“The liberation of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, recognized by the Russian Federation as independent states, is an absolute priority,” he said.
At the same time, the chief of Russian diplomacy noted that the inhabitants of those territories of Ukraine where the special operation is being carried out should decide for themselves the question of their future.
“They must decide for themselves in what environment they will continue to exist: in the one created by President Zelensky — the ban on Russian education, the media, culture, the use of the Russian language in everyday life — or in another, where they will be able to raise their children the way they want , not Zelensky and his team, ”Lavrov explained.
Earlier it became known that the forces of the Luhansk People's Republic took control of the bridge between Lisichansk and Severodonetsk.
Subsequently, the People's Militia of the LPR reported that the military had entrenched themselves on the outskirts of the city of Severodonetsk in the Donbass.