The leader of the Luhansk People’s Republic said his country will soon hold a referendum to join the Russian Federation.
“I think a referendum can be held on the republic soon. The people will be able to do their constitutional rights and express their views on joining the Russian Federation,” the leader of LPR Leonid Pasechnik said.
Russian and Ukrainian officials have not commented on the statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21 signed a decree recognizing the independence of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR). The two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk (known as the Donbass region), separated from Ukraine in 2014, following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula, and declared themselves two independent states, although not recognized by the United Nations.
When two Ukrainian breakaway regions asked for help, Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry on March 9 published six pages of documents written in Ukrainian, showing that Kyiv planned to attack the separatist regions of Donbass in March.
The director general of the UNIAN (Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News), Misha Gannytskyi, said that the document published by Russia was a forged document. Minister of Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter on February 21 that they “do not attack Donetsk or Luhansk”.
The Crimean peninsula has been cut off fresh water by the Ukrainian government, the Russian military has liberated the Donbass region and controls the coastal area connecting the Donbass and the Crimean peninsula. In the immediate future, restore the supply of fresh water to the people on the peninsula.
Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation – Sergei Rudskoy announced on March 25 that Russian forces had almost completed the first phase of the military operation in Ukraine. The separatists also control 93% of Luhansk Oblast and 54% of Donetsk Oblast.
