Russia Says Integration of Annexed Land in 'Full Swing' Amid Massive Losses

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday that the process of integrating territories that Moscow annexed from Ukraine is in "full swing," despite Russian troops suffering losses in the ongoing war.

"The process of integrating these republics [Donetsk People's Republic (DPR)and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR)] into Russia's legal, economic, social and security space is in full swing," Peskov said, according to Russian news agency TASS. "Of course, the main thing for us is to ensure the security of these regions as soon as possible."

Peskov added that "ensuring the safety of civilians who live there is the main goal of the [special military] operation."

However, despite the vast size of its military, Russia has struggled to achieve substantial goals in Ukraine after more than 10 months of fighting. The war exposed weaknesses among Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops, including an apparent inability to maintain motivated, well-trained soldiers. This has allowed Ukraine in recent months to retake thousands of square miles of formerly occupied territory.

Earlier this month, Peskov said that Moscow has no plans to seize more territory from the Eastern European country, and will instead focus on liberating the four territories it annexed in September—Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Foreign governments, including the United States, said the move was illegitimate.

How Much Control Does Russia Have Over Ukrainian Territories?

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, said Tuesday that Russian forces in Bakhmut, which is located in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, might be nearing "culmination"—the point at which an attacking military force can no longer continue its advance.

Russian losses in the Bakhmut area prompted forces to operate in small-sized assault groups of 10 to 15 service members, according to Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces spokesperson Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty. The Russian military made a similar move in August in the Kherson region after Ukrainian forces regained control of parts of the oblast.

In November, Russian forces retreated from the right bank Kherson region, which increased attacks on troops positioned on the opposite side of the river. The Russian withdrawal from Kherson indicated that Moscow no longer considers expansion along the Black Sea coast as a goal in its war.

Meanwhile in September, Ukraine regained control of the Yatskivka settlement, east of the Oskil River in the eastern Donetsk region, according to Oleksiy Gromov, deputy chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Ukraine Armed Forces.

The Kremlin Still Wants to Integrate Ukrainian Territories Into Russia

Still, Peskov insisted on Friday that Russia reportedly has complete control over LPR and DPR, and said that "our primary goal is to let these territories firmly take their worthy place among all entities of the Russian Federation."

The DPR's legislature took on a constitution that includes 10 chapters and 83 articles, while the LPR also adopted its own constitution, TASS reported on Friday.

This comes after Moscow in September held referendums in the four regions it annexed earlier that month. In the referendums, residents in those territories reportedly overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining Russia. However, the U.S. State Department and the West described those results as a "sham."

"We will not—indeed, we will never—recognize the annexation of Ukrainian territory by Russia," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the time. "And I've also been equally clear that Ukraine has the absolute right to defend itself throughout its territory, including to take back the territory that has been illegally seized one way or another by Russia. And the equipment, the weapons that we and many other countries are providing them have been used very effectively to do just that, as we've seen in northeast Ukraine and as we see as well in the south."

A few days after the referendums, Putin signed laws ratifying the integration of those regions into the Russian Federation, according to TASS.

Newsweek reached out to ISW and the Russian defense ministry for comment.