Canadian leader Justin Trudeau has become the latest Western leader to condemn plans to stage annexation referendums in occupied regions of Ukraine.

Writing on Twitter, Trudeau said the move would mark a "further escalation of war".

"We will never recognize them," he said, adding that such a move would be a "blatant violation of international law".

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of seeking "a return to the age of imperialism" with the votes.

Across occupied regions of Ukraine, Russian-installed authorities have announced plans to hold votes on joining Russia in the coming week.

In the east of Ukraine, Russian-backed authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk say they will stage votes on 23-27 September.

Pro-Moscow officials in the southern region of Kherson also said they would also hold a vote, and a similar declaration came from Russian-occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia.

While Russia has seized large chunks of these provinces, Ukrainian forces maintain control over other parts of the regions.

Despite this, in Zaporizhzhia, Russian state media reported that the Kremlin-installed governor said the vote will be on whether the entire province should join Russia, not just the areas currently controlled by Moscow.

This would include the city of Zaporizhzhia, which had a pre-war population of 750,000 and is currently held by Ukraine.

Image source, Getty Images

The time now in Moscow is after 22:30 and we were expecting to hear from Russian President Vladimir Putin about two hours ago.

But a senior figure in Russian state media has now posted on social media, appearing to confirm that the planned speech has been postponed.

Margarita Simonyan, the editor of the state-run RT, external outlet, has written on Twitter telling users to "go to bed".

Other pro-Kremlin bloggers have also posted similar messages on the Telegram social media app.

The speech had been trailed by state media earlier on Tuesday, and Putin was expected to speak about planned annexation referendums announced by Russian-proxy officials in occupied Ukraine.

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Kyiv

Image source, Getty Images

The rushed announcements of planned annexation votes from Russian-installed officials appeared choreographed, and they come as Ukrainian forces continue to reclaim territory occupied by Russian forces. It's not a coincidence.

The so-called referendums, to be held in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, are all but certain to go in Moscow’s favour. Ukraine and its Western allies won’t recognise the vote, and any attempt by Russia to formally annex more parts of Ukraine will escalate the nearly seven-month war.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said "sham 'referendums' will not change anything".

And Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to President Zelensky, said the Kremlin "continued to invent sedative" for domestic audience.

"The Armed Forces of Ukraine are calmly and methodically de-occupying territories and eliminating enemies. Obvious difference," he said.

What's happening now echoes Putin’s actions in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Russia invaded and annexed in 2014, also after holding a so-called referendum that wasn’t internationally recognised.

The latest developments are likely to fuel Ukraine’s growing calls for Western partners to send more weapons – and quickly.

Image source, EPA

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has described Russia's plans to hold referendums in its occupied territory in Ukraine as a "parody of democracy".

"What Russia is doing in Donetsk, Luhansk and other occupied territories of Ukraine is a parody of democracy, it's an attempt to cover the true face of the totalitarian regime," a spokesperson for Nauseda quoted him as saying, according to news agency Reuters.

"These regions are and will be Ukraine, and Russia's sham referendums are illegal.

"Lithuania will never recognise them."

The US Ambassador to the UN has pledged to "isolate" Russia and ruled out meetings between White House officials and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the US "has been strong in its commitment" to Ukraine and said the Biden administration will continue to support the government in Kyiv.

"We will continue to support Ukraine's rights to defend itself against this unprovoked invasion by the Russians," she told the BBC.

World leaders are currently gathering in New York for the UN General Assembly.

You can watch the interview in the video above.

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Vladimir Putin isn’t known for being on time, and the man who likes to keep people waiting is doing it again.

For many of us, that means a few hours of enforced watching of Russian state TV as we wait for the president's anticipated speech.

On the main rolling news channel, they’re busy presenting the hastily-called "referenda" in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine as the fulfilment of a long-held ambition there. Once the sham "votes" are over – and no one doubts the results – the leaders of those regions will ask to join Russia "as soon as possible".

No-one’s bothering to explain how such an annexation can even work, when parts of each of those regions are controlled by Ukrainian forces.

In the parallel world of Russian social media, there’s a mini panic about the prospect of a general call-up that might follow. Rumours of martial law back in February prompted a rush for the exit, led by men of fighting age.

However much patriotic puff there is on state TV, and by state officials, I have serious doubts that Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine is a cause most Russians actually want to fight - or die - for.

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French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned reports of planned referendums in occupied regions of Ukraine and accused Russia of seeking a return to an era of empires and colonies.

Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, Macron accused Moscow of seeking to create a new order where "those that are strong seek to subjugate those that are weak".

"What we have seen since 24 February is a return to the age of imperialism," he said. "France rejects this."

"Contemporary imperialism is not Western," Macron went on, while attacking the impact the conflict has had on global food supplies.

"Who's playing at hegemony today? It is Russia."

As we reported earlier, the French president has already dismissed the votes as a "parody", saying they "will have no legal consequence".

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier today, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he believed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, is seeking an end to the war he began in Ukraine, and that a "significant step" will be made.

In an interview with US broadcaster PBS, Mr Erdogan spoke of having "very extensive discussions" with Mr Putin at a summit in Uzbekistan last week.

"He is actually showing me that he's willing to end this as soon as possible," Mr Erdogan said.

"That was my impression, because the way things are going right now are quite problematic."

• You can read more on what Recep Tayyip Erdogan had to say here

The Pentagon has said the announced votes on occupied territories joining Russia is an "operation that’s meant to distract from the difficult state that the Russian military currently finds itself in".

Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder branded the call for referendums part of the Russian “playbook”.

