• Vladimir Putin signs into law the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
• The annexation is illegal under international law.
• Moscow refrained from giving a concrete answer.

When asked how the borders of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions should be established under the Kremlin’s recently ratified alleged unlawful annexations, Moscow abstained from providing a specific response.

Following swift advances by Ukrainian forces in the south, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, declared that “some territory there are still to be returned.”

Peskov responded, “I will leave this question unanswered,” when asked by CNN how he would interpret the language of the laws Putin signed earlier on Wednesday, which refers to the borders of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions as “the territory which existed on the day of its adoption in the Russian Federation.”

Peskov advised CNN to read the decree because it contains legal language when asked if he could provide any comments to help people understand. Generally speaking, we are obviously referring to the region where the military-civilian administration was in place at the time of its adoption (as a constituent of the Russian Federation).

CNN pressed Peskov once more on whether this should be interpreted as the area that Russian forces had taken control of as of September 30. Peskov responded, “(You should stick to) what is mentioned in the decree. But I’ll say it again: Some of those regions still need to be returned, and we’re still talking to the people who live there if they want to live with Russia.

If and when those areas are “returned,” CNN asked Peskov once more whether any more legislation would be needed to incorporate them in the Russian Federation or if they would automatically be included as part of the regions under the signed laws. Peskov responded, “For now, I have nothing to add.”

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the legalization of the unlawful annexation of four regions of Ukraine, meeting the last legal need for annexation under Russian law. International law forbids annexation.

Putin’s action comes as Ukrainian forces continue to advance and win territory, particularly in the areas Russia claims it is annexing in the south and east.

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