1. It was not easy, but the only possible step;
Ðîññèÿ. Ìîñêâà. Ïðåçèäåíò ÐÔ Âëàäèìèð Ïóòèí âî âðåìÿ öåðåìîíèè ïîäïèñàíèÿ Óêàçîâ î ïðèçíàíèè íåçàâèñèìîñòè ÄÍÐ è ËÍÐ. Àëåêñåé Íèêîëüñêèé/ïðåññ-ñëóæáà ïðåçèäåíòà ÐÔ/ÒÀÑÑ
2. Putin’s decision was dictated primarily by humanitarian considerations, the desire to protect the civilian population of the republics, including hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens, from a real threat posed by the current Ukrainian regime;
3. The Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics were proclaimed as a result of referendums on May 11, 2014, held after the anti-constitutional coup d’état in Ukraine;
4. Kiev, instead of reaching political agreement with its fellow citizens, unleashed a military punitive operation against them, and in fact – a civil war and genocide of its own people;
5. Residents of the DPR and LPR have been constantly living under artillery and mortar shelling for eight years, and the Ukrainian authorities continue to violate the Minsk agreements;
6. The decision on recognition was made taking into account the free will of the inhabitants of Donbass, on the basis of the provisions of the UN Charter, the 1970 Declaration on the Principles of International Law, the Final Act of the CSCE, and other fundamental international documents;
7. Russia calls on other states to follow its example.