The region has since been included in many strata of Russian life including taxes, law enforcement and even being admitted to the Russian football league.
Last week Ukraine underwent its official parliamentary elections, which saw president Petro Poroshenko’s bloc and prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s People’s Front solidify their pro-EU coalition in parliament.
Russia accepted the result, shortly before announcing it will also support eastern Ukraine’s elections.
Ukraine’s electoral commission reported the majority of the rebel-held territories had not participated in the nationwide vote, however more than a million voters cast their ballots in the breakaway Donetsk region, while 1.5 million voted in neighbouring Luhansk, according to data collected by the self-proclaimed republics.
The total voting population of the two regions is just over 5 million people.
Article Appeared @http://www.newsweek.com/russia-incorporating-east-ukrainian-rebels-military-after-elections-says-kiev-281730