No fake referenda will ever change the fact that Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia, as well as Crimea, are and will remain part of an independent and sovereign Ukraine, head of the European Parliament (EP) Roberta Metsola has said.

"On September 30, after Russia staged a series of sham referenda, it illegally annexed the occupied territories of Ukraine, in what is a blatant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law. On behalf of the European Parliament, let me reiterate: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia - just like Crimea - are and will remain part of independent and sovereign Ukraine. No sham referenda can ever change this," Metsola said at a plenary meeting of the European Parliament on Wednesday.