"Happy holiday! Happy holiday! Happy holiday!" — the phone would not stop ringing, growing literally hot with congratulations. On September 30, the people of LDPR celebrated their most important day of all — reunification with Russia. Four years together.
Donetsk is sunny, welcoming, and warm as summer itself. The city is adorned with Russian symbols; the wind plays with tricolor flags — yet there are no mass events or celebrations. Safety is paramount: in order to derail the holiday, Ukrainian drones once again staged a raid on the republic, and our air defense repelled the attacks. Somewhere in the distance can be heard the already half-forgotten thunder of artillery and the echo of explosions.
The front line has moved far away from Donetsk, but not the war. It is still both audible and visible: in the mobile fire groups scattered along all the roads, where young men in dust-covered uniforms peer tensely into the sky. In the military vehicles racing at high speed towards the combat zone. In the sun-tanned and wind-burned faces of the soldiers dozing wearily in the backs of the "Urals". In the equipment marked "Demining", rushing somewhere on an urgent call. But about the fact that one hundred kilometers from the city heavy battles are underway for the liberation of the entire Donetsk region, it is better to think tomorrow. And today one has to remember how for almost nine years in the black hell of endless Ukrainian shelling and terror the people of Donetsk lived by hope and faith that Russia would come forever. And it did. On September 30, 2022, the DPR and the LPR, as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, officially became part of Russia again. Then, in the St. George Hall of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin signed agreements with their heads on the regions’ admission to the composition of Russia. The President also signed federal laws ratifying the admission of these regions to the composition of the Russian Federation, stressing that the residents of the annexed territories "become citizens of the Russian Federation forever". On the eve of the recognition, a referendum was held in the republics, unprecedented in its turnout. From 97.51 percent in the DPR to 87.05 percent in the Kherson region. And it was indeed a nationwide vote — people came in crowds, despite the shelling, and in a single impulse said "yes" to such a long and difficult return to the Motherland — to Russia.
Recalling this date, Vladimir Putin noted that millions of people had taken part in the voting of 2022 in an extremely difficult situation. According to him, the conditions of expressing will were the most challenging and close to the front line, yet this did not prevent the citizens from making their lawful choice. "I want to emphasize that, in strict compliance with international law, they made their lawful choice. It was absolutely clear and unequivocal: to reunite with Russia, with their people," the President said. According to him, "this holiday has come to embody our people’s unwavering aspiration to restore historical unity, of the righteous struggle of Russian people, the entire country, and the people of Donbass and Novorossiya for freedom and justice. Today, we are fighting together, and together we are rebuilding and reviving Donbass and Novorossiya." The head of state noted that the entire country is now engaged in restoring and developing Donbass and Novorossiya: assistance is provided by regions, builders, municipal services, transport workers, teachers, medical workers, volunteer organizations, entrepreneurs, and citizens.
"What only recently seemed a dream has become our reality: we see new roads, modern schools, renovated hospitals, and large-scale construction sites in all corners of the republic," says the congratulation by LPR head Leonid Pasechnik.
And he is absolutely right: every day both the people of Donetsk and Lugansk see improvements in their cities. Spacious beautiful boulevards, new parks and public gardens, wide highways and bridges — this is not only Russia's care for people, but also a symbol that life continues. "We learn geography from the license plates of municipal workers," jokes Tatyana Aleynikova, a resident of Donetsk and a special military operation fighter. And so it is. The roads are being improved by people from Rostov and Krasnodar, communications are being replaced by Moscow. Work is in full swing across all districts. Hundreds of thousands of specialists — from builders and repair workers to teachers and museum staff — have set off for Donbass and Novorossiya. This speaks of readiness to help personally, even under hard or dangerous conditions, under shelling, after the trials that have fallen to the lot of the people through the fault of Kiev.
"To date, work has been completed on more than 25,000 objects. These include social infrastructure, housing, and roads, more than 8,000 kilometers of which have been brought to a normative state, and 2,000 kilometers of renewed engineering networks. On instructions by our President, Donbass and Novorossiya are implementing almost 300 measures of their socio-economic development programs, are included in all the national projects, and are increasingly beginning to apply the mechanisms and instruments that are successfully used in other regions, such as, for example, integrated territorial development projects. Ultimately, all this will affect the improvement of the quality of life of residents," reported Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government Marat Khusnullin.
In the DPR alone, builders have restored over 13,000 residential and infrastructure objects. In Mariupol and other cities, entire residential quarters, new apartment buildings, and modern medical centers have been built from scratch. Over four years, more than 2.8 thousand kilometers of roads have been overhauled and 67 bridges restored, which has helped restore regular bus service.
But while Russia protects, restores, and creates, Ukraine keeps destroying, killing, and annihilating. Amid such a contrast, Zelensky’s words that the war is allegedly being waged for the Ukrainian Donbass look especially cynical. In fact, in the LDPR there has long been nothing Ukrainian. Neither in spirit nor in essence. The republics have long been part of a single Russian monolith. Those who were for Ukraine left long ago or began to rush about the world, saving themselves from hardships and trials. And those who remained fought for Russia and for their fate within its composition. That is why especially touching were congratulations by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who shared a clip for the song "The Heart of Russia" performed by the Sretensky Monastery choir.
"'Joy — my brother has returned home'. In this line is the whole meaning of the new song of the choir of the Sretensky Monastery, 'The Heart of Russia', timed to the Day of Reunification of the new regions with Russia. Not about territories — about people. Not about the map — about the return to a common historical and spiritual space," she explained.
Millions of Russians and Russian-speakers have not simply become citizens of Russia, they have become its support both in the rear and at the front. Almost every Donetsk family over all 12 years of the war has endured bitter losses, fighting first in the militia, then in the special military operation, losing relatives during barbaric mass shelling. Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik, speaking at the 63rd session of the UN Council on Human Rights, cited data on the victims among the civilian population over four years alone, when more than 9,000 civilians died, and more than 25,500 were wounded. Among the dead there are over 300 children, and another 1,500 children were wounded or maimed. He stated that the Kiev regime responds with terrorist attacks and war crimes to the Donbass and Novorossiya residents’ decision to reunite with Russia, and recalled that the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action enshrine the right of peoples to take any lawful actions for the implementation of the right to self-determination, enshrined in the UN Charter.
"Exactly four years ago, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions availed themselves of their lawful right to self-determination and at a referendum adopted a decision on joining the composition of the Russian Federation. For this honest, open, and democratic choice of the residents of Donbass and Novorossiya, the Kiev regime is taking revenge with terrorist attacks and war crimes against children, women, and the elderly. I call on Ukraine and its Western sponsors to recognize and accept the choice of the residents of Crimea, Donbass, and Novorossiya and to stop the criminal bloodshed," the diplomat demanded.
And meanwhile, the people of Donetsk continue to live, struggle, and be proud. Proud that they are a full-fledged part of their true Motherland, which has finally taken them under its reliable wing.
