Russia-Ukraine War LIVE Updates: Putin to preside over ceremony adding four Ukrainian territories to Russia

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday authorising the government to ban some Western trucks from transiting across Russian territory. The ban, which applies to vehicles carrying goods, comes into force immediately and applies to countries which have applied similar restrictions against Russia.

The Kremlin-backed leaders of four Russian occupied regions of Ukraine were in Moscow Thursday after calling on President Vladimir Putin to formally annex the territories into Russia. The Moscow-installed heads of Ukraine's Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions claimed residents backed the move in hastily organised votes that the West says were a sham.

A Ukrainian government official has unveiled a mechanism for the country's post-war reconstruction named the Fast Recovery Plan. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president's office, announced that under the mechanism, Ukraine is planning to attract money from international donors to restore the infrastructure facilities which were destroyed or heavily damaged in the ongoing war waged by Russia, reports Xinhua news agency.

Russia was poised to annex a swath of Ukraine within days, releasing what it called vote tallies showing overwhelming support in four provinces to join it, after what Ukraine and the West denounced as illegal sham referendums held at gunpoint. The head of the upper house of the Russian parliament said it could consider the incorporation of the four partially occupied regions on Oct. 4, three days before President Vladimir Putin's 70th birthday.

Moscow was poised on Wednesday to annex a swath of Ukraine, releasing what it called vote tallies showing support in four partially occupied provinces to join Russia, after what Kyiv and the West denounced as illegal sham referendums held at gunpoint.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warns that he won't hesitate to use nuclear weapons to ward off Ukraine's attempt to reclaim control of Moscow-occupied areas that the Kremlin is about to annex. While the West dismisses that as a scare tactic, a top Putin lieutenant upped the ante by boldly saying the U.S. and its NATO allies wouldn't dare strike Russia, even if it used nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

A Russian court on Wednesday remanded three young poets who took part in an event against the mobilisation to fight in Ukraine, with one claiming he was raped by police during arrest. OVD-Info, a non-governmental organisation monitoring human rights issues, said Artyom Kamardin, Egor Shtovba and Nikolay Dainenko were remanded in custody for two months.

The US will provide an additional USD 1.1 billion in aid to Ukraine, with funding for about 18 more advanced rocket systems and other weapons to counter drones that Russia has been using against Ukrainian troops, according to US officials.