“Originally Russian Land”
According to Sergei Tsekov, Donbass, Kherson and Zaporizhia “must be with Russia.” He also believes that joining the Russian Federation “could happen on a much larger scale”.
“I think the chances of reunification with the Russian Federation of all the regions controlled by Russia are very high. These are originally Russian lands, ”the senator emphasized in a meeting with RIA Novosti.
Parliament is also confident that the process of holding and holding referendums in these areas will be “pretty fast within a year”. He noted that many major cities in the southeast of Ukraine were founded during the reign of Empress Catherine the Great.
In addition, according to Tsekov, Kherson, Zaporozhye and Donbass will be able to achieve their own recovery, as they are “budget-forming regions, donor zones”, where “Western Ukraine absorbs everything”.
The senator also believes that what is happening in Ukraine is a “civil war”, so residents of Kharkov and Izyum cannot be left in trouble.
Earlier, the Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Andrei Turchak told RIA Novosti that referendums will be held in Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye as soon as the situation allows.
“The decision has to be made by the residents themselves, and I’m sure they will agree. Therefore, I have no doubt that this region will become a part of the Russian Federation. “People want protection, stability,” he said.
Turchak is also confident that the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics will join Russia, and “no one doubts their word” on this matter.
“As soon as the situation is ready for this, as soon as the shelling stops and a security zone is formed, a referendum should be held. Everything has its time. I am confident that the residents of Zaporozhye will also express their views in support of such a decision,” he said.
At a briefing on Wednesday, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that residents of the People’s Republic of China and Luhansk People’s Republic, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions should make their own decisions about their future.
“We have said over and over that people have to choose their future, and precisely the inhabitants of two states – the LNR and the DNR – and the inhabitants of the regions, namely the Kherson region, the Zaporozhye, they have to decide their future. We have no doubt that they will also make the right decision,” he said.
In turn, Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international committee of the State Duma, told RIA Novosti that all these regions could become part of Russia this year. The MP “expects this to happen as early as July.” He also believes that the referendums in the regions will be held “more or less simultaneously”.
Longing for the southeast of Ukraine
Earlier, the head of the Zaporozhye military-civil administration, Evgeny Balitsky, said that he hopes that all the territories under control on Channel One will join Russia in the status of federal districts.
“We do not see our own future outside the Russian Federation. I hope we will become a federal district of the Russian Federation,” he said.
On the eve of the deputy head of the administration of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, in a conversation with RIA Novosti, announced a similar desire of his region.
“I personally see the Kherson region, I emphasize, it is not a republic, but a region within the Russian Federation. The question of time is really when we will be there, that question is up to the inhabitants of the Kherson region, ”said he.
According to his estimates, 60-70 percent of the region’s population will vote to join Russia.
DPR chief Denis Pushilin also told RIA Novosti that as soon as the LPR and the Donetsk People’s Republic reach the constitutional limits, they will hold a referendum on joining the Russian Federation.
“The results of such a referendum are quite clear, quite understandable. However, after reaching the constitutional limits of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, it would be appropriate to approach them on a practical level. Everything has its time,” explained Pushilin.
“Not a kilometer”
In mid-May, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said at a press conference in Brussels that the EU would not recognize “a single kilometer” of Ukraine’s territory that would join Russia.
Crimean senator Sergei Tsekov told socialbites.ca that the views of citizens of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson region from other countries should not be alarmed.
“The most important thing is that Russia recognizes these territories as its own territory. As it once was, the most important thing for us Crimea was that Russia accepted the reunification of Crimea with the Russian Federation and accepted it into its composition. To be honest, we practically did not worry about the opinions of other countries. This is the most important thing,” he said.
According to him, over the past 30 years, after the collapse of the USSR, NATO countries “disgraced”, “started wars around the world, recognized independent parts of states”, for example, Kosovo.
“Finally, we will begin to explain our actions in terms of the common history of Russia and Ukraine and explain to other countries that these regions were actually developed by the Russian state in the 19th and 20th centuries. The south and east of Ukraine are regions where millions of our ancestors shed blood and it is impossible to betray them any further. The most important thing is that the people of Russia agree on this. <…> “For us, the opinion of the Russian people is a fundamental factor and a fundamental condition,” he said.