The leader of the Eastern Ukrainian self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, Leonid Paschnik, wants to hold a referendum on secession from Ukraine and joining Russia. He told reporters that on Sunday, it reports Russian state news agency Interfax† He did not specify when the referendum would take place.
“I believe that in the near future there will be a referendum on the territory of the republic, where the people will exercise their absolute constitutional right and express their views on joining the Russian Federation,” Paschnik said. He says that he is “certain” that the referendum will take place.
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Pro-Russian separatists declared Luhansk and Donetsk, two areas in the eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, as people’s republics shortly after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Tensions have arisen in the Donbas since the annexation of Crimea and despite several ceasefire agreements, fighting has continued, notably between Ukraine, which does not recognize its independent status, and the separatists. Just before the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a roaring speech announcing that he would launch a “special military operation” in Luhansk and Donetsk.
The war did not end with an operation in the Donbas: Putin decided to invade Ukraine from three different sides (the north, east and south). The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that it would begin the “second phase” – from then on, the “military operation” would focus exclusively on the Donbas. That too seems unlikely: the Russian authorities confirmed earlier Saturday that they had attacked targets near Lviv, near the Polish border in western Ukraine.
This article is also part of our live blog: Zelensky urges Western countries to use heavy weapons