Donetsk People's Republic leader Pushilin sentenced to 15 years in prison
Photo: Denis Pushilin, Donetsk People's Republic leader (kremlin.ru)
The leader of the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), Denis Pushilin, has been sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment with property confiscation, according to the press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Pushilin is charged with encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, as well as collaborationist activities. The court has established that in September 2022, the leader of the pseudo-republic convened and conducted an extraordinary session of the fake DPR council, where a so-called law "On the referendum of the DNR on joining Russia" was adopted.
Afterward, the criminal repeatedly emphasized the necessity of joining the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region to Russia and called for further seizures of Ukrainian territory.
"In the end, based on the signed 'decree' an illegal popular expression of will was conducted in the temporarily occupied territories under the control of Russian armed forces," adds the press service.
On September 30, 2022, Pushilin signed an agreement with the Russian dictator for the incorporation of the quasi-republic and newly occupied territories of the Donetsk region into Russia.
Referendum in the occupied territories
From September 23 to 27, 2022, so-called L/DNR (Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics) territories and the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions held referendums on joining the Russian Federation.
The Ukrainian government warned that voting in such referendums would result in criminal liability. Civilized countries around the world did not recognize Russia's attempts to conduct pseudo-elections, as it contradicts international law and other agreements. As a result, sanctions against the terrorist country were expanded.
