The White House says Moscow is preparing to install illegal proxies in areas under its control, establish the ruble as the default currency and force residents to apply for citizenship. “We have information today, including declassified information that we can share with you, about how Russia is setting the stage to annex Ukrainian territory it controls in direct violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. . It is the same tactic used in 2014 when Russia announced its annexation of Crimea after taking control of it from Ukraine, he added. The international community considers the annexation of Crimea illegal. “We want to make that clear to the American people,” Mr. Kirby said. “No one is fooled by it.” He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “dusting off the book from 2014”. Read more: Zelensky fires Ukraine’s security chief and chief prosecutor for ‘betrayal’ within their ranks Meanwhile, Mr Kirby said America would announce a new weapons package for Ukraine in the coming days as the war in the country rages on. The package is expected to include further HIMARS missile systems, which have been used with devastating effect on the front lines as Ukrainian forces strike ammunition depots behind enemy lines. It comes as Mr Putin visited Iran on his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the invasion of Ukraine. Speaking on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised that the Ukrainian flag “will be in all our towns and villages” once again. He told Telegram: “The only question is time.” “Step by step we are moving forward, cutting off supplies for the occupiers, identifying and neutralizing collaborators,” he said.
