Accession of new regions to Russia likely on September 30, lawmaker says
The accession of the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics as well as the Kherson and the Zaporozhye Regions to Russia may take place on September 30, a Russian lawmaker told, Qazet.az reports.
"Taking into account the preliminary results of the referendums and Russia’s readiness to acknowledge them, the accession of the territories [the DPR, the LPR, the Kherson and the Zaporozhye Regions to Russia] is likely to take place as early as on September 30," a State Duma member said.
The lawmaker said Russian President Vladimir Putin could take part in the procedure on September 30. "I don’t know if he will [participate], but he is likely to do so," the MP said.
Yaroslav Nilov, deputy head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) faction, told TASS that State Duma members had not been informed about any such things. However, Nilov said, "senators have been told to pass PCR-tests three times to be able to take part in an important event on September 30."
The LPR and the DPR as well as the Kherson and the Zaporozhye Regions began their vote on joining Russia as separate constituent members at 08:00 am Moscow time on Friday. Voting will continue until Tuesday. For security reasons, people in the four regions are invited to vote near their homes, rather than at polling stations, or rounds of citizens will be made, in the first four days of referendums.