Putin amends Russian Constitution, orders the appropriation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

The Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new decree ordering the publication of an amended text of the Federal Constitution, with changes related to the recent annexation of several Ukrainian territories — the self-proclaimed “DNR” and “LNR,” as well as the Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

In another decree, Putin ordered the Russian government to “accept as federal property” the current property and atomic-energy structures of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, located on Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. The document also specifies the formation of a federal entity, “Zaporozhskaya AES,” for managing the power plant.

• On Sept. 23–27, Russian-staged “referendums” were conducted in the Ukrainian regions that have since been formally annexed by the several “treaties,” signed by Vladimir Putin and the putative heads of the occupied territories and the self-proclaimed Donbas “republics” — the “DNR” and the “LNR.” These were Denis Pushilin (“DNR”), Leonid Pasechnik (“LNR”), Evgeny Balitsky (Zaporizhzhia), and Volodymyr Saldo (Kherson).
• The “treaties” were then approved by the Russian Constitutional Court, followed by their ratification by the State Duma on Oct. 3, and by the Federal Council on Oct. 4. On Oct. 5, Putin affirmed the results of these procedures, completing the formal process of annexation.
• The only country that recognizes the results of the “referendums” and the lawfulness of the Russian annexation is North Korea.

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