DISINFO: Donbass is part of "Greater Russia"
SUMMARY
The head of the Donetsk People’s Republic said that they constantly feel support from Russia in the republic, and also expressed readiness to uphold common values.
“We never had any reason to admit the idea that Russia would leave us alone with difficulties and problems.”
“We must be together with Russia,” the politician concluded. He also advocated increased cooperation with Moscow and called Donbass part of “Greater Russia”.
The editor-in-chief of the RT TV channel and MIA Rossiya Segodnya Margarita Simonyan earlier announced the need to include Donbass in Russia.
RESPONSE
The so-called DPR (and LNR) are parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are part of Ukraine but controlled by Russia-backed armed formations. Not a single country has recognised them as independent entities.
The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has stated that “the information available suggests that the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."
This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government.
According to the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Russian special forces and troops operated to mobilise, lead, equip, and support separatist militias in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine from spring 2014 to the present, although their presence was denied by Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted Russia's military presence in Ukraine in 2015.