This is how Russia’s land grab could complicate the war

The best that can be hoped for is that Moscow is looking for a way to leave with something to show for its trouble, writes Mary Dejevsky

The land amounts to about 15 per cent of Ukraine (AFP via Getty Images)

Vladimir Putin is preparing to announce Russia’s incorporation of four regions of Ukraine in what is said to be the largest forcible annexation of territory in Europe since the Second World War.

The land amounts to about 15 per cent of Ukraine, and the move threatens to complicate even further an already complicated and costly war. Russia’s action replicates its annexation of Crimea in 2014, and follows votes held last weekend in the two regions – Luhansk and Donetsk – known as the Donbas, and in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson further to the south and east.

A signing ceremony is expected to take place in the Kremlin today, with the decision to be endorsed by Russia’s parliament, the Duma, early next week. There is not the slightest chance of the annexations receiving international recognition; Russia’s incorporation of Crimea eight years ago remains unrecognised and the procedures leading up to the latest referendums appear to have flouted international norms even more egregiously this time around.