Sputnik is live from Moscow, where Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council via video conference on Friday, September 23.
The meeting comes two days after the president signed a decree on partial mobilization in Russia in order "to protect our Motherland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity," as well as Donbass and the territories liberated during the special military operation in Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, referendums started in the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as in the liberated territories of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, with local residents going to the polls to vote whether they want to join Russia.
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