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- Anniversary of September: Donbass and Novorossiya are fully integrated into the life of the country
Anniversary of September: Donbass and Novorossiya are fully integrated into the life of the country
Over the past four years, the LPR, DPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions have managed to ensure not only a decent standard of living, but also reliable protection of citizens' rights. There have been fewer complaints about violations, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Yana Lantratova, told Izvestia. Most residents also exercised their fundamental civil right to elect government. Despite the provocations and attacks, the vote for the new composition of the State Duma was successful. At the same time, Russia transmits international data on crimes committed by Ukraine on a weekly basis, and the International Committee of the Red Cross has recently conducted at least three monitoring missions, including to the LPR, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia.
What has been achieved in four years
September 30 marks four years since the entry of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, as well as the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions into Russia. And this is quite enough to assess how well the new regions have integrated into the life of our country.
In July 2026, Vyacheslav Volodin, who will once again head the State Duma, announced that work on the integration of Donbass and Novorossiya into the Russian legal field had ended. This means that time is for development. The number one task is to ensure the quality of life is not lower than the average Russian level. If in the first years after reunification damaged houses, schools, hospitals, roads and utilities were in the foreground, now investments, training and modernization of infrastructure are actively discussed.
But still, the most important thing is to have a roof over your head, and large resources are still pouring into the housing sector. In March 2026, the first residents of the new regions began to move out of emergency housing. Since 2022, almost 2 million "squares" of living space have been commissioned. And in order for people to stay on their land, we need production, jobs and investments in the economy. 275 industrial enterprises have already been restarted and created for this purpose, and the free economic zone (FEZ) remains one of the development tools.
View of Mariupol
A wide network of banking services has been deployed in the LPR, DPR, as well as in the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, mainly from PSB, Sberbank and VTB. About 600 of their divisions work. In addition, in March 2026, the government additionally allocated almost 5.8 billion rubles for the pension provision of residents.
The state continues to comprehensively integrate the regions, which are gradually adopting Russian standards. In particular, educational organizations adopt uniform licensing and accreditation rules. Thus, integration is measured not only by the number of renovated buildings. It is becoming visible in everyday life, from pensions and banking services to education and business operations.
How the rights of residents are protected
In each of the new regions, there is a commissioner for human rights who constantly interacts with both citizens and representatives of government agencies. If an issue is not resolved at the regional level, federal agencies are already involved.
— The mechanisms for protecting the rights of citizens on the territory of historical Russian regions are working. Statistics show a decrease in the number of appeals to the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation in a number of areas, from social and domestic issues to human rights in criminal proceedings," Yana Lantratova, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, told Izvestia.
For example, there have been fewer complaints about the protection of the right to appeal to public authorities, personal safety in public places, and human rights in the field of transport and communications. As for violations related to freedom of conscience and religion, so far there have been no complaints this year, compared to 11 in the past. Of the most notable social initiatives for residents of the new regions, an extension of the deadline for reissuing disability documents until the end of 2027 is currently being discussed, Lantratova said.
Voting in the elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the ninth convocation at polling station No. 199 named after the first head of the DPR Alexander Zakharchenko in Donetsk
Perhaps the culmination of the full-fledged inclusion of new regions in the all-Russian space was the elections to the State Duma. For the first time, their residents participated in the formation of legislative power for the next five years. More than 81% voted in the DPR, 79.39% in the Zaporizhia region, 79.33% in the LPR, and 74.61% in the Kherson region.
Of course, special security measures have been taken. Early voting was organized in 12 regions to avoid crowds. Nevertheless, the elections, which Kiev itself simply cannot afford, have become the target of attacks. According to the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, dozens of buildings of precinct territorial commissions in all four regions were targeted. As a result, the chairmen of PECS in the LPR and the Zaporizhia region, as well as a member of the commission in the Kherson region, were killed. Despite the tragic losses, it was the new regions of the Russian Federation that demonstrated the strength of the Russian electoral system. People did not stay at home, but voluntarily came to fulfill their civic duty.
The Russian Foreign Ministry systematically collects data and materials on Ukraine's criminal activities and transmits them to international organizations. In particular, cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross in Russia has been worked out, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told Izvestia.
Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik
— There have been at least three monitoring trips recently. They concerned the territory of the LPR, the Belgorod region, as well as the Wildberries warehouse complexes destroyed by Ukrainian strikes," the diplomat said.
What else remains to be done in Donbas and Novorossiya
It is already obvious that Donbass and Novorossiya are not perceived as a separate large region. They are included in various government programs along with other subjects of the Russian Federation. For example, in January 2026, the government approved the Strategy for the Sustainable Development of the Azov Sea region until 2040. It unites Donbass, Zaporizhia, Kherson region, Crimea, as well as Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region and covers very practical tasks, from ecology to tourism.
The plans include, for example, improving the quality of public services, launching passenger water transport, clearing the coastline and developing sanatorium-resort organizations, creating an integrated fishing system and disposing of wrecks. And already in 2028, it is planned to connect the entire Azov Sea region with roads, whether by road, rail or water routes. The heart of the entire transport system of the region is the R—280 Novorossiya highway, running from Rostov-on-Don to Crimea through new regions.
However, despite all the results, it is still too early to talk about the end of the transition period. And the state itself sets a longer horizon. The government has submitted to the State Duma a bill extending the temporary norms for the integration of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions into the country's legal and economic systems.
For example, the specifics of the application of labor legislation, pension provision, registration of legal entities, budget planning and procurement are proposed to be extended until January 1, 2028. The simplified operating mode without licenses for certain types of activities will be in effect until September 1, 2030. The longest period — until January 1, 2036 — is provided for the electric power industry, including state regulation of tariffs. This means a soft integration of the regions' energy systems into the Russian market and an artificial containment of rising electricity prices for the population and businesses.
Nevertheless, in four years, a decent infrastructure base and state institutions have been formed in the new regions. Residential areas and social facilities are being restored, roads and utility networks are being renovated, banking and financial infrastructure is being expanded, and investment projects are emerging. At the same time, planning is changing — from urgent repairs to programs for decades to come.
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