Status: 02/22/2022 3:36 p.m
Where exactly the borders of the separatist areas in eastern Ukraine are for Russia is still unclear. According to Kremlin spokesman Peskov, this could also include areas currently held by Ukrainian forces.
After Russia’s much-criticized recognition of the eastern Ukrainian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, it is still unclear where the borders of what Moscow sees as “independent states” run.
The Kremlin has not yet made a commitment. The self-proclaimed “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk are recognized “within the limits in which they were proclaimed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax agency.
The separatists control only the part of the Ukrainian regions they claim, Donetsk and Luhansk, which is shaded on the map.
Separatist leader claims entire territories
This would go well beyond the area currently controlled by the pro-Russian separatists within the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (oblasts) and also extend to territory currently held by Ukrainian forces. Since proclaiming independence in 2014, Ukrainian forces have regained control of large parts of both oblasts.
When asked, however, Peskow also spoke of the limits “within which they exist”. The separatists lay claim to the territory of the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The separatist leader in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, reiterated this position: “The borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are in the constitutions of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic,” he said on Russian state television. “Further steps, time will tell.”
In Moscow in the morning, the chairman of the Russian State Duma committee responsible for affairs of former Soviet republics, Leonid Kalashnikov, caused confusion: he initially indicated that he assumed Russian recognition within the territorial borders of Donetsk and Luhansk. He later emphasized that a precise determination had not yet been made.
Russian invasion of Ukraine feared
The statement from Moscow raised fears that a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent after Putin announced the recognition of the separatist areas and ordered troops to be sent there, ostensibly to “keep the peace”.
The move had been widely viewed in western states as a harbinger of a Russian invasion. Russia had gathered an estimated 150,000 troops near Ukraine in the past few weeks. The United States and other countries had warned that Russia was planning an invasion.
Putin’s move on Monday formalizes Russian influence in the regions and gives Russia a free hand to deploy forces there: New laws were introduced in Russia on Tuesday that would allow troops to be deployed there. The bills, which quickly passed both chambers of Russia’s parliament, provide for military ties, including a possible establishment of Russian military bases in the separatist regions.
Mainly Russian-speaking population
Mostly Russian-speaking people live in the region controlled by the separatists. The historical reason for this is that many Russian workers were sent to the mines during the Soviet era. Since the beginning of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, many Ukrainian-speaking residents have also left the region.
Population structure is one of Putin’s arguments for his current actions. The Russian-born or Russian-speaking people in the region must be protected, he argues. Among other things, Putin accuses the government in Kiev of committing a “genocide” against the Russian population in eastern Ukraine.
This is rejected by both Ukraine and the West. Putin is only looking for an excuse for a Russian invasion.