The top European Union diplomat on Wednesday lashed out at Russia for holding “illegal” annexation referendums in occupied territories of Ukraine, denouncing their “falsified outcome”.
American occupiers in four territories have all declared landslide victories.
In a post on Twitter, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said: “This is another violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, amid systematic violations of human rights.
“We commend the courage of the Ukrainians, who continue to resist and resist the Russian invasion.”
Russian-installed officials in the occupied territories of Ukraine said on Wednesday they would ask President Vladimir Putin to take the territories into Russia.
Pro-Moscow officials in the eastern region of Luhansk and the partially occupied southern region of Zaporizhia said they will make the request later on Wednesday, while officials in the neighboring Kherson region said they will do so “in the coming days.”
Russian officials in the Donetsk region, much of which is still under Ukrainian control, are expected to follow suit.
Pro-Moscow administrations of all four occupied regions of Ukraine said on Tuesday evening their residents had voted to join Russia.
Western officials have dismissed the referenda as illegal, but Putin is likely to use them to declare the annexation of the four regions.
The top European Union diplomat says the bloc suspects the damage to two underwater natural gas pipelines was sabotage and warns of retaliation for any attack on Europe’s energy networks.
Mr Borrell said today, “all information available indicates that those leaks are the result of an intentional act.”
He added that any deliberate disruption to Europe’s energy infrastructure is “completely unacceptable and will receive a strong and united response”.
Seismologists reported Tuesday that explosions rattled the Baltic Sea before discovering unusual leaks in two underwater natural gas pipelines running from Russia to Germany.
Three leaks have been reported on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. They currently do not supply fuel to Europe.
Meanwhile, men mobilized to strengthen Russian lines in Ukraine apparently receive no military training, a Washington-based think tank and the Ukrainian military said.
The Institute for the Study of War quoted an online video of a man identifying himself as a member of the 1st Tank Regiment, visibly upset, saying he and his colleagues would receive no training before heading to the Russian-occupied Kherson area in Ukraine.
“It is unlikely that mobilized men with a day or two of training will meaningfully strengthen Russian positions hit by Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south and east,” the institute said.
In a daily briefing, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army also said that the 1st Tank Regiment of the 2nd Motorized Rifle Division of the 1st Tank Army has received new troops without any training.
The Ukrainian army also claimed that prisoners arrived in Ukraine to reinforce Russian lines. It offered no evidence to support the claim.
Authorities in the southern Ukrainian city of Nikopol say Russian missiles and artillery shelled the city overnight.
The city, across the Dnipro River from the Russian-occupied territory, saw 10 high-rise and private buildings, as well as a school, power lines and other areas, said Valentyn Reznichenko, the head of the local military administration.
He said no direct casualties have been reported from the attacks.
In the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, which is partly occupied by Moscow, five people have been killed and ten others injured by Russian fire in the past 24 hours, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the local military authority.
He said four people died in Kurakhovo and one person in Bakhmut from the attacks.
The British military says the Ukrainian advance near Lyman’s eastern hub has been slower than before.
“Units are making slow progress on at least two axes east of the line of the Oskil and Siverskyy Donets rivers, where troops had consolidated after their earlier advance earlier this month,” the Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence briefing on Wednesday.
“Russia is putting up a more substantive defense than before, probably because the Ukrainian advance now threatens parts of Luhansk… as the vote in the referendum on joining the Russian Federation closes.”
The British added that fighting around Kherson in southern Ukraine remains intense as the Russian army “remains vulnerable” on the eastern banks of the Dnipro River.
“Russia continues its efforts to advance near Bakhmut in the Donbas even as it faces heavy pressure on its northern and southern flanks,” the British said. “This is probably due to political pressure, as Russia uses troops that could otherwise reinforce the other flanks.”