On Monday, the United Kingdom announced a new raft of sanctions in response to what it described as Russia’s “sham” referendums in four occupied regions of Ukraine. “The Russian regime has organized these sham referendums in a desperate attempt to grab land and justify their illegal war,” the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement. “These referendums do not represent the demonstrated will of the Ukrainian people and are a severe violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and political independence,” it added.
