The former Ukrainian regions made the choice to be with their “historical motherland,” the Russian leader claimed
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday evening addressed thousands of people gathered on Moscow’s Red Square to celebrate the beginning of the process to incorporate four former Ukrainian regions that voted overwhelmingly to join Russia.
Putin’s emotional speech came just hours after he signed treaties on the inclusion of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, into the Russian Federation. The signing ceremony marked the start of the formal process of accession, which will entail the treaties being reviewed by the Constitutional Court and by both chambers of the parliament.
Claiming it was Russia that originally “created modern Ukraine” by transferring Moscow’s “historical territories” to it, Putin said modern Russia had now given people in those regions “the right to choose.”
“People came to the referendum and made their choice: to be with their historical motherland, with Russia,” he said to applause from the crowd.
NOW – Crowd chants "Russia, Russia, Russia" in Moscow's Red Square as Putin makes an appearance. pic.twitter.com/kOajlHOsDV
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For decades, Putin claimed, the Ukrainian authorities had unsuccessfully tried to eradicate people’s “historical identity,” to destroy their traditions and forbid them from speaking their native language.