The Russian president claims the West expects it to "forever put up with its dictates" but says his country has been "reborn and strengthened". By Andy Hayes, news reporter Vladimir Putin has railed against Western "dictatorship" as he declared Russian rule over four regions of Ukraine. It is the biggest forced occupation since the Second World War, amounting to 15% of Ukrainian territory. Russia has been "reborn and strengthened", the Russian president claimed during a ceremony at the Kremlin. Following a series of referendums described by Kyiv and the West as a "sham", Mr Putin said the people of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk and Donetsk had "made their choice" and decided to be governed from Moscow. Putin hosts Kremlin ceremony annexing parts of Ukraine - live updates The results are "definitive", he claimed, adding: "This is the will of millions of people. This is their right, their integral right." He said those in the affected regions are "becoming our compatriots forever" and s