Russia's influence in the Donbass: "This is pure occupation administration"

Status: 02/11/2022 03:22 a.m

In eastern Ukraine, the so-called People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk are calling for even more military support from Russia. The separatist areas are dependent on Moscow, which is systematically and steadily expanding its influence.

By Stephan Laack, ARD Studio Moscow

The calls from the so-called People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are getting louder and louder that Russia should send Russian troops and weapons. An influential commander in charge of a military unit in the Donetsk region is calling for 30,000 Russian soldiers to help. If there were a major Ukrainian offensive, they would otherwise be inferior.

Leonid Pasechnik, leader of the Luhansk separatist region, cites arms shipments from the West as the reason why the situation is getting worse. On Russian state television he said:

We know that the weapons that the West is supplying to the Ukrainian armed forces are offensive weapons. That’s one. On the other hand, the West pays military trainers, mercenaries and military experts. This suggests that the West is openly encouraging Ukraine to engage in real combat operations in eastern Ukraine.

Lavrov rejects claims

A few Duma deputies from the ruling party United Russia are now also calling for troops to be sent to the Donbass. The Kremlin itself is reluctant to respond. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Minsk Agreement must be adhered to. This is the peace plan that envisages a political solution in eastern Ukraine.

According to the Minsk Agreement, Russia is not a party to the conflict, but Russia’s influence in the so-called People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk is demonstrably enormous. Battalions of Russian combat troops are currently concentrated there.

Passports distributed in a big way

Moscow issued 720,000 passports to people in the occupied Donbass territories. A controversial document that not everyone took voluntarily – but it pays off for holders. Because Russia then pays social benefits such as pensions, child benefits, or unemployment benefits

And so Anzhela, who lives in the Donbass region, is extremely grateful. She told Russian state television: “It’s very important for me to receive these social benefits to supplement my household budget. We can’t survive without Russia.”

And Daniel, a resident of Donetsk, also sees professional advantages that would result from the close connection to Russia: “Here you can get an education that also counts in Russia, for example as a doctor or engineer. And then you can go to Russia and work there.”

“An enclave within Ukraine”

In a podcast for the internet portal Medusa, Konstantin Skorkin, Russian journalist and expert on the Donbass, describes the increasing dependence of the occupied breakaway regions on Moscow.

As Russia’s presence continues to increase, including through new Russian citizens who have been issued passports, through the economic and political structures, an enclave is forming within Ukraine that will be completely controlled by Russia and will influence Ukraine’s domestic and foreign policies .

And Denis Kazanski, a Ukrainian expert on the region, told Radio Svoboda that there is no independent policy in the people’s republics that is detached from Moscow:

This is pure occupation administration, which is not independent. They get their hints from the curators in Moscow, in Russia. They simply fulfill the tasks they are given.

Will the Duma recognize the secession?

A Duma committee will shortly discuss an explosive point. Namely whether the recognition of the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk should be discussed in parliament.

Should Moscow actually recognize these areas as independent, a further level of escalation would certainly have been reached.