In pics: Lavish Russian ceremony for formal annexation of four Ukrainian regions
Formal treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony to sign treaties formally annexing four regions of Ukraine Russian troops occupy - Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 30, 2022.
Putin's speech
Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech during a ceremony formally annexing four regions of Ukraine Russian troops occupy - Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 30, 2022.
New heads
(L-R) The Moscow-appointed heads of the Kherson region Vladimir Saldo and Zaporizhzhia region Yevgeny Balitsky, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Donetsk separatist leader Denis Pushilin and Lugansk separatist leader Leonid Pasechnik join hands after signing treaties formally annexing four regions of Ukraine Russian troops occupy, at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 30, 2022.
Russian consulate in the US
Red spray paint is seen spread across the walls of the Russian Consulate after it was vandalized on September 30, 2022, in New York City. In a speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed that four Ukrainian regions will be part of Russia and become Russian citizens forever.
Stoltenberg gives a press conference
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gives a press conference on Russia's annexation of four occupied regions in Ukraine, on September 30, 2022. Russia on September 30, 2022 annexed four territories in Ukraine controlled by its army at a grand ceremony in the Kremlin.
Act of Defiance
Tanzila Tumgoeva, from the Republic of Ingushetia, holds a protest sign as she stands in front of a vandalized Russian Consulate on September 30, 2022, in New York City.
Accelerated NATO membership
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Kyiv is requesting fast-track NATO membership after Russia formally annexed four Moscow-held regions of Ukraine.
'Fraudulent' annexation
US President Joe Biden on Friday condemned Russia's "fraudulent" declaration that it has annexed four regions of Ukraine and said Moscow was contravening international law.
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