Putin signs laws completing Russian annexation of four Ukrainian regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin (Sputnik, Kremlin/Pool Photo via AP)

President Vladimir Putin has signed laws absorbing four Ukrainian regions into Russia, a move that finalises the annexation carried out in defiance of international law.

Earlier this week, both houses of the Russian parliament ratified treaties making the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions part of Russia.