Putin signs unification of the 4 regions into law
The West's disapproval of the four regions' accession to Russia does not pose any obstacle in the way of the Russian President making the unification official and legal.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin during the signature process (Reuters)
The four unification treaties with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, the Kherson and the Zaporozhye Regions were officially signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
The documents were unanimously endorsed by the upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council after the State Duma ratified the agreements on Monday and certified as lawful by the country’s Constitutional Court over the weekend.
The agreements were signed by the heads of the four former Ukrainian regions on Friday, alongside Putin after the referendums were held between September 23 and 27, which have been rejected by Kiev and the West, and who unsurprisingly vowed to never recognize the four accessions. The UNSC condemned the referenda, claiming that they "have no validity" and "cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of these regions," including "any purported annexation."
The DPR and LPR split from Ukraine in 2014 and shortly after launching a military operation in February this year, Russia seized Kherson Region and a larger part of Zaporozhye Region. The new laws, as per the State Duma, dictate that the DPR and LPR will maintain their status as republics, while Zaporozhye and Kherson will continue to be addressed as "regions". Russian will be considered the official language of all the recently accessioned constituents.
In February 2022, the Donbass republics were recognized as independent states by the Kremlin after requesting that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country to not join any Western military bloc.
