A well-informed source close to Russia’s State Duma indicated that on December 30, both the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics are expected to formally adopt constitutions that declare them as republics within the Russian Federation.
At a December 29 press conference, Denis Miroshnichenko, spokesperson for the LPR People’s Council, stated that deputies would assemble on December 30 for a general session, with one item on the agenda being the constitutional adoption. He emphasized that the process would proceed on schedule the next day.
Meanwhile, Vedomosti reports that a meeting of the Donetsk People’s Republic regional parliament is planned for the same day, with journalists invited but without a published agenda.
Earlier in December, Vladimir Bidevka, spokesperson for the DPR People’s Council, announced that authorities intended to finalize the document within the year. He told Donetsk News Agency that all legal steps were expected to be completed soon, leading to the adoption of the new Constitution for the Donetsk People’s Republic as a subject of the Russian Federation by year-end.
In early November, Vedomosti noted that constitutions for the newly created Russian subjects were already in preparation. The Kremlin was said to aim to finish the work by the end of November, after which the document would be submitted to the public assembly of the relevant subject for approval. (Source: Vedomosti reporting; attribution: Kremlin officials and informed sources.)
From September 23 to 27, referendums were held in the Donbass republics and in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions regarding their integration into Russia. The results reportedly indicated broad support. On September 30, DPR, LPR leaders and President Vladimir Putin signed agreements on the annexation of four territories to Russia, with Putin ratifying the entries for the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions on October 4. (Source: regional and Kremlin statements.)
Regarding the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, Vedomosti cited other sources stating that regional charters would be established at a later date, contingent on the election of new regional parliaments. A federal official noted that this would not occur until fresh elections were held for the respective legislative bodies. (Source: official statements and internal planning documents.)
Vedomosti reported on December 26 that elections were scheduled for September 10, 2023, with no current plans to postpone. A source leading one of the newly created districts indicated that presidential administration officials and legal advisors were examining scenarios in which elections could be held for the regional Legislative Assemblies even if martial law remained in force in the four newly integrated regions during that period. (Source: internal planning projections.)
Symbols of the new Russian subjects were already placed in the Federation Council, where flags appeared along the flag street, as observed by a TASS reporter. In a ceremony, Federation Council President Valentina Matviyenko stated that the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions were full-fledged subjects of the Russian Federation and that their flags would be added to the chamber’s flag gallery. (Source: TASS coverage.)
During an interview on a major Russian television program on December 28, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented on Moscow’s approach to the four regions, noting a focus on consolidating control within Russia’s constitutional borders and highlighting the priority of ensuring the regions’ security and integration. He asserted that the borders of these territories fall within Russia’s constitutional framework. (Source: Channel One interview.)
Lavrov stressed that the people who voted in the referendums showed a clear desire to join Russia, describing the November plebiscites as a declaration of will expressed by residents of Donetsk, Lugansk, and, in autumn, Zaporozhye and Kherson, who sought to become part of the Russian Federation. (Source: official statements from the Foreign Ministry.)