Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the Munich Security Conference. Archive photoKYIV, Feb. 22Russia's recognition of the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass means withdrawing from the Minsk agreements, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 21 that he considers it necessary to immediately recognize the sovereignty of the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics, since those who embarked on the path of bloodshed, violence and lawlessness, 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 signed decrees recognizing the LPR and the DPR.
"Recognition of the independence of the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions may mean Russia's unilateral withdrawal from the Minsk agreements and ignoring the decisions within "Normandy". This undermines peace efforts and destroys existing negotiating formats. With today's and tomorrow's possible decisions, Russia will legalize its troops, which have actually been in the occupied areas of Donbass since 2014", Zelensky said in a video message on Monday night.
The situation in the Donbass has escalated in recent days, the DPR and LPR have 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. It primarily concerns women, children and the elderly. As stated by the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky will soon order the military to launch an offensive in the Donbass, to implement a plan to invade the DPR and LPR. On Saturday, February 19, the leaders of the DPR and LPR signed decrees on general mobilization. Kiev deteriorated after the reunification of Crimea with Russia and against the background of the armed conflict in the Donbass. The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly accused Russia of interfering in the internal affairs of the state, and in January 2015 they officially declared it an «aggressor country.» The Russian Federation has repeatedly stressed that it does not participate in the intra-Ukrainian conflict and is not a subject of the Minsk agreements. /02/4a64471d1fcbf7f6cb858dc69a7cba2d.jpg» />»For Russia, these are citizens, people, Russians.» How Moscow recognized the republicsPublished: Nikita Stoma