Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed a year ago "made their choice — to be with their Fatherland."
A concert was held in Red Square on Friday to mark the anniversary, but Putin did not participate.
Serhii Borzov said that air defenses shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but that a "powerful fire" broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.
Russia's Defense Ministry said Saturday that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.
Drone strikes and shelling in the Russian border regions are a regular occurrence.
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