What Moscow and Kyiv signalled on 29 September 2022
A look back at the day Russia moved to formalise its claims over occupied Ukrainian territory and Kyiv announced an urgent security council meeting.
What was happening on 29 September 2022, as Russia prepared to formalise its claim to occupied parts of Ukraine? The day brought a string of announcements from Moscow and Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognising the "independence" of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts, which had been proclaimed the previous day. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that agreements on the annexation of the occupied territories were scheduled to be signed on 30 September.
The timetable had been signalled earlier. On 27 September, 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. The signing date announced on 29 September was therefore ahead of that expectation.
The moves followed the so-called referendums staged in late September 2022 by Russian-installed officials in the occupied territories. As later described, commentators widely called them sham votes and various countries denounced them. Their results were later accepted only by North Korea.
In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he would convene an urgent meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on 30 September.
Other developments
The same day, Putin described the Nord Stream gas leaks as an unprecedented act of international terrorism, according to reports at the time.
Elsewhere, Kazakhstan had said on 27 September that around 98,000 Russian civilians had entered the country by land and air since Putin ordered a military mobilisation.
