Putin to proclaim formal annexation of Ukrainian territory in days

European Union likely to place trade sanctions on Moscow over 'sham' votes

Russia was poised Wednesday to formally annex parts of Ukraine where occupied areas held a Kremlin-orchestrated “referendum” — denounced by Kyiv and the West as illegal and rigged — on living under Moscow's rule.
 

Armed troops had gone door-to-door with election officials to collect ballots in five days of voting.
 

The results were widely ridiculed as implausible and characterised as a land grab by an increasingly cornered Russian leadership following embarrassing military losses in Ukraine.
 

Moscow-installed administrations in the four regions of southern and eastern Ukraine claimed Tuesday night that residents had voted to join Russia.
 

“Forcing people in these