Russiain dictator Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that any peace plan should “take into account” Russia’s illegal “annexation” of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson oblasts, Russian news agency RBC reported on Dec. 28.
Russia declared the “annexation” of four Ukrainian oblasts in late September, after Russia's proxies held sham referendums in the occupied parts of these regions and claimed that 87% to 99% of the voters "voted" to join Russia, depending on the region.
Russia also continued to consider Kherson to be part of its territory, despite the withdrawal of its troops from the city in November.
Earlier in December, Peskov acknowledged for the first time that Moscow’s current territorial objective is to seize the whole terriotory of the four partially occupied Ukrainian oblasts, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
When responding to a journalist‘s question regarding the Kremlin’s original war aims on Dec. 8, Peskov said that one of their main goals in Ukraine was to “protect residents of southeastern Ukraine and Donbas.”
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