Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to announce the illegal annexation of four regions of Ukraine, defying international law and threats of sanctions from Western nations.
Putin was preparing Friday to formally incorporate the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas of Ukraine – representing roughly 15% of Ukraine's territory – following widely discredited referendums into Russian territory.
The illegal occupation could potentially raise the stakes of Russia's seven-month-old war in Ukraine. President Joe Biden called the referenda "an absolute sham," and his administration promised "swift and severe economic costs" if Putin moved ahead with his plan.
Other developments:
►Putin is scheduled to hold a signing ceremony and make a speech at the Kremlin beginning around 3 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET), Russian news agencies reported. To celebrate the incorporation, the U.S. has called illegal and illegitimate, an evening concert in Moscow's Red Squareis also expected.
►Overnight, Ukraine's prosecutor's office said at least 25 people were killed after a Russian missile hit a convoy of civilian vehicles in Zaporizhzhia attempting to deliver humanitarian aid.
Annexation follows widely discredited referendums
Ukraine and Western officials have characterized the move as little more than a land grab and desperate tactic by Putin to disguise growing battlefield losses to Ukraine.
Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Only a handful of countries, such as North Korea and Syria, have recognized that annexation.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced legislation on Thursday that would prohibit countries that recognize Russia's annexation of the four new regions from receiving economic or military assistance from the United States.
The bipartisan pair is also pushing for passage of legislation that would designate Russia a state sponsor of terror for over its actions in Ukraine. Just four countries -- North Korea, Syria, Cuba and Iran -- have the designation.