Russian leader Vladimir Putin has sworn to protect the new territories claimed by Russia using "all means available", including hypothetical nuclear attacks. However, the absence of a clear territorial demarcation, of a border red line, makes these threats much weaker, being feasible only in the event of a violation of the borders of the Russian Federation by a foreign state.
In addition to not even controlling most of all the territories involved in the farce referendum, Russia continues to lose ground on the ground, thanks to Ukrainian pressure that has been pulling back the invading troops for almost a month now. For now, Peskov has stated that the only safe borders are in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, while those of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are still uncertain.
The spokesperson's statements can also be interpreted as a confirmation, by the Russia, of the successes reported on the field by the Ukrainian counter-offensive, which has created even more confusion and uncertainty about which territories Moscow can really control. Another example is the city of Lyman, reconquered by Ukraine less than 48 hours after the announcement of the annexation of the occupied territories.
In the meantime, the Duma, the Russian parliament, has approved the annexation proposal put forward by Putin, surpassing the unanimity of those present. The Speaker of the House Vyacheslav Volodin has in fact announced a support of 413 votes in favor, while the deputies present were only 408, as reported by the independent Russian media Meduza. It follows that at least five of these votes are illegal, but according to Volodin it was just a technical error, urging the media not to worry about "one vote more or less". On the international level, no country, not even China, has recognized the validity of referendums.