President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. Archive photoKYIV, Feb. 22President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in his Telegram office that the Russian authorities, by decisions recognizing the independence of the DPR and LPR, legalize their troops, who allegedly have been in the Donbass since 2014. «With today's and tomorrow's possible decisions, the Russian Federation will legalize its troops, which were already territory of Donbass since 2014,» Zelensky said in his video message to citizens. On Monday, after an extraordinary large meeting of the Security Council, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the citizens of the Russian Federation, saying that he considers it necessary to make a decision to immediately recognize the sovereignty of the LPR and the DPR, since those who embarked on the path of bloodshed, violence and lawlessness, they did not recognize and do not recognize any other solution to the conflict in Donbass, except for the military one. Immediately after the appeal, the president in the Kremlin signed decrees on the recognition of the LPR and the DPR. The situation in Donbass has escalated in recent days, the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR announced 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. On Saturday, February 19, the leaders of the DPR and LPR signed decrees on general mobilization. In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, which declared independence after the coup in Kiev in February 2014. According to the latest UN data, about 13 thousand people became victims of the conflict.The development of the situation in the Donbass — in the online report>>
