The heads of the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, asked President Vladimir Putin «to help repel the aggression of the Ukrainian regime.» This is reported by TASS with reference to the press secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov.
The agency published statements by Pushilin and Pasechnik, dated February 22. In them, the heads of the republics thank Putin for recognizing the DPR and LPR and complain about the intensification of “military aggression on the part of Ukraine.” Pushilin and Pasechnik ask the President «to assist in repelling the aggression of the armed forces and formations of Ukraine.»
Putin announced the recognition of the independence of the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR on February 21 after a meeting of the Security Council. The decree was published the same evening. Within what borders the sovereignty of the republics is recognized is still unclear. While the ruble and the shares of Russian companies are getting cheaper, the US and Europe have already begun to impose the first sanctions; restrictions also affected the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Putin recognized the LPR and DPR. Reaction