The Times - UK (2022-02-16)

the times | Wednesday February 16 2022 9

News

Russia’s parliament has voted to ask

President Putin to recognise two

Kremlin-backed breakaway republics

in eastern Ukraine, which would esca-

late tensions and could lead to Moscow

sending in troops.

More than 13,000 people have been

killed and more than a million dis-

placed since 2014 when the Kremlin

began providing covert military

support to separatists in the Donbas re-

gion, which call themselves the Don-

etsk People’s Republic (DNR) and the

Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR).

A formal recognition would further

inflame the situation in Ukraine, and

allow Moscow to openly arm the mili-

tias and defend them if attacked. Russia

has handed out about half a million

passports in the two areas and has

pledged to use military force to protect

its newly minted citizens.

The vote took place after Dmitry Pes-

kov, the Kremlin spokesman, accused

of Ukraine of large troop movements

near the borders of the two regions and

as Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor,

met Putin in Moscow for talks aimed at

defusing the crisis triggered by Russia’s

troop build-up near Ukraine’s border.

Scholz warned that Russia’s recogni-

tion of the two republics would lead to

disaster in the region. Jens Stoltenberg,

the head of Nato, said the move would

be “a blatant violation of Ukraine’s

territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

Putin later accused Ukraine of the

“genocide” of Russian speakers in the

Donbas warzone, building on past state-

ments in which he has accused Ukraine

of “Russophobia”, and said that the re-

gion faced ethnic cleansing. Ukrainian

and western officials deny this.

A DNR security official also claimed

that the republic had received intelli-

gence that Kyiv was plotting a “bloody

attack on the free people of Donbas”. A

spokesman for the LNR said that one of

its fighters had been killed in shelling by

the Ukrainian army.

Ukraine has denied that it is planning

such an operation. The White House

has warned that Russia could stage or

fake an atrocity to give it a pretext to

invade. The Kremlin dismissed this.

In 2008 Russia invaded Georgia after

the former Soviet state tried to retake

South Ossetia, a pro-Moscow break-

away republic. The Kremlin later rec-

ognised it and Abkhazia, another

breakaway, as independent countries.

Russian MPs were asked today to

vote on two separate proposals. The

first was put forward by the Communist

Party, the second-largest party in par-

liament, and called for an “immediate”

appeal to Putin to recognise the separa-

tist-held regions as independent states.

The second was tabled by Putin’s rul-

ing United Russia party and proposed

sending the issue to the foreign minis-

try for further consultations. United

Russia is expected to win the day.

Although it is likely that MPs were

instructed on how to vote, Putin said

they had been guided by public opinion.

It was unclear, however, when Putin

would announce his decision. Some

analysts suggested that the Kremlin

was keen to keep the option in reserve.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry has

warned that Russian recognition of the

regions would signal the total collapse

of 2015 ceasefire deal.

Under the terms of the Minsk agree-

ment, Ukraine would grant the DNR

and the LNR a broad autonomy and

allow them to hold elections. It has said

that the votes can only go ahead when

Russian troops leave. The Kremlin

denies sending forces to Donbas.

Q&A

What are the Donetsk People’s

Republic (DNR) and the Luhansk

People’s Republic (LNR)?

Both are in Ukraine’s Donbas region, a

coal-mining area in the east of the

former Soviet state. They were

formed in 2014, after an armed

insurrection backed by Moscow that

followed a revolution in Kyiv which

toppled the pro-Russian president.

More than 13,000 people have been

killed in the ensuing conflict, which

continues to grind on across the

region despite a ceasefire in 2015.

How much influence does Russia

have in the republics?

Unlike Crimea, which the Kremlin

annexed from Ukraine in 2014,

Moscow does not claim that the two

republics are part of Russia. Although

the international community does not

recognise Russian rule in Crimea,

President Putin’s regime holds elections

on the Black Sea peninsula and

holidaymakers fly there from Moscow.

In comparison, the DNR and the LNR,

which have a total population of about

3.5 million, exist in a grey zone without

formal recognition by Russia. Both

republics are led by Kremlin-approved

politicians and Moscow is said to

bankroll pensions and state wages.

