Alwaght- The self-proclaimed eastern Ukraine republics have announced a plan to hold a referendum that would ask if their people want to join the Russian Federation.
Referendums in the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR) will be held from September 23 to 27, the leaders of the states announced on Tuesday.
LPR head Leonid Pasechnik was the first to sign a law on “holding a public referendum in the republic on the inclusion of the region into the Russian Federation,” after its local parliament unanimously supported the move and set a date for the vote.
DPR leader Denis Pushilin followed this announcement with a similar one, declaring that his state would also be holding a similar referendum on the same date, RT news reported.
Pushilin said he had already introduced the relevant legislation in the DPR’s parliament.
In a letter addressed to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pushilin urged the latter to consider incorporating the DPR in the territory of the Russian Federation if people approve the unification during the plebiscite.
"The long-suffering people of Donbass deserve to be part of the Great Country, which they have always considered their Motherland. This event will be the restoration of historical justice, the onset of which millions of Russian people crave,” his letter read.
Putin recognized their independence on February 22, three days after their leaders announced that they are now independent republics.
