Evgeny Guryev

On 30 September, our country marks the Day of Reunification of the Donetsk People's Republic, Lugansk People's Republic, Zaporizhia Oblast and Kherson Oblast with the Russian Federation. On this occasion, Associate Professor at the SPbGASU Department of History and Philosophy, PhD of Historical Sciences Evgeny Guryev gave a lecture to students about an important stage in the modern history of our country and its new regions.

Evgeny Pavlovich recalled that on 30 September, 2022, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions officially became part of Russia. Residents of these regions unanimously voted for this decision during the referendum. They had been moving towards this event for many years.

"The territories of the modern LPR and DPR were part of the Russian state since the time of the Muscovite Tsarstvo - since the beginning of the 16th century. The territories of the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions became part of Russia during the reign of Catherine II - in the second half of the 18th century. During the Civil War, on 10 March, 1919, the ruling party of the Bolsheviks created the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which additionally included these territories and Crimea. On 30 December, 1922, the USSR was formed, which also included Ukraine," said Evgeny Guryev.

In 1991, during a referendum, the people of Ukraine voted for the independence of their republic. On 22 February, 2014, an unconstitutional coup took place in this country, the president was forced to leave the country, and the parliament adopted a law on state policy that discriminated against the Russian language.

"Thus, the rights of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine were infringed. Crimea and Sevastopol were the first to react to the situation; their population voted to join Russia in the 2014 referendum. This became an example for Donbass. On 7 April, 2014, the Donetsk People's Republic was proclaimed, and on 13 April, the Ukrainian authorities issued a decree on the beginning of the so-called "anti-terrorist operation" against the DPR. On 27 April of the same year, the LPR was proclaimed. On 11 May, referendums were held in the republics, in which residents voted for independence. Soon, an armed struggle for independence began, along with the life under economic and humanitarian blockade. On 21 February, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. On 24 February, in order to protect the people of Donbass and their right to self-determination, a Special Military Operation begins, the goals of which, as the President of the Russian Federation emphasizes, will definitely be achieved,” concluded Evgeny Guryev.

According to the students, the lecture was very informative for them: they learned many historical details and important facts about modern politics.