
In his speech to parliament on September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to declare the inclusion of the seized territories of Ukraine into the Russian Federation, the British ministry of defence warned on Tuesday.
"Russia's leaders almost certainly hope that any accession announcement will be seen as a vindication of the special military operation and will consolidate patriotic support for the conflict,"the defence ministry said in its daily briefing on Twitter.
The reports also came as Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine held their final day of voting in referendums that were expected to be used as a justification for their annexation by Moscow. This has increased friction between the Kremlin and the West over fears that Russiamay use nuclear weapons.

A potentially imminent Friday formal annexation of occupied portions of eastern Ukraine heralds the beginning of a perilous new chapter in the seven-month conflict, with Russia telling the West that from that point forward it will be protecting its territory and may use nuclear weapons to do so.
Below is the possible change in the map of Ukraine if the annexation goes through.


This was bluntly expressed on Tuesday by Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia's Security Council, whichis presided over by Vladimir Putin.
“Let’s imagine that Russia is forced to use the most powerful weapon against the Ukrainian regime that has committed a large-scale act of aggression, which is dangerous for the very existence of our state," Medvedev wrote on his messaging app channel. “I believe that NATO will steer clear from direct meddling in the conflict in that case."
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