Ukraine’s Foreign Minister: “Every right to liberate its territories and will keep liberating them whatever Russia has to say.”

Via: Reuters:

Russia on Tuesday gave support to plans by separatists which it backs in Ukraine to hold referendums paving the way for the annexation of swathes of additional territory, a direct challenge to the West that could sharply escalate the conflict.

After nearly seven months of war, including a critical battlefield defeat in northeastern Ukraine, Putin is pondering his next steps.

In what appeared to be choreographed requests, Russian-backed officials across 15% of Ukrainian territory – an area about the size of Hungary or Portugal – lined up to request referendums on joining Russia.

The self-styled Donetsk (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republics (LPR), which Putin recognised as independent just before the invasion, and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have asked for votes over less than 24 hours.