A woman votes in the controversial referendum in Donetsk, Ukraine on Sept. 27, 2022.Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Tatsiana Kulakevich, University of South Florida Russia is set to formally annex four occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, claiming the region as its own more than six months after it first invaded its neighboring country. Russia announced on Sept. 27, 2022, that more than 85% of people in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as parts of two other occupied regions in Ukraine – Kherson and Zaporizhshia – voted to become …
