Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed to provide the Russian armed forces with the functions of maintaining peace in the regions of Donbass. The relevant information follows from the decrees of the Russian leader published on the official portal of legal information on Tuesday, February 22.
"In connection with the appeal of the head of the Donetsk people's Republic Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation to ensure before the conclusion of the contract <...> [on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance] implementation of the Armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Donetsk people's Republic of peacekeeping responsibilities," said one of the points of the decree on the recognition of the independence of the Donetsk people's Republic.
A similar paragraph is contained in the decree on the recognition of the independence of the Luhansk People's Republic (LNR). Both documents entered into force from the moment of signing on February 21.
Russian President Putin on Monday, February 21, signed decrees recognizing the independence of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics. In addition, the Russian leader, the heads of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin signed an agreement on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance.
The signing of the documents was the result of an extraordinary meeting of the Russian Security Council, during which its members unanimously supported the recognition of the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.
Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik asked the Russian leader to convene the meeting on February 21. They called for considering the possibility of concluding an agreement on friendship and cooperation between the parties.
The situation on the contact line in Donbass escalated on February 17. The DPR and LPR reported intense shelling by Ukrainian security forces, including from heavy weapons. At the same time, Kiev announced the shelling of the AFU positions.
On February 21, the LPR representative office in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire Regime (JCCC) reported 16 violations of the ceasefire regime in the republic by Ukrainian security forces. On the same day it became known that the armed forces of Ukraine shelled the settlement of Staromikhailovka with shells prohibited under the Minsk agreements.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kiev blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict. The issues of its settlement are discussed in the Minsk and Normandy formats.
