Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized the independence of two more Ukrainian regions, a precursor to their annexation by Russia.

KYIV, Ukraine -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized the independence of two more Ukrainian regions, a precursor to their annexation by Russia.

The annexation — and planned celebratory concerts and rallies in Moscow and the occupied territories — would come just days after voters supposedly approved independence in Moscow-managed “referendums.” Ukrainian and Western officials have denounced the votes as illegal, forced and rigged.

The annexation — and planned celebratory concerts and rallies in Moscow and the occupied territories — would come just days after voters supposedly approved Moscow-managed “referendums” that Ukrainian and Western officials have denounced as illegal, forced and rigged.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday that four regions of Ukraine — Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — would be folded into Russia during a Kremlin ceremony attended by President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to give a major speech.

Zelenskyy also sought to capitalize on anti-war sentiment in Russia by issuing a special video directed at Russia’s ethnic minorities, especially those in Dagestan, one of the country's poorer regions in the North Caucasus.

and its allies have promised to adopt even more sanctions than they've already levied against Russia and to offer millions of dollars in extra support for Ukraine as the Kremlin duplicates the annexation playbook it followed when it incorporated Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

For its part, Russia pledges to defend all its territory — including newly annexed regions — by all available means, including nuclear weapons.

Heightening the tensions are Russia's partial military mobilization and allegations of sabotage of two Russian pipelines on the Baltic Sea floor that were designed to feed natural gas to Europe.

Adding to the Kremlin’s woes are Ukraine's success in recapturing some of the very land Russia is annexing and problems with the mobilization that President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Thursday.

“The collapse of the Lyman pocket will likely be highly consequential to the Russian grouping" in the northern Donetsk and western Luhansk regions and "may allow Ukrainian troops to threaten Russian positions along the western Luhansk” region, the institute said, citing Russian reports.

— A Russian rocket attack on Kramatorsk, an eastern Donetsk city that Ukraine still holds, wounded 11 people and inflicted damage, Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko said.

British military intelligence claimed the number of Russian military-age men fleeing likely exceeds the forces Moscow used to invade Ukraine in February, and said many of those leaving are well educated, causing a “brain drain.”.

Regarding the sabotage that hit Russian gas pipelines to Europe this week, Peskov claimed Thursday it “looks like a terror attack, probably conducted on a state level."