Gyenyisz Pusilin, leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, suggested to Leonid Pasechnik, President of the Luhansk People’s Republic, to join forces in organizing the referendum. He stated that the two “republics” held a referendum on independence at the same time in 2014.
While the Luhansk entity as a whole is under the control of Russia and the forces affiliated with the breakaway republic, only about half of the Donetsk region is. Russian politicians and political analysts who spoke on this issue on Monday believe that in the “fully liberated” Luhansk region, there could be no greater obstacle to holding the referendum.
Kirill Strimosov, deputy head of the Moscow-appointed Military and Civil Administration of Kherson Province, told the Russian news agency TASS, on Monday, that residents of this region are also ready to hold a referendum in order to obtain security guarantees from Moscow and to obtain security guarantees. Russian authorities to stay in the region permanently. According to the local authorities, the Kherson province, bordering the Crimea, which was annexed from Ukraine in 2014, is completely under Russian control.
Strimosov called the decision of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday to establish 15 military administrative bodies in Kherson Province as meaningless.
The RBK business newspaper writes that at the beginning of September, it was informed by sources close to the Russian presidential administration that the Kremlin plans to hold referendums in the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as in Kherson, Zaporizhzhya and Kharkiv. counties before the end of autumn. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army recaptured the majority of Kharkiv’s territory.
According to the pro-Moscow authorities of Kharkiv, the part of the city of Kobyansk on the east bank of the Oskol River is still under the control of the Russian and separatist “allied forces” under constant Ukrainian fire.
According to RBK, the Kremlin’s preparations for the referendums began with the concept that they could be held “in the near or far future” depending on the military situation. Two of the newspaper’s informants claimed that by “near” they meant September and “far” to mean November in the presidential apparatus.
Andrei Turchak, Secretary of the General Council of the ruling Russian party, United Russia, said earlier that it would be symbolic and correct if a referendum was held on the accession of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the “liberated lands” to Russia. November 4, National Unity Day.
Cover image source: Getty Images
