Putin annexes regions of Ukraine, Zelenskyy addresses Russian people | USA TODAY

After months of fighting between Russia and Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has signed a treaty annexing multiple regions of Ukraine.

Putin claimed the illegal annexations were "the will of millions of people" to huge applause during a signing ceremony in the Kremlin's St. George's Hall despite widespread reports of voter coercion and people being pressured at gunpoint.

The illegal occupation could potentially raise the stakes of Russia's seven-month-old war in Ukraine because Putin vowed to defend the annexed territories with "all available means," a veiled reference to his insistence he would be prepared to use nuclear weapons if Russia's territory is threatened.