Russian State Duma MPs float the question of recognizing Donbas ‘republics’
Russian MPs have introduced a new bill in the State Duma, Russia’s parliament, appealing to Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize the puppet states of the “Luhansk People’s Republic” and the “Donetsk People’s Republic.”
The document was published in the register of bills of the State Duma.
Among the authors of the initiative are State Duma MPs Gennady Zyuganov, Alexei Kurinny, and Leonid Kalashnikov, who have asked for the bill to considered in February.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, in a comment to Russian newspaper RIA-Novosti, said that the Kremlin has not yet reviewed the bill.
In 2014, after former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych abandoned his office and fled Ukraine, Russia occupied Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula using soldiers in unmarked uniforms (nicknamed ‘little green men’).
It then used special operations troops to instigate a fake separatist movement in Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and then, after forming two statelets in the non-government-controlled areas, launched direct military incursions in August 2014 and February 2015 to shore up its control of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Russia continues to fuel the war in the Donbas with money and weapons, having created a standing army in the non-government-controlled areas consisting of professional Russian regular army officers, Russian citizens, and local recruits.
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