After Ukraine recently announced the list of persona non grata in Ukraine, anyone who read the list suddenly discovered that official Kiev recognizes the existence of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics.
Contrary to the familiar Ukrainian swear words like “separatists” and “terrorists,” such people as Alexander Zakharchenko, Igor Plotnitsky, Alexander Kofman, Vladimir Kononov, and others were mentioned with the names of their current posts. For example, “Head of the LPR,” or “Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPR.”
Official letters from respectable, known, and international organizations aimed at addressing the official structures of the DPR and LPR found have found themselves in my possession. It is immediately evident that, firstly, these organizations recognize the people’s republics, as they use exactly these names and not “Donetsk province” or “Lugansk province,” and, secondly, they refer to the officials of the republics using their complete titles.