Russian officials claim that first results from referendums staged in eastern Ukraine on joining Russia, which are illegal under international law, show voters overwhelmingly approving of annexation.
More than 97% of voters from Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions who cast ballots at polling stations within Russia voted in favour of joining the Russian Federation, state media in Russia reported on Tuesday.
Polling stations had been organized for displaced migrants from the four regions who were living in Russia. Results from the polling stations in the actual regions themselves were not yet available.
Kiev and countries around the world repeatedly denounced the five-day vote as a "sham" and "illegitimate," saying the results were a foregone conclusion from the outset.
Moscow could begin to annexed the eastern Ukrainian regions within days. As a next step, the Moscow-appointed occupation administrations are expected to formally apply to President Vladimir Putin to be incorporated into Russian territory. The Kremlin had indicated that this could happen quickly.
Putin had stressed before the start of the referendums that the territories would thereafter be completely under the protection of Russia, including its nuclear arsenal.
