Ukraine war: Russia ‘lays the groundwork’ to annex the territory it controls | World News
According to US intelligence, Russia is laying the groundwork to annex Ukrainian territory as it seeks to establish full control over its interests in the east.
The White House said Moscow was preparing to send illegal authorized officials into areas it controls, set the ruble as the default currency and force citizens to apply for citizenship.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “We have information today, including downgraded intelligence that we may be sharing with you, about how Russia is laying its ground ground to annex Ukrainian territory they control, in direct violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.” .
It was the same tactic used in 2014 when Russia announced the annexation of Crimea after taking control of it from Ukrainehe added.
The international community considers the annexation of Crimea illegal.
“We want to make that clear to the American people,” Mr. “No one is fooled by it.”
He accused the President of Russia Vladimir Putin of “dusted from the play from 2014”.
Read more: Zelenskyy fires Ukraine’s security service chief and top prosecutor for ‘treason’ in their ranks
Meanwhile, Mr. Kirby said the US will announce a new weapons package for Ukraine in the next few days, as the war in the country is raging.
The package is expected to include additional HIMARS missile systems, which were used to wreak havoc on the front lines when Ukrainian forces attacked enemy back-line ammunition depots.
It came as Mr. Putin visit Iran on first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed that the Ukrainian flag “will be in all our cities and villages again”.
“The only question is timing,” he said on Telegram.
“Step by step, we moved forward, disrupting the supply of crafters, identifying and disabling collaborators,” he said.