Putin Declares Annexation of Ukrainian Lands in Kremlin Ceremony

Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech during a ceremony formally annexing four regions of Ukraine that Russian troops control, at the Kremlin in Moscow on Sept. 30, 2022. Grigory Sysoyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday presided over a ceremony to annex four Ukrainian regions partly occupied by his forces, escalating the seven-month war.

“This is the will of millions of people,” he said in a speech before hundreds of dignitaries in the St. George’s Hall of the Kremlin.