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Putin vows all of Russia will help fix up DPR, LPR

On February 24, the Russian president announced that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance, he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine

MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged on Wednesday that the entire country would help rebuild the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR).

The president said it would require enormous efforts "to fix up [the city of] Donetsk, the Donetsk Republic, the Lugansk Republic."

"This is why our entire country will be helping both the DPR and LPR… There will be goodwill months, weeks, and years of helping to rebuild it. But we will certainly do this," Putin pledged.

The situation at the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders. Russia recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.

Russian President Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance, he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.

The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.

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