The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, said that the issue of the borders of the DPR and LPR within the Lugansk and Donetsk regions could end independently, possibly peacefully.
“The issue of access to the borders of the Donetsk, Lugansk people’s republics can simply be decided on their own during this period, but in what way? We would like it to be peaceful,” Pushilin said at a press conference.
The situation in the Donbass has escalated in recent days, the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics have reported a lot of shelling by the Ukrainian security forces. The leadership of the DPR and LPR announced the temporary evacuation of citizens to the Rostov region in connection with the threat of Ukraine’s invasion. First of all, the evacuation concerns women, children and the elderly. The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, said that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky may soon order the military to go on the offensive, to implement a plan to invade the DPR and LPR. On Saturday, February 19, the leaders of the DPR and LPR signed decrees on general mobilization, and then turned to Russia with a request to recognize the independence of the republics.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday after the meeting of the Security Council addressed the citizens of the Russian Federation and stated that he considers it necessary to immediately recognize the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. He noted that the world prefers not to notice the horror and genocide in the Donbass, not a single day goes by without shelling, the killings of civilians and the blockade do not stop. As the president stated, in case of further bloodshed in the Donbass, the entire responsibility will be on the Kiev regime. Immediately after the appeal, the president signed decrees in the Kremlin recognizing the LPR and the DPR. In his decrees, Putin instructed to ensure the maintenance of peace in the DPR and LPR by the armed forces of the Russian Federation.