Putin's Hold on Ukraine Territory Hits Roadblocks

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday created a new holiday to be held on September 30 that celebrates the illegitimate annexation of four Ukrainian territories. However, signs indicated that his first "Reunification Day" on Saturday was held as his grip on the four regions grows more tenuous.

Last year, Putin declared that the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson had become part of the Russian Federation after his military forces seized control of the territories. The move was largely denounced by the international community, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to liberate the regions along with Crimea, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014.

Ukraine's forces quickly began retaking parts of the four occupied territories soon after the Russian leader announced the annexation. During a 2022 counteroffensive, Zelensky's military liberated Kherson city in November, and Kyiv's current ongoing counteroffensive has freed settlements throughout the four territories, including significant battlefield gains recently in Zaporizhzhia.

In addition to military setbacks for Russian forces, there seems to be some notable confusion among officials about the annexed territories.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in a weekend assessment wrote that Russian officials don't seem to be on the same page in regards to exactly what parts of Ukraine are now considered Russian.

"The Kremlin has seemingly not yet clarified what Ukrainian territories it claims that Russia has annexed, leading to continued confusion among Russian government and occupation officials a year after the illegal annexation of occupied territories," the U.S.-based think tank wrote on Saturday.

The ISW noted Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Kremlin-installed governor of Crimea's Sevastopol, posted a map on his Telegram channel in honor of Reunification Day "that showed the entirety of Crimea and Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts as Russian territory."

Meanwhile, the occupation administration in Kherson "posted a different map that showed Russian territory roughly extending to the current frontlines in the four most recently annexed territories," according to the ISW.

Adding to the confusion was Dmitry Medvedev, the former president of Russia and current deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia. The ISW, calling Medvedev "a notable nationalist and extreme voice," said he "ambiguously claimed that the war in Ukraine will continue until 'the original Russian territories are liberated.'"

"Medvedev's unclear statement and occupation officials' disparate maps indicate that the Kremlin has yet to clarify what territories it claims to have annexed or intends to annex," the ISW concluded.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, also shared footage that could indicate the first "Reunification Day" was not widely celebrated in at least one of the annexed territories.

Gerashchenko posted a clip from the Kremlin-controlled news agency Tass onto his X (formerly Twitter) account on Sunday. The Tass video covers a Reunification Day event in the Luhansk oblast, though not many participants are seen.

"A car rally in honor of 'reunification' with Russia was held in the occupied Luhansk region," Gerashchenko wrote in the caption for his X post. "Judging by the video, this event has 'enormous' support: 11 cars took part in the rally."