Matvienko: Residents of Donbass became part of Russia as “our people”

Residents of the territories of the former eastern part of Ukraine are people of Russia, they did not become part of it as dependents, and the Ukrainian authorities did not previously care about these regions, said Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko.

“We did not take any territories – these are our original Russian territories. These are our people – they did not come to us as dependents. We didn’t fight for territories, Russia has more than enough of them,” Matvienko said during her speech at the Knowledge Society marathon.

Russia, according to her, fought “for the people,” and this is the difference between our country and Ukraine, since in Kiev “they always talk about the return of territories.” In Moscow they talk about the need to protect people’s lives, she emphasized. “Talented, smart, educated, Russian-speaking” people have returned to Russia, and new regions have “huge potential,” the speaker of the Federation Council believes.

“In five, maximum 10 years, these will be industrialized, agriculturally developed, self-sufficient regions that will be part of our united Russia,” she added.

The Russian government has a clear, intelligible plan for the priority of restoration of housing, engineering infrastructure, and social facilities in new territories. Matvienko added that over the past 30 years, the eastern regions of Ukraine have not developed, “the Ukrainian regime did not invest there at all,” and this has led to a serious lag in comparison with Russia.