DONETSK, September 21. /TASS/. A referendum on the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) joining Russia as a constituent entity is a historic moment for the republic and will open a new stage in the Donbass development, Chairman of the DPR Government Vitaly Khotsenko said on Wednesday.
"Today is a historic moment for the Donetsk People’s Republic. Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin supported the decision by the people who made their choice and refused to recognize themselves as part of anti-Russia. The referendum will mark a starting point for a new stage in the Donbass development but already within the Russian Federation," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
The authorities of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the administrations of the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions made a decision to hold a referendum on joining Russia as constituent entities. The vote on all these territories will be held on September 23-27.
In his televised address to the nation on Wednesday morning, Putin stated that Russia would back the decision by residents of Donbass, the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions on their future that they will make at the referendums.