Putin replaced overseer of Donbas, Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Russian President Vladimir Putin replaced the head of the presidential directorate, supervisor of the DPR, LPR as well as Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. According to Putin’s decree, Aleksey Filatov was appointed to replace Oleg Govorun.
The new head of the presidential directorate has been working with South Ossetia. Last year, in his role as deputy head of the directorate, Filatov became involved with the DPR and LPR.
Earlier, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that the current head of that presidential directorate, Oleg Govorun would soon be resigning. He is said to be linked to Vladislav Surkov, a close associate of the Russian president and overseer of Kremlin affairs on Ukraine.
The Presidential Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation was previously called the Presidential Directorate for Social and Economic Cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States Member Countries, the Republic of Abkhazia, and the Republic of South Ossetia. Last year, Vladimir Putin reorganized it, reducing its staff. However, the new directorate allegedly continues to oversee separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Latest reports from media and telegram channels associated with the Kremlin report that Russia plans to distribute Russian passports to populations in the Donbas region which are outside of Ukraine’s control. Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that he knows nothing of these plans.