Multiple Russian-backed authorities in eastern and southern Ukraine have announced that referendums on joining Russia will take place this week.
This includes the Kremlin-controlled regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Ukraine has dismissed the announcements as a "sham" stemming from "fear of defeat".
Smoke raises up from Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, a city under Russian offensive pressure despite the retreat of Moscow's troops in the northeast. Photo: JUAN BARRETO
Our correspondent Julia Chapman is in Ukraine's capital Kyiv.
