Russia could begin announcing referendums designed to formalize its control of occupied parts of Ukraine as soon as this week, a senior White House official said Wednesday.

Russia could begin announcing referendums designed to formalize its control of occupied parts of Ukraine as soon as this week, a senior White House official said Wednesday.

The US has learned "that Russian leadership has instructed officials to begin preparing to hold sham referenda," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

"In fact, we can see a Russian announcement of the first one or ones before the end of this week," he said.

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