Annexation of Four Ukrainian Regions by Russia

About:

• The four regions being annexed are Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine. 
• The separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine have been backed by Moscow since declaring independence in 2014, weeks after the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
• The southern Kherson region and part of the neighboring Zaporizhzhia were captured by Russia soon after Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
• Together with Crimea that Russia annexed in 2014, Russia now claims 20% of Ukrainian territory.
• The four territories create a crucial land corridor between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014.