MOSCOW, August 14 (RIA Novosti) – More than 22,400 people have signed an online petition calling on the United Nations to recognize independence of people’s republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.
“We should try to help the people gain independence by our votes, rather than just sitting on the couch in front of a TV-set,” said Vladimir, a Russian-speaking person living in Germany, who started the petition with Avaaz Community Petitions a month ago.
The petition has to gain 30,000 signatures to be send to the UN. As of early Thursday, almost 22,500 people have signed the petition.
Since mid-April, Kiev authorities have been conducting a special military operation in the east of Ukraine to suppress the independence movement. The violence intensified after the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics declared independence from Ukraine in May. Moscow has described the ongoing military action as a punitive operation and called for immediate end to bloodshed.
