Putin, during an address to citizens on September 21, expressed support for the votes announced in the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions on the entry of these territories into the Russian Federation.

As the head of state noted, more than 7.5 million people lived in these regions before the outbreak of hostilities.

The President continued by saying that many of these people were forced to become refugees, and the remaining 5 million people living in these territories are constantly under fire from the Kyiv regime.

As Putin noted, Russia has "no moral right to hand over people close to us to be torn apart by executioners."

He recalled that the parliaments of the republics of Donbass, as well as the administrations of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, asked Russia to support their initiative to hold a vote on the fate of the regions.

“We will do everything to provide a safe environment for holding referendums, so that people can express their will.

And we will support the decision about their future, which will be made by the majority of residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions," Putin said.

The authorities of the republics of Donbass and the liberated territories on Tuesday, September 20, announced a vote on joining Russia from September 23 to 27.

This decision was preceded by appeals from the public councils of these regions with the initiative to immediately start voting on joining the Russian Federation.

On the same day, Denis Pushilin, head of the republic, made a request to accept the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) into Russia if such a decision was approved by the inhabitants of the republic.

He called the prospect of the DPR joining Russia as the restoration of historical justice.

In turn, the head of the military-civilian administration of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, expressed confidence that the region's entry into Russia is a necessary solution in the context of ongoing acts of terror by Kyiv and the NATO countries that support it.

Also on russian.rt.com Masters of their fate: the authorities of the republics of Donbass and the liberated territories announced a vote on joining the Russian Federation

In the Zaporozhye region, they expressed confidence that the inclusion of the region into Russia would help to quickly end the armed conflict in Ukraine.

This point of view in an interview with RT was expressed by the chairman of the movement "We are together with Russia" Vladimir Rogov.

Support for residents of Donbass and regions of Ukraine

It should be noted that during 2022 Vladimir Putin signed a number of documents designed to provide assistance and support to the residents of Donbass and the liberated territories of Ukraine.

In particular, at the end of August, the president approved the appointment of monthly payments to internally displaced persons from the territory of Ukraine and Donbass, and also fixed the temporary procedure for the indefinite stay of citizens of the DPR, LPR and Ukraine on the territory of the Russian Federation.

On July 11, a decree approved by the president came into force extending the simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship to persons permanently residing in Ukraine, as well as in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

This document expanded the measures in force since May, which introduced a simplified procedure for processing documents for residents of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions of Ukraine.

All of these changes in the field of citizenship affected the law of April 2019, which allowed residents of the DPR and LPR to apply for a Russian passport in a simplified manner.

The president spoke about this initiative in April 2019.

“Tolerating a situation in which people living on the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics are generally deprived of any civil rights is already crossing the line from the point of view of human rights,” the president said during a meeting with the Council of Legislators.