MOSCOW, September 20 (RAPSI) — The Head of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), Leonid Pasechnik, has signed the law on a referendum on the issue of the region’s accession to the Russian Federation on Tuesday, the Lugansk Information Center reports.

According to Denis Miroshnichenko, Chairman of the People's Council of the LPR, the referendum will be held on 23 through 27 September.

Earlier, the law on the referendum was adopted by the Republic’s lawmakers at a plenary session.

The day before, members of the Republican Civic Chamber presented to Pasechnik and the LPR People's Council the initiative to immediately hold the respective referendum.

Russia recognized the sovereignty of the LPR and Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on February 21. On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin and LPR Head Leonid Pasechnik signed an agreement on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance between the two states. Later, the independence of the republics was recognized by Syria and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).