Russia-Ukraine conflict
Separatists ask Putin for military assistance
The picture released by the Russian state news agency Sputnik shows Vladimir Putin laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow. Photo: Alexei Nikolsky/Pool Sputnik Kremlin via AP/dpa
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After Russia’s recognition of the separatist areas of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states, Moscow is now supposed to come to their aid militarily. In letters they ask Putin for assistance.
Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine have asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for military assistance.
The heads of the People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk had written letters asking for help to ward off attacks by the Ukrainian army, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday evening, according to the Interfax agency. Putin had promised military intervention if asked. This could soon mean that Russian and Ukrainian soldiers will face each other for the first time in the conflict that has been going on for eight years.
On Monday, the Kremlin chief recognized the separatist areas as independent states. Eyewitnesses reported in the media and blogs that the Russian soldiers were already in the conflict area. The Russian leadership had claimed that there were no own soldiers there. The separatists initially said they wanted to take care of security on their own.
“People’s republics” thank Putin
After the recognition of the “People’s Republics” by the Federation Council in Moscow, Putin had, as a precautionary measure, obtained permission for the deployment of Russian armed forces abroad. The Russian state agency Tass published the letters of the heads of the “People’s Republics” asking for help from Russia to avoid casualties among the peaceful population and a humanitarian catastrophe in the region. At the same time, they thanked Putin for recognizing them as independent states.
There is now military aggression by the Ukrainian armed forces, infrastructure is being destroyed, including schools and kindergartens, it said. “The actions of the regime in Kiev testify to the refusal to end the war in Donbass,” the letter said. Ukraine refuses to be at war with Donbass. She sees Russia as an aggressor and declared a state of emergency across the country.
The West accuses Putin of violating international law. The EU and the US imposed far-reaching sanctions on Russia. According to Western sources, Russia has gathered about 150,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine.