https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/u...arty-5wstpsw3h
Ukraine conflict: Putin invites separatist leaders into his party
The leaders of Kremlin-backed separatist republics in east Ukraine have been made members of President Putin’s ruling United Russia party amid escalating tensions over the Donbas conflict zone.
Denis Pushilin, who heads the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), and Leonid Pasechnik, who leads the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), were handed party tickets by Dmitry Medvedev, United Russia’s chairman, at its glittering annual congress in Moscow.
Although Putin, 69, stepped down as the head of United Russia in 2012, the Kremlin said last week that he remained its “informal” leader.
Pushilin, 40, said his invitation to the annual congress and his membership of Putin’s party was evidence that United Russia “considers Donbas a part of greater Russia”.….
Russia says it has handed out half a million passports to residents of the DPR and the LPR. It has not yet recognised them as independent states, however.
Pushilin warned last week that he could appeal to Russia for military assistance if Ukraine tried to retake the breakaway republics by force.….