Ukraine news LATEST: Putin prepares regions for ‘sham referendums’ as WWII-style conscription drives Russian men to flee

VLADIMIR Putin prepares for “sham referendums” as four areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia are to vote from today until Tuesday. Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces are set to vote from today in “referendums” to join Russia, a move that has been challenged by the West. It comes as Russians fear Putin’s aim to conscript a further 300,000 troops to serve in the Ukraine war is growing as protest arrests climb and many flee to the border. A huge 1,300 arrests have been made across Russia in protest of the despot’s drive to conscript thousands more people to serve in the Ukraine war. Putin ordered the mobilisation of Russian civilians on Wednesday morning, and called up 300,000 reservists in a “chest-banging” speech on TV in which he also made a thinly veiled threat to nuke the West. Read our Ukraine-Russia live blog below for the latest udpates…