TOP HEADLINES

· Russian President Vladimir Putin said Western countries want to see Russia as a "colony," at a ceremony to formally absorb four Moscow-occupied regions of pro-Western Ukraine. READ MORE BELOW

· Putin added that the citizens in all four regions were now part of Russia "forever." He also accused the U.S. and allies of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines.

· Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would not negotiate with Russia as long as President Vladimir Putin is in power. He also announced Ukraine had formally requested fast-track NATO membership. READ MORE BELOW

· The U.S. imposed Russia-related sanctions on hundreds of individuals and companies on Friday, hours after Putin proclaimed Russia's new territorial acquisitions.

· Missiles hit a car market in the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 23 people in a convoy of civilian vehicles in an attack local officials blamed on Russia. READ MORE BELOW

· However, a Kremlin proxy official in the occupied Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia blamed Kyiv's forces for the deadly strike.

· The Donetsk leader says Russian forces have been "partially encircled" by Ukraine troops in Lyman.

· Russia has classified the purpose of 6.6 trillion roubles ($116 billion) in spending, or nearly a quarter of its total expenditures, next year, a draft of the state budget showed on Friday.

· Gas leaks along the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines are very likely the result of state action, Swedish energy minister Khashayar Farmanbar said. "It's very likely that it has been done deliberately and not by accident."

· Russia's top spy said Moscow had materials which indicated the West had a role in ruptures to the undersea Nord Stream pipelines that have threatened to put them permanently out of use, according to Russian news agencies.

· A Moscow-installed official in Kherson, a southern Ukrainian region controlled by Russia, was killed in strikes by Kyiv's forces, Russia's state-run news agency cited local officials as saying.

· The UK will never accept the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as "anything other than Ukrainian territory," Prime Minister Liz Truss said, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin was violating international law.

IN DETAIL

Putin accuses West of wanting Russia as a 'colony'

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Western countries want to see Russia as a "colony" at a ceremony to formally absorb four Moscow-occupied regions of pro-Western Ukraine.

"It is out of greed, with the aim of maintaining its unlimited power. These are the real reasons for this hybrid war that the West is waging against us... They want to make us into a colony," said Putin.

"They don't need Russia at all. The West is ready to step over everything to preserve the neo-colonial system, which allows it to parasitise, and, in fact, plunder the whole world." 

The long-time Russian leader said the people of the regions had made an "univocal choice" to join Russia after so-called referendums that Moscow organized. 

"I want to say this to the Kyiv regime and its masters in the West: People living in the Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia (regions) are becoming our citizens forever," he said.

'No more negotiatins with Putin' - Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Friday that he would not negotiate with Russia as long as Putin was in power.

"Ukraine will not hold any negotiations with Russia as long as Putin is the president of the Russian Federation. We will negotiate with the new president," Zelenskyy said. 

He added that Kyiv was requesting fast-track NATO membership after Russia announced they were absorbing four Moscow-held regions of Ukraine.

"We have already proven our compatibility with (NATO) alliance standards," Zelenskyy said. "We are taking a decisive step by signing Ukraine's application for accelerated accession to NATO."

Missile strikes kill 23 civilians in south Ukraine

Missiles slammed into a car market in southern Ukraine on Friday, killing at least 23 people in a convoy of civilian vehicles and leaving bloodied bodies strewn across the ground in an attack local officials blamed on Russia.

Both sides blames each, though, with a Kremlin proxy official in the occupied Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia pointing the finger at Kyiv's forces, denying the Russian army was behind the attack.

The convoy had been assembling at the car market on the edge of the city, preparing to leave Ukrainian territory to visit relatives and deliver supplies in an area controlled by Russia, witnesses and Ukrainian officials said.

Oleksandr Starukh, the Zaporizhzhia regional governor, said: "The occupiers struck defenseless Ukrainians. This is another terrorist attack by a terrorist country."

Police Colonel Sergey Ujryumov, head of the explosive disposal unit of the Zaporizhzhia police department said that the Russian military "know that columns are formed here to go to the occupied territories. They had the coordinates. It's not a coincidental strike. It's perfectly deliberate."

However, Vladimir Rogov, a Moscow-backed official, said on Telegram: "The Kyiv regime is trying to portray what happened as shelling by Russian troops, resorting to a heinous provocation. Ukrainian fighters committed yet another terrorist act."