Peskov: residents of the DPR, LPR and southern Ukraine will determine their own future

He noted that the Kremlin has repeatedly said that people themselves should choose their future.

“And just the inhabitants of the two states – the LNR and the DNR – and the inhabitants of the territories, I mean the Kherson region, Zaporozhye, it is they who should decide about their future,” Peskov said. 

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on simplified admission to Russian citizenship of residents of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the military-civilian administration of the Kherson region, said that at least 60-70% of the region's inhabitants will vote for joining Russia when a referendum is held in the region.

The head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, said that it would be advisable to hold a referendum on joining Russia in the Donbass only after reaching the constitutional borders of the DPR and LPR.