4 Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine started voting in referendums on becoming a member of Russia, in line with their separatist leaders, in a transfer that raises the stakes of Moscow’s invasion seven months after preventing started. The referendums, that are unlawful underneath worldwide legislation and dismissed as “a sham” by Western governments and Kyiv, might pave the way in which for Russian annexation of the areas, permitting Moscow to border the continued Ukrainian counteroffensive as an assault on Russia itself. #CNN #Information
