Russia's upper house approves annexation of four regions

What did it mean when Russia's upper house of parliament approved the annexation of four Ukrainian regions? On 4 October 2022, the Federation Council of Russia unanimously approved the annexation of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. The annexation documents were then due to receive final signing by President Vladimir Putin.

The road to the vote

The vote followed several days of fast-moving steps. On 29 September 2022, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said agreements on annexing the occupied territories were scheduled to be signed on 30 September. The same day, Putin signed a decree recognising the "independence" of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, which had been proclaimed the day before.

On 30 September 2022, Putin signed accession treaties to annex the occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia. In a speech that day, he announced that Russia had annexed four regions occupied during the conflict. Under Russian law, however, the treaties could not take effect until both houses of the Russian parliament had ratified them. The Federation Council's unanimous approval on 4 October 2022 was part of that process.

Kyiv's response

On 29 September 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced an urgent meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine for 30 September. On 30 September, following the Russian annexation move, he requested fast-track NATO membership for Ukraine.

A parallel storyline

The annexation was not the only matter on the political agenda in those days. On 29 September 2022, Putin also described the Nord Stream gas leaks as an unprecedented act of international terrorism.

By the end of 4 October 2022, the sequence was clear: treaties signed on 30 September, a unanimous vote in the upper house, and a final signature by Putin still to come.