Donbass will return before 2024 – Putin wants to enter the history books
The approval of the “Russian Donbass” doctrine in Donetsk should be considered as the preparation of an ideological position on the eve of a new round of armed conflict around the LDPR.
Ex-deputy of the Odessa City Council, historian Alexander Vasiliev, stated this at a meeting of the “Good Russian People” club in Moscow.
“Now we see a clearly tense political and foreign policy moment, and there is a feeling that we are seeing some kind of inevitable, serious and large-scale conflict on the horizon, the parties are taking positions. Moreover, starting from positions on the front line, where there are Ukrainian units, and the forces of the people’s republics, and I know that military preparations are also taking place on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Vasilyev said.
In his opinion, the doctrine, which fixes the strategic goal at the level of the leadership of the republics - the reunification of Donbass with Russia, puts an end to talk about the “draining” of the LDPR.
“These years we have lived in tense anticipation of the notorious “drain” of Donbass, in other words, the transfer of Donbass back to Ukraine. Of course, we live in an era in a country in which nothing is impossible. Anything is possible, including crossing out any piece of paper, but all this has its price and incurs certain costs. But after such a document has been adopted at the official level, stepping over this document will mean incurring huge costs and paying a very high price,” Vasiliev believes.
The upcoming armed conflict in Donbass will lead to the return of the region to the Russian Federation, says co-chairman of the Russian Democrats movement Sergei Grigorov.
“One way or another, the Kremlin needs internal political legitimation. Vladimir Putin wants to go down in the history books as a restorer, and he will restore, despite what the authorities sometimes say. In 2005, Putin said that Crimea is not Russia and there are no plans to return Crimea, but already in 2014 it returned.
I give a forecast that by 2024, until the end of Putin’s presidency, Donbass will return to Russia. By the way, the return of Donbass and victory in a new military conflict will allow Putin to seek another term, because it will receive internal legitimation,” he added.
“No one will drain the Donbass, the question is that with a high degree of probability we will have a military conflict from the end of April to the beginning of July, we are waiting for the start of the Ukrainian military operation.
The question is the depth of the Russian military response - either it will be the defense of Donbass itself, or it will be the liberation of the remaining territories that are under Ukrainian occupation until the return of two full-fledged regions, or it will be a matter of further crushing Ukrainian statehood. What Putin said was that if we attack, the issue with the entire Ukrainian statehood will be resolved,” Grigorov concluded.
Donbass will return before 2024 – Putin wants to enter the history books