Putin to host Kremlin ceremony annexing parts of Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin took the intermediary step of signing decrees on Thursday paving the way for occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to be formally annexed into Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to host a Kremlin ceremony on Friday annexing four regions of Ukraine, while his Ukrainian counterpart said Mr. Putin would have to be stopped for Russia to avoid the most damaging consequences of the war.

There was a warning too from United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, who said the planned annexations were a "dangerous escalation" and jeopardise prospects for peace.

Mr. Putin has doubled down on the invasion he ordered in February despite suffering a major reversal on the battlefield this month and discontent in Russia over a widely criticised "partial mobilisation" of thousands more men to fight in Ukraine. Russia calls the war in Ukraine a "special operation."

"The cost of one person in Russia wanting to continue this war is that Russian society will be left without a normal economy, a worthwhile life, or any respect for humanitarian values," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Thursday evening address.

"It can still be stopped. But to stop it we have to stop that person in Russia who wants war more than life. Your lives, citizens of Russia," said Mr. Zelensky, who earlier spoke of Ukraine delivering a "very harsh" reaction to Russian recognition of so-called referendum results.

Moscow plans annexation of eastern and southern provinces after what Ukraine and Western countries said were sham votes staged at gunpoint in Russian-occupied areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The territory Russia controls amounts to more than 90,000 square km, or about 15% of Ukraine's total area - equal to the size of Hungary or Portugal.

Mr. Putin took the intermediary step of signing decrees on Thursday paving the way for occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to be formally annexed into Russia. The decrees were made public by the Kremlin.