Denis Pushilin, the head of the DNR, was

made a member of Putin’s ruling United

Russia party. Key decisions are thought

to be agreed with Kremlin officials.

Russia has issued half a million

passports to residents of the two

republics and has promised to protect

them if Ukraine tries to retake the

territories by force.

Access to the breakaway regions is

carefully controlled by both Ukrainian

government forces and the separatists,

with travellers having to cross through

two sets of checkpoints. Illegally

crossing into the republics from

Ukraine via western Russia entails a

torturous journey that can take up to

30 hours by bus. Before the conflict, it

was possible to get from Kyiv to

Donetsk on an overnight train.

What is life like in Donetsk and

Luhansk?

Uncensored reports from the republics

have become rare. A former resident

who visited Donetsk last month

published photographs of billboards

with images of dead DNR fighters on

official buildings and inscriptions such

as “Heroes never die!” She also

described boarded-up buildings,

abandoned coffee houses and shops

signs banning the carrying of weapons.

There is a curfew from 11pm to 5am.

“Supermarket shop shelves are stocked

mostly with alcohol and snacks. Almost

all products are Russian-made, while

cheeses are brought from Belarus,” she

wrote in an article for the Russian-

language service on the BBC.

Schoolchildren are recruited into the

Young Army organisation and taught

combat skills and to regard the pro-

western government in Kyiv as “Nazis”.

Western companies left the region in

2014 but a popular fast food outlet is

called DonMac. Critics have accused

the DNR and the LNR of a range of

human rights abuses, including torture

and extrajudicial killings.

An international airport near Donetsk

that was built for Euro 2012 was

destroyed during fighting in 2014 and

lies in ruins. The Donbas stadium in

Donetsk, where England played two

games at the football tournament, has

not been used since the city was taken

by separatists.

How do they make it harder for

Ukraine to join Nato?

Nato has said that prospective

members must resolve any territorial

disputes before being invited to join.

The existence of the DNR and the

LNR, as well as the annexation of

Crimea by Russia, means that there is

almost zero chance of Ukraine being

offered membership in the

foreseeable future.

What would happen if Russia

recognised the two republics?

Recognising the two territories would

allow Russia to begin overtly arming

the republics and could even result in

Moscow opening military bases in the

Donbas.

Ukraine has warned that Russian

recognition of the regions would

signal the collapse of the ceasefire

agreement. Kyiv has pledged that it

will rely on diplomacy to try to return

the regions to Ukraine but all it would

take is a single misstep for an

outbreak in hostilities that could spiral

rapidly out of control.

News

after crunch talks in Moscow

Russian recognition

of separatist regions

could add to tension

Marc Bennetts Moscow

Kharkiv

Mariupol

Donbas

region

Approximate line

separating

Ukrainian border

and Russian-

backed forces

LUHANSK

DONETSK

Rostov-

on-Don

UKRAINE

50 miles

RUSSIA

Russians might be able to

do with a pristine sample

of a world leader’s genetic

code.

“We knew very well

that meant no handshake

and that long table,” one

of Macron’s aides told

Reuters afterwards. “But

we could not accept that

they get their hands on

the president’s DNA.”

The precaution may

appear paranoid but there

are reasons to be careful.

Geneticists have identified

the nucleotide sequences

linked to a great number

of hereditary conditions

and the Russian

intelligence services

would take serious

interest in any

predisposition to heart

disease or early-onset

Alzheimer’s.

It is also possible to

make inferences about an

individual’s ancestry from

their DNA, which could at

least in theory furnish

Russia with opportunities

for blackmail or

propaganda.

However, Dmitry

Peskov, the Kremlin’s

chief spokesman, said the

arrangements had little

bearing on the substance

of Scholz’s talks with

Putin. “It doesn’t affect

the nature of the meeting,

the content or the

duration,” he said.

After Macron’s visit

Peskov confirmed that the

decision to subject the

French leader to the huge

table was taken after his

refusal to take the

Kremlin’s Covid test. “It is

linked to the fact that

some follow their own

rules, they don’t co-

operate with the host

side,” he said.

KREMLIN/SPUTNIK/EPA

Olaf Scholz had his Covid

test at the German

embassy in Moscow before

his meeting with President

Putin in the Kremlin