As the speech said, the front is 1000 kilometers long.
Russia cannot defend the current lines with the number of troops and equipment it has now; the more so as the West is denuding its own stores to supply the Ukraine with weaponry.
Looks like the Samarkand Summit bore fruit.
The SCO members are clearly ok with these secessionary referenda. Otherwise they wouldn’t be happening.
Assuming the 3.5 Oblasts vote in favour of having pensions and heat and for not being predated on by vengeful thugs - then they will be fast-tracked into the Russian Federation.