Go to mediabankRussian flags on Lenin Square in the center of Donetsk. Archival photoDONETSK, Sep 22Vladimir Vysotsky, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Donetsk People's Republic, expects maximum turnout at the referendum on joining Russia.»We expect maximum turnout, but we will be able to provide accurate data after the end of the last day of the referendum «, — Vysotsky told RIA Novosti. The public chambers of the DPR and LPR on September 19 turned to the heads of the republics Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik with the initiative to immediately hold referendums on joining Russia. The next day, the authorities of the DPR and LPR announced that the referendum would be held from September 23 to 27. Also on September 20, the administrations of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions announced plans to hold referendums on the same dates. As representatives of the regions emphasized, joining Russia would secure their territories and restore historical justice. In their opinion, this decision is extremely necessary in the context of constant acts of terror by the nationalist authorities of Ukraine and NATO members who supply weapons to kill civilians. />Russia recognized the LPR and the DPR within the borders fixed in the constitutions
