President Vladimir V. Putin made the provocative announcement of the call-up of hundreds of thousands more Russian soldiers during his 20-minute speech on Wednesday. He also insisted that his main war goal of “liberating” the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine remained the same and declared his support for referendums that would result in the region and other occupied Ukrainian territory becoming a part of Russia.
Donetsk and Luhansk in the east, also known as Donbas, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south, all represented by Russian proxy officials, announced plans to hold referendums over the course of several days beginning on Friday. Luhansk and Kherson, two of the four regions, are almost entirely under Russian control, but Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk are only partially so.
Since months, U.S. officials have issued warnings that Mr. Putin may attempt to legitimize the illegal annexation of portions of Ukraine by using the referendums in the occupied areas, where many residents have fled due to intense fighting. If the territories are formally annexed, the Kremlin might justify further escalation by characterizing further Ukrainian military action there as an attack on Russian territory.
“Russia can’t give up on people living close by to be torn apart by executioners and fail to respond to their desire to determine their own fate,” Mr. Putin said on Wednesday, referring to Ukrainians in occupied territory, even as reports continue to emerge of torture at the hand of Russian occupying forces.
The United States has “made clear that there will be increased consequences” if Russian forces increase or expand their occupation of certain regions of Ukraine, possibly as a result of the upcoming referendums, a senior State Department official told reporters on Tuesday.
The official asserted that the United States has used a variety of tools to punish Russia in recent months and insisted that allies and partners would be prepared to participate in any escalation, but he or she declined to provide further details.
“We enjoy the full support of our partners in this,” Mr. Zelensky said. “So let’s maintain the pressure. Let’s preserve unity. Let’s defend Ukraine. We are liberating our land. And we are not showing any signs of weakness.”