Earlier this week, The Kremlin claimed that four occupied regions in Ukraine had voted in favor of joining Russia.
Now, President Vladimir Putin announced his plans to annex these regions on Friday.
All the while, there has been a huge mobilization effort in Russia leading thousands of Russians to flee the country in fear of being drafted to fight against Ukrainian forces, and to defend what will become Russian territory.
Alec Luhn speaks with Seb Walker from Istanbul.
