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Residents in four occupied regions of Ukraine are being pressured by their Russian-backed officials to vote in a self-styled referendum to classify parts of the country as Russian territory.
Voting began on Friday and will close on Tuesday with a result expected soon after.
Here's what you need to know.
What are the referendums about?
The outcome of the referendums will decide if Russia should officially claim four parts of Ukraine as its own territory.
It is the start of a plan by Russian President Vladimir Putin to claim a big chunk of Ukraine in what the West says is violation of international law that significantly escalates the war.
Who is voting in the referendum?
Voting is taking place in self-styled Donetsk (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republics (LPR), which Mr Putin recognised as independent just before the invasion, and Russian-controlled areas of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions
Russia controls most of Luhansk and Kherson, around 66 per cent of Zaporizhzhia and 60 per cent of Donetsk. Fighting continues in all four regions.
Russian media have reported that for the first four days of the referendum, officials will go door-to-door collecting votes, with public voting booths only opening on the fifth and final day.
The structure of the voting system has cast extreme doubt over the validity of any votes. There are no independent observers, and much of the pre-war population has fled.
Who is likely to win and what happens after a result is announced?
Outcomes that support the regions joining Russia are almost certain as it is wildly believed that the Kremlin will manipulate results.
This is because the tactics being used were employed during the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine's Maidan Revolution and Russia annexed Crimea, while the Russian-backed separatists in Donbas — which is comprised of Donetsk and Luhansk — sought to break away from Kyiv's control.
After Russian forces took control of Crimea in February 2014, a referendum on joining Russia was held in March.
Crimea's leaders declared a 97 per cent vote to secede from Ukraine. However, a leaked report from Russia's Human Rights Council and shared by major Ukrainian news site, TSN.ua, revealed that the approval rate for secession was far lower that publicly reported.
Russia formally added Crimea just days later, with Kyiv and the West saying the referendum violated Ukraine's constitution and international law.
It is expected that these referendums will follow a similar pattern, with Russian state-run TASS news agency reporting that The Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, may debate bills incorporating Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine into Russia on September 29 – just two days after voting closes.
Are the referendums legal?
Many Western countries have said the referendum is illegal, with the OECD releasing a statement that only legitimate authorities could hold such a vote.
Ukrainian officials have also branded the voting as a sham, reporting that people were banned from leaving some occupied areas until the four-day vote was over, armed groups were going to homes to force people to cast ballots, and employees were threatened with termination if they did not participate.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Russian-installed officials in the regions were setting targets for invented voter turnouts and approval rates, with some turnout figures already agreed.
Why is Russia doing this now?
Despite its size and the resources at its disposal, 10 months into the war, Russia is on the back foot in its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces have been slowly but consistently taking back area previously captured by the Russian military during the past few months.
A day after the referendums were announced, Mr Putin revealed plans for a military draft expected to deliver 300,000 troops. It's an unprecedented escalation of their battle strategy that has seen thousands of Russians flee the country to avoid being sent to war.
If Russia prevails in these referendums like it's predicted they will, that would give the Kremlin pretext to claim Ukraine's attempts to recapture occupied territories are an attack on Russia. This could see Russian forces increase the extremity of their attacks on Ukraine.
As former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said in a post on Telegram, "Encroachment onto Russian territory is a crime which allows you to use all the forces of self defence."
What has been the response from the rest of the world?
The Western world has sided firmly with Ukraine.
NATO has promised to ramp up help for Kyiv in response to the referendums. Previously they have been supporting Ukraine with weapons, ammunition, other military equipment and training.
US President Joe Biden released a statement recognising the votes as a sham, adding that the US, "will never recognise Ukrainian territory as anything other than part of Ukraine".
The White House confirmed that it is prepared to impose additional economic costs on Russia in conjunction with US allies if Moscow moves forward with annexing portions of Ukrainian territory.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and French President Emmanuel Macron have also denounced the referendums as fraudulent.
Reuters/ABC