Pro-Russian authorities from the Ukrainian regions of Lugansk and Kherson announced today that they will submit an official request to Russian President Vladimir Putin to join Russia, a day after referendums widely condemned by the West.

- Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich... I ask you to consider joining the People's Republic of Luhansk to Russia, as part of the Russian Federation, said the pro-Russian leader Leonid Pasechnik.

As he added, "we are aware of the historical, cultural and spiritual ties with the multinational people of Russia." According to him, joining Russia is a dream of the people there.

Pasechnik, as well as the leader of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, announced his departure to Moscow to formalize the accession to Russia.

Vladimir Saldo, leader of the occupation authorities in Kherson, sent a similar letter to Putin