Former Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev believes that new regions of Ukraine could become part of Russia, as he marked one year since the Kremlin declared four Ukrainian territories its own.
In September, Russia held elections in its new regions, but control over all of their territory is still not established. Fighting in the regions continues. Mr Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, said:
The special military operation will continue until the complete destruction of the Nazi regime in Kyiv. Victory will be ours. And there will be more new regions within Russia.
Russia uses the term “new regions” to refer to the Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson, which became part of Russia last September.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation on the anniversary of the regions reunification with Russia; he called it a historic choice of the people living there to reunite with the “Fatherland”.
