Russian-controlled regions of eastern and southern Ukraine have announced plans on Tuesday to start voting this week to become integral parts of Russia.
Former President Dmitry Medvedev said folding regions into Russia itself would make redrawn frontiers “irreversible” and enable Moscow to use “any means” to defend them.
Ukraine is now using captured Russian tanks to secure its gains in the northeast, according to a Washington-based think group on Tuesday, as Kyiv threatened to advance further into Moscow-occupied territory.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia claimed that Ukraine had been utilizing left-behind T-72 Russian tanks as it attempted to advance into the Russian-occupied Luhansk region.
Ukraine began its counteroffensive earlier this month, advancing into territory near its second-largest.
Writing by Aisha Tahir; editing by Adeniyi Bakare