Luhansk and Donetsk to hold ‘referendums’ on joining Russia

Authorities in the Russian-occupied Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine have announced that both would hold referendums on formally joining the Russian Federation this coming weekend. Although the breakaway states of the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republic (LPR and DPR respectively) have been controlled by Putin-loyal separatists, they have technically remained semi-autonomous. Similar announcements about a referendum have been made in the recently-invaded regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Russia, of course, has welcomed the decision – the Chairman of the State Duma Vycheslav Volodin declared its readiness to provide Luhansk and Donetsk with total support. Putin is due to give an address to the nation on the subject this evening. In the media, the move to absorb these regions into Russia is being presented as a show of strength. On his Telegram channel ‘Logika Markova’, former Putin advisor Sergei Markov said the referendums have been called because the local population wants the full might of Russia’s protection following ‘fears of Ukrainian repression such as in Izyum and Balakliya’.