Putin-Elections 'Important Step In Integration' Of Ukrainian Regions

State-run RIA reportingcomments from President Vladimir Putin speaking to the heads of Russia's regions following elections held earlier in September. Claims that the elections "Were open, honest, competitive, with high turnout, which shows the maturity of voters." States that the elections in the "new regions" of "Donbas and Novorossia" are an "important step in integration, citizens feel the support of Russia". The elections in the occupied Ukrainian oblasts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson have been dismissed by Kyiv and its allies as sham votes.

• While Luhansk and Donetsk are home to a large population of ethnic Russians, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are largely ethnic Ukrainian. Despite this, Putin's United Russia party is said to have won 70% of the vote across the occupied territories
• Unlike the integration of the Crimean peninsula into the Russian Federation post-2014, the prospect of the occupied Ukrainian territories into Russia in the short-to-medium term looks unlikely given that all four remain on the front line of the war. Ukrainian forces continue to push in the south of the country as Kyiv seeks to sever the 'land bridge' between the Donbas and Crimea, which would isolate Russian forces in the latter.