The leader of the People’s Republic of Luhansk, the breakaway republic in Eastern Ukraine whose existence is only acknowledged by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, may hold a referendum to vote on joining the Russian Federation in the “near future,” but Ukraine says such a vote would have “no legal validity.”
Speaking to the media on Sunday, Leonid Pasechnik told the press that “in the near future a referendum will be held in the republic, where people will exercise their absolutely constitutional right, and give their opinion with respect to joining Russia.”
As noted by Zero Hedge, Pasechnik expressed certainty on a coming referendum, saying he was “somehow sure that’s precisely the way it will be.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the breakaway republics of Luhansk and Donetsk immediately before launching what he calls a “special military operation” to protect ethnic Russians from Ukrainian state violence in the disputed Donbass region.
The republics are not recognized by the international community. They have been described as being in rebellion against Ukraine.
Luhansk (red) in a map of Ukraine including Crimea
Such a referendum was used when Russia annexed Crimea, notes Reuters. Russian soldiers first took control of Crimea amid the 2014 U.S. State Department-sponsored regime change in Ukraine, and ultimately held a referendum in which “voters chose overwhelmingly to join Russia.”
Ukraine said that vote was illegal and still maintains that Crimea is part of Ukraine.
Kiev suggested this will be the country’s stance on the Donbass region as well, even if it should vote to join Russia.
Ukraine foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko told the news agency that “All fake referendums in the temporarily occupied territories are null and void and will have no legal validity.”
He added that, should such a referendum happen, “Russia will face an even stronger response from the international community, further deepening its global isolation.”
Over a month after the beginning of the invasion, Luhansk is almost totally under control of the Russian military or the Luhansk People’s Republic’s forces.
Should the referendum go through, it would appear to represent the achievement of a major war goal for Russia.
Russia invaded, in part, citing an alleged Ukrainian plan to retake Luhansk and Donetsk by force after Putin acknowledged their independence. The two republics are largely ethnically Russian, and the region has been embroiled in civil war since at least 2014.
Ukraine and much of the international community maintain that Russia’s invasion was unprovoked.
Meanwhile, in a trip to Europe last week Joe Biden acknowledged that the conflict in Ukraine would not be resolved “in days or months” and warned the West to prepare for a long conflict.
