The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the
Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR)
, two separatist regions of Ukraine recognised
by Russia as independent geopolitical entities, have decided to hold
referendums on joining Russia from September 23 to 27, TASS, a Russian state-sponsored
news agency reported Tuesday. The separatist ambitions of the two regions were
legitimised by Russian President Vladimir Putin right before he sent Russian troops
into Ukraine on February 24.

The decision to hold referendums were taken by
laws passed by Russia-backed parliaments, according to US-based media
organisations.

Referendum is a political process where an
electorate decides on a specific political question through direct voting.

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While Western nations and experts have been
quick to point out that referendums are a regular ploy deployed by Vladimir
Putin to annex territories, giving the example of Crimea, Ukraine too forged
its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 through a referendum.

In response to the decision to hold referendums,
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted: “Sham referendums will not
change anything…Ukraine has every right to liberate its territories and will
keep liberating them whatever Russia has to say.”

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The move by the ‘liberated’ regions comes at a
time when Ukraine has managed to push back against Russian aggression to a
large extent over the last couple of weeks. Ukrainian forces reclaimed the city
of Izyum recently and began a new offensive through Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine.

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and
now the head of the country’s Security Council, said he supports incorporating
Donetsk and Luhansk into Russia. Volodymyr Saldo, the Moscow-backed head of
Kherson, said he hoped the region would become “a part of Russia, a
fully-fledged subject of a united country.”

Additionally, the Zaporizhzhia region under
Russian control may also stage a referendum, Reuters reported citing RIA
Novosti news agency.