MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. It is too early to speculate about a date for holding a referendum on the Lugansk People Republic’s accession to Russia, LPR ambassador to Russia Rodion Miroshnik said on Tuesday.
"For now, there is no reason to talk about some formal things, such as deadlines or dates, because they have not been formalized yet and the situation is still unsafe. Take last night, at least in the LPR: we had massive shellings of Alchevsk and Svatov. Hospitals were under fire. It was Ukraine's reaction to the referendum," he said on the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
Miroshnik added that the relevant mechanism was now being worked out, but it was extremely important "to protect those people who are invited to make this choice."
"Currently, this process is being brainstormed. The mechanism itself is being agreed and determined: how the voting process should be organized. Naturally, with due regard for security and safety," Miroshnik said.
According to the LPR’s office in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination, the Ukrainian army attacked the cities of Alchevsk and Svatovo with US-made and provided HIMARS multiple launch rocket system. The village of Krasnorechenskoye was shelled, too. Seven civilians, including three children, were killed.
On Monday, the LPR’s Civic Chamber asked the republic’s leader Leonid Pasechnik to call an urgent referendum on recognizing the republic as a constituent territory of Russia. The message said that this step would make the LPR’s territory secure and open up new opportunities for its reconstruction. Later, the Donetsk People’s Republic’s Civic Chamber addressed the republic’s leader Denis Pushilin and People's Council (parliament) with a similar request. Later, Pushilin in a telephone conversation with Pasechnik suggested synchronizing preparations for the referendums.