Russia inks recognition of Donbass regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement with the leaders of the two republics respectively on February 21, officially accepting the demise of the Minsk Agreement which Ukraine – a signatory – had failed to implement. By formally recognizing the two independent regions, Ukraine (like Yugoslovia) will be divided into three separate republics.

Donetsk celebrate pic.twitter.com/QfGkYwyowe

— ZOKA (@200_zoka) February 21, 2022

The Minsk 2 agreement had been reinforced by UN Resolution 2202(2015) calling for Donbass to be an autonomous area specified in a constitution, which Kiev simply refused to accept. There are currently 17 autonomous communities in Europe.

Instead, on November 2, 2021, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky appointed Nazi leader Dmitro Yarosh as adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armies, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Yarosh is suspected of being part of NATO’s Eastern European clandestine networks. In 2007, he helped the CIA to coordinate Nazi and Islamist groups in Ternopol, western Ukraine, during the second Chechen war against Russia.  He also played a key role during the 2014 EuroMaidan coup as one of the leaders of the “Right Sector”.

Nazi and Islamist factions were set up as an “anti-imperialist front” against Russia which Yarosh had overseen. In February 2014, he was appointed as Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine.

He ran in the presidential election that followed the coup d’état, but was seriously injured in 2015, and forced to retire for several years.

In his new capacity, Yarosh has led the Nazi Azov Battalion in their attacks on the Donbass border during the Munich Security Conference (18-20 February 2022). The Azov fighters were joined by foreign fighters, including several jihadists from Syria. ‎They had attacked the water and energy supply to the two regions, prompting an exodus of at least 70 000 Donbass residents.

At least 700 000 of the 4,6 million Donbass inhabitants already have a Russian passport, while 500 000 more have applied to obtain Russian citizenship.

Russian Defense Minister Shoigu underscored the presence of 60 000 Ukrainian soldiers at the border of the DNR and LNR together with more than 500 tanks and artillery. The Ukrainian president Zelensky has announced that his country would leave the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances which had stopped them from rebuilding nuclear bombs. Because Ukraine has the knowledge and means to do so, Shoigu said that the latest developments were extremely dangerous.

Although the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, Sergey Naryshkin, said the two regions should be integrated into Russia, the Russian leader rejected the idea. The discussion was broadcast live on RT.

Last week the Russian parliament submitted a resolution to recognise the People’s Republic of Donetsk (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) as independent states. The DNR and LNR made a formal official request to recognize their republics this week.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin officially recognised the two People’s Republics on Monday evening, there were spontaneous outbursts of joy on the streets of Donetsk. On Twitter, one commenter wrote about the cheerful residents: “It is quite obvious that Donetsk and Lugansk do NOT want to be part of Ukraine. Do peoples only have a right to self-determination if they fulfill US geopolitical ambitions?”

If Ukraine continues its war on the innocent civilians in Donbass, Russia has now laid the groundwork to respond with force.

American arms deliveries have meanwhile been flooding into Ukraine.

The first shipment of assistance recently directed by President Biden to Ukraine arrived in Ukraine tonight. This shipment includes close to
200,000 pounds of lethal aid, including ammunition for the front line defenders of Ukraine. [1/2] pic.twitter.com/YeYanK0Px6

— U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) January 22, 2022

Jan 28, the 4th shipment of sec asst authorized by Pres Biden arrived at KBP. The shipment included sm arms & ammo to support 🇺🇦’s front-line defenders. In the past year, 🇺🇸 has given > $650 mln in sec asst so 🇺🇦 has what it needs. #PartnershipStrong https://t.co/5JOWGImPD7

— U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) January 29, 2022