Moscow Could Absorb South Ossetia, Abkhazia and the Donbass as ‘Federal Territories,’ El Murid Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, February 7 – Proposals to enshrine in the Russian Constitution the idea of “federal territories,” places directly administered by Moscow rather than any federal subject, have already been seen as a threat to the continued existence of any federalism in that country (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/02/russian-constitution-may-be-changed-to.html).

            But this notion may have another and potentially even more ominous consequence, Anatoly Nemiyan, who blogs under the screen name “El Murid,” suggests. Such a legal arrangement could be used by the Kremlin to absorb South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Ukraine’s Donbass (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5E3D18A5B563C).

            That would make it easier for the Kremlin to annex these areas – no constitutional changes would then be needed – and also, together with any federal territories established within the existing borders of the Russian Federation, easier for the powers that be to give their allies the power to exploit such lands for their own purposes.