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© Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Putin illegally annexes Ukraine land; Kyiv seeks NATO entry
By JON GAMBRELL and HANNA ARHIROVA KYIV, Ukraine©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
26 Comments
ok1517
Against all international rules and laws.
Those fake referendums are not worth the paper they were written on.
You just can't annex a sovereign countries area! It's called occupation!
But of course Putin and cohorts don't understand that either.
By the way, Russian marauders retreating (or at least trying to) all over (not just) the Lyman area.
Someone should tell them: you got 2 options - surrender or be sent home in a body-bag!
Monty
I said it already from the beginning, these Russian insane mass murdering as...les do not hesitate to use nuclear weapons.
These as...les are ready to use nuclear weapons, destroy our planet and all lives on it.
It is time to wipe out these insane mass murdering Mob, who are the biggest thread to our planet and to all our lives.
Before it is too late...
fallaffel
It is not really an accomplishment to claim something is yours. It's especially easy when the public doesn't have a say. The hard part is to make it yours.
ok1517
@Tokyoliving
"ethnic Russian regions, liberate, annex, Lord Putin, powerful......"
Got more like that? How about: dictator, murderer, ethnic minorities killing mad man, instigator, deranged, ...
Because that describes him more precise!
But tell you what: since you admire him and his bloody regime so much, how about moving there, support Putin & associates by going to the front line?
Desert Tortoise
Russia doesn't even have control of the land it claims to annex. Ukraine forces have surrounded around a brigade sized unit of Russian army in Lyman and the Russians are negotiating the terms of their surrender. They are not going to be able to stop Ukrainian forces from taking Luhansk back.
PTownsend
Putin is another deluded demagogue who is so far up himself he actually seems to believe all he has to do is imagine something for it to become real. The narcissistically impaired and psychotic should be kept in mental facilities, never allowed to be near weapons of any kind, and never permitted to hold political office.
bass4funk
According to whom? 98% of Ukrainians don’t want this, and think Putin is psycho maniac
Lord Putin?? Dear lord…
I will say this in all fairness, I will agree that the US under this administration and NATO under the current leadership has shown to be pathetically weak and ineffective in dealing with and stopping Putin, that’s an indisputable fact.
What gives the Putin the legal right to annex a sovereign nation?
For Putin eventually down the line for sure.
If you go by that weak argument then you can say Spain also took the land from the indigenous tribes, you can make the same argument about hundreds of countries doing the same from the colonization of the imperial empires of old Europe, from Hitler, Stalin, The Sino-Japanese war with Russia, Japan annexing Korea, the former Austrian-Hungarian empire and on whether in Africa, Latin America and beyond. After WWII the entire planet learned that annexing any country for political or land expansion is globally illegal, immoral unjustified and unethical.
No says the US is perfect, no one, and the US and Europe did indeed underestimate Putin without a doubt, and I’m deeply critical of how the West handled Putin, but if he thinks the Ukrainians will accept this and become compliant, not going to happen, morale is already low within the Russian military and if Putin’s army revolts and more people go AWOL will weaken the hold on this illegal annexation
Russian people can’t get away fast enough from their country, and most Ukrainians are resisting the hostile takeover of a sovereign nation, in the US we can’t stop people from coming in, so I guess that’s a good example for the people risking their lives to get in, Russia people are risking their lives to leave.
u_s__reamer
Left with a poor "poker" hand after recent losses in the field to Ukrainian forces Putinocchio is trying to bluff his way past the greatest crisis of his presidency by announcing he's made Russia great again, but judging from the robotic reactions of the poker-faced audience listening to his fake macho bluster, it's now clear the "New Clothes" of "Tsar Vlad the Great" are beginning to look rather threadbare and he'll soon need a fig-leaf when the garrison town of Lyman with 5,000 trained troops falls to the Ukrainian army. This will be Putin's mini "Stalingrad" that could spell the beginning of the end, or at least the end of the beginning for Putin's ultimate downfall.
The Avenger
Ukraine forces currently control roughly one quarter of the annexed regions so Ukraine has already invaded Russia (according to the Kremlin) and will continue to do so… successfully.
Haaa Nemui
Putin crossed his own red line and forced this. What an idiot.
Axel
Don't know about Finland but Sweden is looking unlikely. They said they can't put it to a popular referendum because it was an emergency and there is no time. But as time drags on, it's getting harder for them to continue with that excuse.
William Bjornson
"Putin illegally annexes Ukraine land..."
By WHOSE LAW?
Who shall we ask about such LAW? Native Americans? Native Hawaiians? Native Palestinians? ...?
"Moscow has backed eastern Ukraine's separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions since [their] declaring independence in 2014..."
America repudiates its own history in opposing people who desire "independence' from a corrupt and murderous government. And, since 2014, that corrupt government has been murdering the people of Donetsk and Luhansk who seek that independence.
"Russian-installed officials in Zaporizhzhia blamed Ukrainian forces, but gave no evidence."
Nor has the Kyiv regime that it was a Russian missile and, given the size of the craters and the number of casualties, it is way more likely that it was an incompetence compromised HIMARS aimed by a poorly trained crew. Anti-aircraft missile payloads are not that large needing to be both fast and highly maneuverable at high velocity.
Cards fan
lol America's flawed history doesn't justify modern day Russia's imperialism
Ah yes, so let's join an even more corrupt country. Genius.
kurisupisu
So, why isn’t Zelensky interested in peace talks?
Ukraine cannot defeat Russia so what is the point of continuing the conflict?
Cards fan
This isn't true. The Russian military has proven itself a joke that can't stand up to actual militaries. They're getting hammered on the regular.
I don't know, to keep their land from being stolen from them? What's the point in that, right?
presto345
Right. And he has already signed his own death warrant many times over.
englisc aspyrgend
cleo, nice allegory depicting the current situation. Poo tin is looking more and more desperate, unfortunately a cornered rat is dangerous, it needs to be quickly dispatched.
The demented dwarf in the kremlin is falling in to the fallacy of magical thinking, sadly for him just signing a bit of paper and some ritual chanting doesn’t change reality, Ukrainian territory isn’t “annexed” it’s occupied illegally by force and no matter how often he fronts and froths at the mouth, the Ukrainians are going to take it all back.
The only thing he will achieve is the death of a lot of ordinary russians.
Eric
So your basic position is that Russia is just as bad as USA, UK, France? I'd disagree with that. Historically Russia is much less tyrannical and murderous, IMO. But it's good you are allowed to state your opinion. In USA, UK, France, it'd almost certainly be censored.
2020hindsights
kurisupisu
He is. If Russia leaves (including Dombas and Crimea) and pays reparations to Ukraine, there can be peace.
Sure they can. The Russian army is about to collapse.
Raw Beer
If Kyiv joins NATO, we will be extremely close to an all out war between Russia and NATO, which is exactly what the west wanted all along and what Zelensky sacrificed his people to achieve.
ClippetyClop
And yet the only people doing the invading, escalating & annexing are Russians.
Typical Raw Beer nonsense, you have a gift for misinformation and dreadful conclusions.
ClippetyClop
There is no offer of peace, only one of surrender. Russians need to get out quickly or be kicked out slowly, that's the offer.