Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and several other top Russian officials traveled Thursday to a pro-Russian breakaway region in eastern Ukraine, calling for closer ties with Moscow. This is one of the largest Russian delegations to visit eastern Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s offensive on February 24.
In a statement posted on Telegram, Dmitry Medvedev said that he “spoke about the priority measures that will be taken to ensure the security of the Donbass republics, on the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
“Special attention has been paid to harmonizing the legislation” of the breakaway regions with that of Russia, as well as repairing infrastructure and preparing schools for the start of the school year, he added.
Towards referendums in the occupied regions
In addition to Dmitri Medvedev, the deputy head of the Russian presidential administration Sergei Kirienko, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev and the head of the security services (FSB) Alexandre Bortnikov were present.
On Thursday, he met in particular with the separatist leader of the Lugansk region, Leonid Passetchnik, and that of the neighboring Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin.
These two entities were separated in 2014 with the support of Moscow and have expanded thanks to the offensive that Russia is leading this year against Ukraine. Moscow considers these territories as full states, which the international community does not recognize.
Dmitry Medvedev’s move comes at a time when Moscow is suspected of preparing to annex large swathes of Ukraine. Separatist authorities in the east are openly advocating annexation to Russia, and pro-Russian occupation administrations in the south are preparing to hold annexation referendums, some of which could take place as soon as next month.
Source: BFM TV
