What happened after Russia's annexation announcement?

What was the state of play on 3 October 2022, three days after Moscow declared that it had annexed four Ukrainian regions? The legal process was unfinished, and the diplomatic response had already begun.

On 30 September 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed accession treaties to annex the occupied Ukrainian territories. In a speech the same day he announced that Russia had annexed four regions occupied during the conflict. Under Russian law, however, the treaties had to be ratified by both houses of the Russian parliament before they became effective.

A timetable set in advance

The sequence had been signalled days earlier. On 27 September 2022, Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, said she expected the annexation to be formalised by 4 October. On 29 September, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said agreements on the annexation would be signed on 30 September.

On 29 September, Putin also signed a decree recognising the "independence" of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, which had been proclaimed the day before. By 3 October, then, the treaties had been signed, and ratification was the step still outstanding, with Matviyenko's expected deadline a day away.

Kyiv's response

On 29 September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced an urgent meeting of the National Security and Defense Council for 30 September. On 30 September he requested fast-track NATO membership for Ukraine, following the annexation. That request put the question of Ukraine–NATO relations on the table at the same moment Moscow was completing its legal steps.

The annexation followed so-called referendums staged in late September by Russian-installed officials in the occupied territories. Commentators later widely described them as sham votes, and various countries denounced them. According to later accounts, North Korea was the only country to accept the validity of the results.

Pressures beyond the front line

Other developments from the same days showed how far the conflict reached. On 27 September 2022, Kazakhstan said around 98,000 Russian civilians had entered the country by land and air since Putin ordered a military mobilisation. On 29 September, Putin called the Nord Stream gas leaks an unprecedented act of international terrorism.

What 3 October marked

The date sat between declaration and ratification. Moscow had announced the annexation and signed the treaties, but the parliamentary stage required under Russian law had not yet been completed. Kyiv had answered with an emergency security meeting and an appeal for accelerated NATO membership.