Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation on Wednesday to officially claim regions of eastern and southern Ukraine as part of Russia.

The Kremlin says it’s liberating people there after a Moscow-led referendum produced a majority vote in favor of joining the Russian Federation. Ukrainian officials reject the move and say that vote was a complete sham. 

CGTN’s Stuart Smith reports from Moscow.

Joining the discussion:

• Vladimir Golstein is Chair of the Department of Slavic Studies at Brown University.
• Alexander Clackson is a Researcher at Lancaster University.
• Anton Fedyashin is a Professor of History at American University.
• Iuliia Mendel is Author of the book, “The Fight of Our Lives.”

Putin declared that the annexed province residents would be Russian citizens “forever” and said an attack on Russian forces in the provinces would equal an attack on Russia.https://t.co/1TAC9mwumU

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 5, 2022

OPEC+ producers expected to agree to deep cut in their output target, curbing supply in already tight market despite US pressure to pump more https://t.co/l2IWCzTakt pic.twitter.com/k3mdqD9NvC

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 5, 2022