Pro-Moscow separatists urge Putin to announce annexation of Ukraine regions

Pro-Moscow officials in occupied regions of Ukraine have asked Vladimir Putin to incorporate their provinces into Russia after initial “results” in referendums apparently showed a large majority of people wanted to break with Kyiv.

Officials in parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, made the plea to the Russian president on Wednesday.

The votes and the results have been derided as a “sham” by those in the West and say they will not be recognised.