Poroshenko signed the law on the "reintegration of Donbass"

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a law on the "reintegration of Donbass". The head of state reported it on Twitter.

"As I promised, I am signing the law on the reintegration of Donbass today. Not a single letter of it violates Ukraine's international obligations, including the Minsk agreements", - the president noted yesterday.

According to the law, Russia is legally recognized as an aggressor country for the first time ever, and the uncontrolled territories of Donbass - as temporarily occupied. Parts of the territory of Ukraine where the armed formations and Russian occupation administration instituted and exercise control are considered to be temporarily occupied territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

The Joint Operational Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is also being created, which will directly control the forces and assets of the Armed Forces and other military formations, the MIA and the National Police, involved in the process of "deterrence against military aggression" in the Donbass.

Responsibility for non-pecuniary and financial damage, caused to Ukraine and its citizens, is vested in the Russian Federation, and persons who took part in the armed aggression or Russian occupation administration are criminally liable.

The entry of persons and the transfer of goods to/from the temporarily occupied territories of the Donbass is determined by the Cabinet of Ministers and carried out through checkpoints. Court fees are abolished for Ukrainians, who apply to the courts against the aggressor state.

The right of ownership in the occupied territory of the Donbass remains with Ukrainian citizens.

All acts, issued by the Russian Federation's occupation administration, are recognized invalid and do not create legal consequences, except for documents on the birth or death of a person in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donbass.

As previously reported, on January 18, 2018, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law "On the peculiarities of state policy aiming to secure sovereignty of Ukraine over the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts".