Russia de facto admits to running administrations in occupied Donbas - Ukraine at OSCE

By accepting the leaders of the armed groups operating in the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions to the ranks of the Kremlin's United Russia party, Moscow has in fact acknowledged that the said areas are run by its occupation administrations.

That’s according to Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to international organizations in Vienna Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, who spoke at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on Thursday, December 9, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

Moscow continues to “incorporate the occupied territories into Russia's political space," Tsymbaliuk stressed, recalling that just a few days ago, Russia’s ruling party accepted 100 new members from across the occupied Donbas, including the self-styled leaders of the occupation administration.

The envoy said that not only is this another act directed against the sovereignty of Ukraine and the Minsk agreements but also a clear demonstration of who the occupation administrations represent – not the population of the occupied territories, but Russia’s ruling political party.

As reported earlier, United Russia accepted into its ranks 100 residents of the certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the “ORDLO,” as they are referred to in Ukraine, who had previously been issued Russian passports.

Earlier, it was reported that the Kremlin party was preparing to allow representatives of the occupation administrations in non-government-controlled areas of Ukraine to become its full-fledged members.

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