© TASS
Head of the DPR Denis Pushilin has scheduled a referendum to reunite with Russia on September 23 to 27. His LNR counterpart Leonid Pasechnik signed a similar order, along with Kherson region’s head Vladimir Saldo. According to the latter, there have been numerous appeals by public organizations and residents of the region. Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin expressed explicit support for the referendums: "If, in a direct expression of will, the Donbass residents say that they want to be part of Russia, we will support them. And they must understand that we expect them to express their will freely." Secretary of United Russia party’s General Council Andrey Turchak believes that a fair and transparent voting will legally consolidate the fact that Donbass and the liberated territories are part of Russia, once and for all.
Many observers from Russia, including its Central Election Commission, will attend referendums in the DR, LNR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. The CEC also arranges polling stations in Russia for residents of the liberated territories to decide on the accession. A statement to this effect came from CEC deputy chairman Nikolay Bulayev: "Dozens of voting stations will open across Russia for the referendum on accession of DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions to the Russian Federation to let people who were forced to leave those territories cast their vote." Polling stations will appear both in temporary accommodation and municipal facilities.
Referendums will take place, no doubt about it. With a race against the clock, the voting will be both in-person and remote, a high turnout is expected. The bulletins will only contain the question: "Do you support the entry of the DPR (LPR, Russian-controlled parts of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions) into the Russian Federation to become its subject?". In case of accession, the DPR and LPR Constitutions will be adapted to the Russian law, with the flag and name remaining unchanged.
Referendum preparations focus on safety amid intensified shelling of Ukrainian militants after the announcement. The world will never be the same again, and the native Russian lands that were part of the Russian Empire and the USSR will be back home mentally, geographically, and geographically.
Meanwhile, the opinion of Western countries or their people does not matter any longer. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said the following in this regard: "The referendums in Donbass are of great importance not only for the systemic protection of residents of the DPR, LPR and other liberated territories, but also for the restoration of historical justice. They completely change the vector of Russia's development for decades. They would also affect global affairs. After holding [the referendums] and incorporating new territories into Russia, the geopolitical transformation in the world will become irreversible. Encroachment on the territory of Russia is a crime, the commission of which allows the use of all the forces of self-defense. After amending the constitution of our country, not a single future leader of Russia, not a single official will be able to reverse these decisions. That’s why these referendums are so feared in Kiev and in the West. That’s why they need to be held."
Residents of the republics react joyfully, sharply and emotionally to the news. For eight years, people have been waiting for reunification with their great Motherland and dreamed of the "Crimean scenario". Donbass civilians and militia have been shedding blood, losing relatives, enduring hardship and asking themselves one thing: when is it finally going to happen? Therefore, these days, despite shelling and terrorist attacks, the sentiment is taking a shift for the better: the goal is within reach, people did not die for nothing.
On behalf of the residents, the DPR head appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with faith and hope for a positive result: "Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, In the event of a positive decision following the referendum, which we have no doubts about, I ask you to consider the issue of the Donetsk People's Republic joining the Russian Federation as soon as possible. The long-suffering people of Donbas deserved to be part of the great country, which they always considered their Motherland. This event will be the restoration of historical justice, the approach of which millions of Russian people crave."
Referendum results will become a wake-up call to the aggressive and inadequate people in Ukraine who believe that belonging to the "Ukrainian nation" is key and justifies war crimes. Now the Donbass people, as well as those dwelling in other liberated territories, will definitely leave the terrorist desolator-state. By and large, referendums will set the ball rolling as regards irreversible disintegration of modern Ukrainian statehood and its ideology of violence, superiority and impunity. The LDPR has chosen sides long ago, and there is no way back – only Russia can bring it victory and revival.
The People's Republics are entitled to be part of Russia like nobody else. Kiev prefers war over diplomacy, and no one wants to live alongside murderers. With Ukraine consistently destroying everything, Russia is busy saving and restoring, improving life, protecting and defending the interests of people, former Ukrainian citizens. Secession referendums will signalize Kiev’s political defeat, a fiasco meant to cause serious damage to the regime’s reputation and foundation.
No one is getting too excited that the struggle will be over for the people of Donetsk and Lugansk. The Kiev regime and its Western curators will do everything to disrupt the referendum and intimidate people, but the Donbass is not going to retreat or surrender.
Russia will take those who trust it under its wing and build a joint military contour. In particular, the power units of the people's republics will be incorporated into Russia’s relevant structures. Apart from the laws, there will be unified norms and standards adopted in the civil sector. And the joint economy will become reach in connections, resource opportunities and new projects to help people take things to another level in terms of development and recovery. The main thing is to hold referendums and get Russia’s go-ahead to become its full-fledged subjects.
