Putin ally backs separatist referendums in Ukraine

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most senior security officials on Tuesday hailed proposals by Moscow-backed separatists to hold referendums paving the way for the annexation of swathes of Ukraine as a way to scare the West, Qazet.az reports according to Reuters.

After nearly seven months of war, including a battlefield defeat in northeastern Ukraine, Putin is pondering his next steps in a conflict that has triggered the biggest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.