Russia plans to annex more Ukrainian territory, US says

US will announce more military aid to Ukraine this week, including more weapons systems

An elderly couple stands near a damaged school in the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. EPA

At least one person was killed after shelling hit the school, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service said. EPA

A woman walks past a destroyed market near a railway station in Donetsk. Reuters

Municipal workers clean a street in Donetsk. Reuters

A man passes destroyed buildings in the Ukrainian town of Siversk. AFP

A destroyed school in Siversk. AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman passes by destroyed buildings in Siversk. AFP

A woman's home is repaired by volunteers after being destroyed by shelling in the village of Zalissya. AFP

People fill up water canisters in Mykolaiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

Grain fields burn on the outskirts of Kurakhove, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. AP Photo

The mother of Ukrainian serviceman Abdulkarim Gulamov, who was killed in a fight against Russian troops in Kherson, attends his funeral in Kyiv. Reuters

People carry pictures of Mr Gulamov at the funeral. Reuters

Ukrainian service members fire a shell from a M777 Howitzer in Kharkiv. Reuters

A man walks in front of a damaged school after a missile strike hit the city of Kramatorsk. EPA

A cyclist rides past burnt cars after a Russian rocket strike in Kharkiv. AFP

Rescuers and servicemen work at a school building damaged by a Russian military strike in Kramatorsk. Reuters

Sasha, 12, a refugee from Ukraine at the humanitarian aid centre set up at the Global Expo exhibition hall in Warsaw, Poland. AFP

Maksym and Andrii, 11-year-old boys, play with plastic guns at a self-made checkpoint along a motorway in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian soldier nicknamed 'Oakland' guards his position at the front line in the Kharkiv region. AP

Ukrainians look at destroyed Russian military equipment at an outdoor exhibition near the Church of the Three Saints in Kyiv. AFP

A member of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) militia sits in a makeshift bunker near Avdiivka, in the Donbas region of Ukraine. EPA

A DPR militia member monitors a section of the road near Avdiivka. EPA

Ukrainians pass a heavily damaged shopping mall in the city of Kherson. AFP

The rubble of a house in Moshchun village, about 20 kilometres outside Kyiv. EPA

A resident helps a firefighter put out a fire after an air strike in the town of Bakhmut, in the breakaway enclave of Donetsk. AFP

A woman surveys the devastation caused by an air strike in Bakhmut. AFP

Part of a projectile fire by a rocket launcher lies embedded in a wheat field in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. AFP

Members of the public look at a Ukrainian tank destroyed in a Russian attack, in Hostomel, north-west of Kyiv. EPA

Burnt out cars destroyed in Russian attacks are piled up in Hostomel. EPA

Jill Biden, US first lady, left, and US President Joe Biden welcome the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, to the White House. EPA

Miami District Two commissioner Ken Russell, left, and Miami police chief Manuel Morales with weapons collected in the Guns 4 Ukraine initiative, at Miami City Hall in Florida. Guns bought back by Miami will be delivered to sister city Irpin, near Kyiv. EPA

A Ukrainian serviceman stands next to a Grad BM-21 multiple rocket launcher at the front line in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. AFP

A woman walks her dog in front of a block of flats hit by shelling in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. EPA

A Kramatorsk resident peers out of a window lined with tape to reduce the impact of shattering glass. EPA

The damaged windows of an apartment, after shells hit a residential area in Kramatorsk. EPA

Rescuers working on a residential building partially destroyed by missile strike in Bashtanka, Mykolaiv as the Russian war in Ukraine continues. AFP

An Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicle lies by the roadside, having been destroyed by Russian forces in Ukraine. AFP

The White House on Tuesday accused Russia of planning to annex more areas of eastern Ukraine through the same "annexation playbook" it used when it seized control of Crimea in 2014.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Moscow was preparing to install proxy officials, establish the rouble as the default currency and force residents to apply for citizenship.

"Russia is laying the groundwork to annex Ukrainian territory that it controls in direct violation of Ukraine sovereignty," Mr Kirby said. "We know their next moves."

He said Russia's actions were a "gross violation of the UN charter".

"We will not allow it to go unchallenged or unpunished," Mr Kirby said,.

He said the American response would include further sanctions imposed on Russia.

Mr Kirby also said that more US military aid for Ukraine would be announced this week as part of another security package, including more high-mobility artillery rocket systems.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what it calls a "special military operation".

Mr Kirby said Moscow's annexation plans include Russian holding regional referendums on joining Russia, which would be used as "basis to try to claim annexation of sovereign Ukrainian territory."

Next steps involve introducing branches of Russian banks and using the rouble as its default currency, taking control of broadcasting towers and controlling internet access, and imposing Russian citizenship on locals.

"We will never recognise any purportedly annexed territories belonging to Russia," Mr Kirby said.

He said that the White House believed Ukraine would fight these annexation attempts and that its military would try to retake the territory.

"They absolutely have a right to go on the counter-offensive inside their own country against Russian forces," Mr Kirby said.

He said Washington was hoping for a UN-led agreement between Turkey, Ukraine and Russia on lifting a Black Sea blockade to ensure the global export of grain.

On a reported sale of armed drones from Iran to Russia, he said that the US was "watching this closely and we're taking it seriously".

Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska, was welcomed by US President Joe Biden and his wife Jill at the White House as part of her trip this week, which included a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.