Russia explains why it recognized Donbass republics
Moscow’s decision to recognize the sovereignty of the two breakaway Donbass republics was the only feasible way to end the bloody conflict in the region, the Russian State Duma speaker said on Tuesday.
Writing on his Telegram channel, Vyacheslav Volodin claimed that acknowledging the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) was the only route out of what he claims was fast becoming a humanitarian crisis for Russia.
“Recognition of the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and ratification of treaties on friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance should stop the slaughter, the death of our citizens and compatriots living there,” the speaker of the lower house wrote.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the DPR and LPR as sovereign countries. The two states, located in the Donbass region, broke away from Kiev in 2014, following the events of the Maidan when violent street protests toppled the government. They remained unrecognized by any UN nation until this week.
According to Volodin, the Donbass republics were the location of a massacre of ethnic Russians, described earlier by Putin as a “genocide.” This claim is not acknowledged by any international body and has been slammed by the US as having “no basis of truth.” According to Moscow, this response was worthy of “outrage and indignation.”
“In a situation where we are facing a humanitarian catastrophe, seeing tens of thousands of refugees, women, children forced to leave their homes, the only way out is to take this decision,” Volodin claimed.
