DONETSK, September 28. /TASS/. A lot of work lies ahead to liberate and restore the Donetsk People’s Republic's communities, DPR head Denis Pushilin said.
"We still have a lot of work ahead of us to restore the territorial integrity of our republic, and liberate the populated areas temporarily occupied by Ukraine in addition to rebuilding our cities and districts. We were sure in 2014, and we are sure now. We will definitely succeed," Pushilin said in a video message published on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.
According to him, DPR residents have already "written a new significant page of history, which will be taught and retold by future generations." Pushilin noted the work of members of the election commissions, law enforcement officers and the servicemen, thanks to whom it was possible to hold a referendum on the republic's accession to the Russian Federation. "About 7,000 members of election commissions were able, under extreme conditions, to organize and conduct the process of the free expression of the will of the people in the shortest time possible. Risking their own lives, they visited 2 million citizens," he stressed. "More than 2,500 law enforcement officers were working round the clock to provide security on the streets of the republic's cities and at polling stations. So that we could freely express our will at the polling stations, our servicemen heroically held the front," he emphasized.
Pushilin added that on this day, the DPR, with great sorrow, remembers those who did not live to see the results of the referendum: the defenders of the republic and thousands of civilians who died as a result of Kiev’s attacks.
On September 23-27, the DPR and LPR, as well as the Kherson Region and the liberated territories of the Zaporozhye Region, held referendums to join Russia. In all of these regions, the overwhelming majority of voters favored becoming part of the Russian Federation.