But the ballots were widely discredited and earned the Kremlin no relief Wednesday from international pressure over its assault on its neighbor.
Pro-Moscow administrations of all four occupied regions of southern and eastern Ukraine said Tuesday night that their residents voted to join Russia in five days of Kremlin-orchestrated balloting.
According to Russia-installed election officials, 93% of the ballots cast in the Zaporizhzhia region supported annexation, as did 87% in the Kherson region, 98% in the Luhansk region and 99% in Donetsk.
Russian-installed officials in those occupied regions said Wednesday they would ask President Vladimir Putin to incorporate them into Russia. It wasn’t immediately clear how the administrative process would unfold. READ MORE
