The pro-Russian authorities of the Lugansk region approved a new constitution on Friday, after Russia announced the annexation of this region as part of the invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24.
The People’s Council of the Lugansk People’s Republic has approved a new constitution “as part of the Russian Federation”, according to sources quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax.
The same source also mentions that the 43 deputies present voted in favor of the text, which qualifies the region as “Russian unity.”
The leader of the self-proclaimed Republic of Luhansk, Leonid Pasechnik, presented a draft of a new constitution last week, as confirmed by the speaker of the pro-Russian parliament, Denis Miroshnichenko.
Miroshnichenko acknowledged that the approval of the text was delayed because “it is not an ordinary law that can be quickly evaluated.”
Lugansk, located in the Donbass region (east), is together with the Donetsk region the epicenter of a conflict since 2014 between Russia and Ukraine, which has spread throughout the country after Putin’s order to launch a military offensive against the Ukrainian territory.
Putin announced in September the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, all partially occupied as part of the Russian invasion, a decision endorsed in early October by the Russian parliament.
The announcement of the annexation of the Ukrainian territories came after a series of referendums held in these regions occupied by the Russians and highly criticized by the international community for their lack of credibility.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine has already caused the flight of more than 14 million people -6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million to European countries-, according to the most recent data. of the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
Right now, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the wider international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia in political and economic sanctions.
Source: TSF
