation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye, following a similar vote that took place on Monday in the State Duma, the lower parliamentary chamber.

The documents were presented to the senators by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who emphasized that, for Moscow, it does not matter that the West does not recognize the so-called referendums on the annexation of these Ukrainian territories to Russia, because it is up to the people who live in those territories „to understand the new reality”, writes EFE.

Agerpres