Luhansk People's Republic asks for urgent referendum to join Russia

The Public Chamber of the Luhansk People's Republic has addressed the head of the region, Leonid Pasechnik, with an initiative to immediately hold a referendum to recognize the republic as an entity of the Russian Federation.

"The residents of Donbass made their choice back in 2014 at the self-determination referendum of the LPR, and during all these years they believed that a second one would definitely follow to fulfill our dream to return home to the Russian Federation,” Lina Vokalova, deputy chairman of the LPR said.

According to her, the events of the recent days have shown that Kyiv has "crossed all the red lines" by shelled civilians and conducting terrorist acts. However, such "bloody provocations" only forced the local residents to stand together for their future.

"We consider it more timely than ever to make a strong-willed decision to immediately hold a referendum on the territory of the Luhansk People's Republic. We are convinced that the people of the Luhansk region will support the initiative,” Vokalova said, adding that being part of Russia, the republic will obtain security guarantees and will thus be able to go back to peaceful life.

Earlier, the head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov said that the accession of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics (LPR and DPR) to Russia could be possible without referendums. Such a move would be "logical and reasonable," he said.