“We saw them do this in 2014, and it goes a little something like this: first, you’re going to have proxy officials as what you are seeing in the press right now claim they are going to conduct a referenda, and then they will use that as the basis to try to claim legitimacy in terms of annexation of sovereign Ukrainian territory,” Ryder said.

He said the referendums will have no credibility and the "US certainly will not recognise the outcome of any sham elections".

Image source, Reuters

Russia had managed to seize large areas of the south, east and north-east of Ukraine in the months following its February invasion.

But in recent weeks, Ukrainian has made rapid gains and has recaptured territory in the eastern Luhansk region, which had been entirely occupied by Russia since July.

Image source, .

The cities of Izyum and Kupiansk, which Ukraine says were retaken on 10 September, were both key supply hubs for the Russian forces. As such, these represent important strategic gains for Kyiv. Russia has confirmed that its forces retreated from the two cities, saying that this was a strategic withdrawal to "regroup".

Despite the gains, at this moment Russian forces still hold about a fifth of the country - areas in the south of mainland Ukraine, as well as the Crimea peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014, and the eastern Donbas region - parts of which have been contested for years.

Image source, Getty Images

Pro-war "hawks" have won an internal battle inside the Kremlin and convinced Russian leader Vladimir Putin to widen the war in Ukraine, according to one independent Russian media outlet.

Meduza, which is based in Latvia,, external claims senor advisers have convinced Putin that a wider mobilisation of Russian forces is needed if Ukraine's rapid eastern advance continues.

The paper says former President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, and Andrei Turchak, the head of Putin's United Russia party, are leading the pro-war faction. They have allied with Viktor Zolotov, the head of Russia's National Guard, Meduza says.

Sources also told the outlet that the "hawks" hope planned referendums in some regions of Ukraine could convince Kyiv to halt its advance into the occupied Donbas region. Putin is said to share the view.

The Kremlin has not commented on the reporting and the BBC cannot independently verify them.

Paul Adams
BBC Diplomatic correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly due to address the nation in the coming moments, and Western leaders are already condemning reports that he will announce annexation referendums in occupied regions of Ukraine.

"Sham referendums have no legitimacy," tweeted Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, “and do not change the nature of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

Strong words, too, from the White House.

"If this does transpire, the United States will never recognise Russia’s claims to any purportedly annexed parts of Ukraine."

This is a moment many have been anticipating for months: when Russia orchestrates referendums in parts of Ukraine under its control, in order to pave the way for some kind of escalation in the war it launched on 24 February.

If, as expected, the four occupied regions of Ukraine vote to become part of Russia, that could allow Vladimir Putin to tell his people that his “special military operation” is now a fully-fledged, existential conflict: a war.

A long-awaited military mobilisation, something the Kremlin has so far avoided, could follow.

Image source, Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron says Russia's proposed referendums "will have no legal consequence", calling the process "a parody".

"If the Donbas referendum idea wasn't so tragic, it would be funny," Macron told reporters, adding that the idea of a referendum on Donbas is "cynical".

Macron says that Russia's referendums in the areas is occupies in Ukraine "will not be recognised by the international community".

He says he will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming days.

Image source, Getty Images

Russia's lower house of parliament - the state Duma - has approved a new bill stiffening punishments for a number of crimes linked to wartime.

The laws include penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment for desertion during a period of mobilisation, martial law or war.

Troops who surrender to enemy forces or are caught looting in captured territory will also face sentences, while going Absent Without Leave (AWOL) has also been outlawed.

The measures come ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech in Moscow.

He has been coming under pressure from some quarters to announce a wider mobilisation of forces as Ukraine pushes back and recaptures more territory from Russia.

Putin has so far avoided expanding the war, instead preferring to use full-time, professional soldiers for his so-called "special operation" in Ukraine.

Image source, Getty Images

The US has rejected Russia's plans to hold votes in parts of Ukraine, saying Moscow may be making the move to recruit troops in those areas after suffering extensive losses on the battlefield.

US President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the US "will never recognise" Russian annexations of Ukraine territory, adding that Moscow's latest moves were a sign of Russia's weakness in the conflict.

"Russia is throwing together sham referendums on three days notice, as they continue to lose ground on the battlefield and as more world leaders distance themselves from Russia on the public stage, and Russia is scraping for personnel to throw into this fight," Sullivan said.

He added Biden will issue a "firm rebuke" to Russia for its war against Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow.

The idea of a "referendum" to decide the future of the Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine has been mooted since summer, and there were expectations it would coincide with the regional elections to be held this weekend in Russia, but these plans were put on hold.

On Tuesday, it was announced that the so-called parliaments of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR) in Ukraine have decided that the separatist statelets will be holding a referendum on joining Russia on 23-27 September.

The Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region and Kherson region will also hold the same referendum on those same dates.

In March 2014, a referendum on joining Russia was held in Crimea after pro-Russian forces took over the peninsula. Officials said 95.5% of voters in Crimea supported the motion.

The EU and US condemned the referendum as illegal, but Crimea was annexed by Russia later that year.

Image source, EPA

Nato's secretary general says "sham referendums have no legitimacy and do not change the nature of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine".

In a tweet, Jens Stoltenberg said: "This is a further escalation in Putin’s war.

"The international community must condemn this blatant violation of international law and step up support for Ukraine."

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba dismissed the announcements in a tweet, calling the referendums a "sham":

In the east of Ukraine Russian-backed authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk say they will stage votes on 23-27 September.

Russian-installed officials in the southern region of Kherson said they would also hold a vote, and a similar declaration came from Russian-occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia.