The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a disputed entity created by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, which claims

Donetsk Oblast The Donetsk Oblast ( ukr, Донецька область, Donetska oblast, ), also referred to as Donechchyna ( ukr, Донеччина, links=no), is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 mill ...

. It began as a breakaway state (2014–2022) and was then

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

by Russia in 2022. The city of Donetsk is the claimed capital city. Pro-Russian unrest erupted in the

Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

region in response to the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity. In April 2014, armed pro-Russian separatists seized government buildings and declared the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) as independent states, which received no international recognition prior to 2022. Ukraine and others viewed them as Russian puppet states and as terrorist organisations. This sparked the War in Donbas, part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War which also saw the Russian occupation and

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

of Crimea. The Donetsk and Luhansk People's Militias occupied almost half of the two oblasts and were at war with the Ukrainian military for the next eight years. On 21 February 2022, Russia recognised the DPR and LPR as sovereign states. Three days later, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, partially under the pretext of protecting the republics. Russian forces captured more of Donetsk Oblast, which became part of the DPR. In September 2022, Russia announced the

of the DPR and other occupied territories, following disputed referendums which were illegal under international law. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling on countries not to recognise what it called the "attempted illegal annexation" and demanded that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw". The

Head of the Donetsk People's Republic The Head of the Donetsk People´s Republic (russian: Глава Донецкой Народной Республики, Glava Donetskoy Narodnoy Respubliki) is the highest office of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), a disputed Russian republ ...

is Denis Pushilin, and its parliament is the People's Council. The ideology of the DPR is said to combine various strands of Russian nationalism:

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

, Orthodox, neo-imperialist and

neo-Soviet Neo-Sovietism is the Soviet Union–style of policy decisions in some post-Soviet states, as well as a political movement of reviving the Soviet Union in the modern world or to reviving specific aspects of Soviet life based on the nostalgia for ...

. Russian

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

groups played an important role in the DPR, especially in its early days. Organizations such as the

United Nations Human Rights Office The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

and Human Rights Watch have reported human rights abuses in the DPR, including

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

, torture, extrajudicial killings,

forced conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, as well as political and media repression. The Donetsk People's Militia has also been held responsible for war crimes, among them the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

History

The Luhansk and Donetsk Peoples Republics are located in the historical

region of Eastern Ukraine. Since Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Eastern and Western Ukraine typically voted for different candidates in presidential elections. Viktor Yanukovych, a Donetsk native, was elected as President of Ukraine in 2010. Eastern Ukrainian dissatisfaction with the government can also be attributed to the Euromaidan Protests which began in November 2013, as well as Russian support due to tension in Russia–Ukraine relations over Ukraine's geopolitical orientation. President Yanukovych's overthrow in the

2014 Ukrainian revolution The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,

led to protests in Eastern Ukraine, which gradually escalated into an armed conflict between the newly formed Ukrainian government and the local armed militias.Petro, Nicolai N., Understanding the Other Ukraine: Identity and Allegiance in Russophone Ukraine (1 March 2015). Richard Sakwa and Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska, eds., Ukraine and Russia: People, Politics, Propaganda and Perspectives, Bristol, United Kingdom: E-International Relations Edited Collections, 2015, pp. 19–35. Available at The

pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the succe ...

was originally characterised by riots and protests which had eventually escalated into the storming of government offices.

Formation (2014–2015)

Foundations

On 7 April 2014, between 1,000 and 2,000 pro-Russian rebels attended a rally in Donetsk pushing for a Crimea-style referendum on independence from Ukraine. Ukrainian media claimed that the proposed referendum had no status-quo option. Afterwards, 200–1000 separatists stormed and took control of the first two floors of the government headquarters of the Regional State Administration (RSA), breaking down doors and smashing windows. The separatists demanded a referendum to join Russia, and said they would otherwise take unilateral control and dismiss the elected government. When the session was not held, the unelected separatists held a vote within the RSA building and overwhelmingly backed the declaration of a Donetsk People's Republic. According to the Russian ITAR-TASS, the declaration was voted by some regional legislators, while Ukrainian media claimed that neither the Donetsk city council nor district councils of the city delegated any representatives to the session. The political leadership initially consisted of Denis Pushilin, self-appointed as chairman of the government, while

Igor Kakidzyanov Igor Kakidzyanov (russian: Игорь Какидзянов) is a former Defense Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR). He was Commander-in-Chief of Popular Army, until captured by pro-Ukrainian paramilitaries on 7 May 201 ...

was named as the commander of the People's Army. Vyacheslav Ponomarev became the self-proclaimed mayor of the city of Sloviansk. Ukrainian-born pro-Russian activist Pavel Gubarev, an Anti-Maidan activist, a former member of the

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

Russian National Unity paramilitary group in 1999–2001 and former member of the left-wing populist Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, proclaimed himself the People's Governor of the Donetsk Region. He was arrested on charges of separatism and illegal seizure of power but released in a hostage swap.

Alexander Borodai Alexander Yurevich Borodai ( rus, Алекса́ндр Ю́рьевич Борода́й, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr ˈjʉrʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bərɐˈdaj; uk, Олександр Юрійович Бородай; born July 25, 1972) is a Russian member of the ...

, a Russian citizen claiming to be involved in the Russian annexation of Crimea, was appointed as Prime Minister, while Igor Girkin was made Defence Minister. Borodai had a past working for an openly anti-semitic and fascist Russian newspaper ''Zavtra'' which had called for pogroms against Jews. On 6 April, the group's leaders announced that a referendum on whether

should "join the Russian Federation", would take place "no later than May 11th, 2014." Additionally, the group's leaders appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to send Russian peacekeeping forces to the region. On the morning of 8 April, the 'Patriotic Forces of Donbas', a pro-Kyiv group that was formed on 15 March earlier that year by 13 pro-Kyiv NGOs, political parties and individuals, issued a statement "cancelling" the other group's declaration of independence, citing complaints from locals. The Donetsk Republic organisation continued to occupy the RSA and upheld all previous calls for a referendum and the release of their leader Pavel Gubarev. On 8 April, about a thousand people rallied in front of the RSA listening to speeches about the Donetsk People's Republic and to Soviet and Russian music. Ukrainian media stated that a number of Russian citizens, including one leader of a far-right militant group, had also taken part in the events. The OSCE reported that all the main institutions of the city observed by the Monitoring Mission seemed to be working normally as of 16 April. On 22 April, separatists agreed to release the session hall of the building along with two floors to state officials. The ninth and tenth floors were later released on 24 April. On the second day of the Republic, organisers decided to pour all of their alcohol out and announce a prohibition law after issues arose due to excessive drinking in the building. On 7 May, Russian president Vladimir Putin asked the separatists to postpone the proposed referendum to create the necessary conditions for dialogue. Despite Putin's comments, the Donetsk Republic group said they would still carry out the referendum. The same day, Ukraine's security service (SBU) released an alleged audio recording of a phone call between a Donetsk separatist leader and leader of one of the splinter groups of former Russian National Unity Alexander Barkashov. In the call, the voice said to be Barkashov insisted on falsifying the results of the referendum. SBU stated that this tape is a definitive proof of the direct involvement of Russian government with preparations for the referendum. Polling during this period indicated that around 18 per cent of Donetsk Oblast residents supported the seizures of administrative buildings while 72 per cent disapproved. Twelve per cent were in favour of Ukraine and Russia uniting into a single state, a quarter were in favour of regional secession to join Russia, 38.4 per cent supported federalisation, 41.1 per cent supported a unitary Ukraine with decentralisatised power, and 10.6 per cent supported the status quo. In an August 2015 poll, with 6500 respondents from 19 cities of Donetsk Oblast, 29 per cent supported the DPR and 10 per cent considered themselves to be Russian patriots. Ukrainian authorities released separatist leader Pavel Gubarev and two others in exchange for three people detained by the Donetsk Republic. On 15 April 2014, acting Ukrainian President

Olexander Turchynov Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov ( uk, Олександр Валентинович Турчинов; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National Sec ...

announced the start of a military counteroffensive to confront the pro-Russian militants, and on 17 April, tensions de-escalated as Russia, the US, and the EU agreed on a roadmap to eventually end the crisis. However, officials of the People's Republic ignored the agreement and vowed to continue their occupations until a referendum was accepted or the government in Kyiv resigned.

11 May independence referendum

The planned referendum was held on 11 May, disregarding Vladimir Putin's appeal to delay it. The organisers claimed that 89% voted in favour of self-rule, with 10% against, on a turnout of nearly 75%. The results of the referendums were not officially recognised by any government; Germany and the United States also stated that the referendums had "no democratic legitimacy", while the Russian government expressed respect for the results and urged a civilised implementation. On the day after the referendum, the People's Soviet of the DPR proclaimed Donetsk to be a sovereign state with an indefinite border and asked Russia "to consider the issue of our republic's accession into the Russian Federation". It also announced that it would not participate in the Ukrainian presidential election which took place on 25 May. The first full Government of the DPR was appointed on 16 May 2014. It consisted of several ministers who were previously Donetsk functionaries, a member of the Makiivka City Council, a former Donetsk

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

, a former member of the special police

Alpha Group Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group (a popular English name), or Alfa, whose official name is Directorate "A" of the FSB Special Purpose Center (TsSN FSB) (Russian: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"), is an elite stand-alone sub-unit o ...

, a member of the Party of Regions (who allegedly coordinated "

Titushky The Titushky (plural; uk, тітушки, russian: титушки) were mercenary agents in Ukraine who supported the Ukrainian security services during the administration of Viktor Yanukovych, often posing as street hooligans in sports clothing ...

" ( Viktor Yanukovych supporters) during

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...

) and Russian citizens. This government imposed martial law on 16 July. Elections in the DPR and LPR were held on 2 November 2014, after the territories had boycotted the

2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada took place on 26 October 2014. Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the presidential election in May."Date of elections in Donetsk, Luhansk People's republics the same – Nov. 2"
, Russian News Agency "TASS" (11 October 2014) The results were not recognised by any country. The DPR adopted a memorandum on 5 February 2015, declaring itself the successor to the Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic and Bolshevik revolutionary Fyodor Sergeyev—better known by his alias "Artyom"—as the country's founding father.

Static war period (2015–2022) , Peace proposals and stalemate

On 12 February 2015, the DPR and LPR leaders, Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky, signed the Minsk II agreement. According to the agreement, amendments to the Ukrainian constitution should be introduced, including "the key element of which is

decentralisation Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

" and the holding of elections in the LPR and DPR within the lines of the

Minsk Memorandum The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements which sought to end the Donbas war fought between armed Russian separatist groups and Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Russian regular forces playing a central part. The first, known ...

. In return, the rebel-held territory would be reintegrated into Ukraine. In an effort to stabilise the ceasefire in the region, particularly the disputed and strategically important town of Debaltseve, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for a UN-led peacekeeping operation in February 2015 to monitor compliance with the Minsk agreement. The Verkhovna Rada did not ratify the changes in the constitution needed for the Minsk agreement. On 20 May 2015, the leadership of the Federal State of Novorossiya, a proposed confederation of the DPR and LPR, announced the termination of the confederation project.
On 15 June 2015, several hundred people protested in the centre of Donetsk against the presence of BM-21 "Grad" launchers in a residential area. The launchers had been used to fire at Ukrainian positions, provoking return fire and causing civilian casualties. A DPR leader said that its forces were indeed shelling from residential areas (mentioning school 41 specifically), but that "the punishment of the enemy is everyone's shared responsibility". On 2 July 2015, DPR leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko ordered local elections to be held on 18 October 2015 "in accordance with the Minsk II agreements"."Local elections in DPR to take place on October 18 – Zakharchenko"
,

Interfax-Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...

(2 July 2015)
"DPR, LPR attempts to hold separate elections in Donbas on Oct 18 to have destructive consequences – Poroshenko"
,

(2 July 2015) The

2015 Ukrainian local elections On 25 October 2015 local elections took place in Ukraine. The elections were conducted a little over a year since the 2014 2014 Ukrainian local elections, snap local elections, which were only held throughout parts of the country. A second roun ...

were set for 25 October 2015. This was condemned by Ukraine. On 4 September 2015, there was a sudden change in the DPR government, where Denis Pushilin replaced

Andrey Purgin Andrei Yevgenyevich Purgin (russian: Андрей Евгеньевич Пургин, born 26 January 1972) is a Ukrainian activist, cofounder of the Donetsk Republic organization along with Aleksandr Tsurkan and Oleg Frolov. Until 4 September 201 ...

in the role of speaker of the People's Council and, in his first decision, fired Aleksey Aleksandrov, the council's chief of staff, Purgin's close ally. This happened in absence of Purgin and Aleksandrov who were held at the border between Russia and DPR, preventing their return to the republic. Aleksandrov was accused of "destructive activities" and an "attempt to illegally cross the border" by the republic's Ministry of Public Security. Russian and Ukrainian media commented on these events as yet another coup in the republic's authorities. After a

Normandy four The Normandy Format (french: Format Normandie), also known as the Normandy contact group, is a grouping of states who met in an effort to resolve the War in Donbas and the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The four countries who make up the group—Germa ...

meeting in which the participants agreed that elections in territories controlled by DPR and LPR should be held according to Minsk II rules, both postponed their planned elections to 21 February 2016.
Vladimir Putin used his influence to reach this delay.Ukraine crisis: Pro-Russian rebels 'delay disputed elections'
, BBC News (6 October 2015)
Hollande: Elections In Eastern Ukraine Likely To Be Delayed
,

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

(2 October 2015)
Ukraine Is Being Told to Live With Putin
, Bloomberg News (5 October 2015) The elections were then postponed to 20 April 2016 and again to 24 July 2016. On 22 July the elections were again postponed to 6 November. In July 2016, over a thousand people, mainly small business owners, protested in Horlivka against corruption and taxes, which included charging customs fees on imported goods. On 2 October 2016, the DPR and LPR held primaries in were voters voted to nominate candidates for participation in the 6 November 2016 elections. Ukraine denounced these primaries as illegal.Defying Minsk process, Russian-backed separatists hold illegal elections
, Kyiv Post (2 October 2016)
Donbass militia leader announces autumn primaries in Donetsk
, TASS news agency (23 May 2016) The DPR finally held elections on 11 November 2018. These were described as "predetermined and without alternative candidates" and not recognised externally. On 16 October 2016, a prominent Russian citizen and DPR military leader Arsen Pavlov was killed by an improvised explosive device in his Donetsk apartment's elevator. Another DPR military commander,

Mikhail Tolstykh Mikhail Sergeyevich Tolstykh ( uk, Михайло Сергійович Толстих, russian: Михаи́л Сергéевич Толсты́х; 19 July 1980 – 8 February 2017), better known by his '' nom de guerre'' Givi (Ги́ви), ...

, was killed by an explosion while working in his Donetsk office on 8 February 2017. On 31 August 2018, Head and Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko was killed in an explosion in a cafe in Donetsk. After his death Dmitry Trapeznikov was appointed as head of the government until September 2019 when he was nominated mayor of Elista, capital of Kalmyk Republic in Russia. According to Ukrainian authorities, 50 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in clashes with Donbas separatists in 2020. In January 2021, the DPR and LPR stated in a "doctrine Russian Donbas" that they aimed to seize all of the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblast under control by the Ukrainian government "in the near future." The document did not specifically state the intention of DPR and LPR to be annexed by Russia.Militants presented the "doctrine": provides capture of all Donbas
, Ukrayinska Pravda (28 January 2021)

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

The general mobilization in the Donetsk People's Republic began on 19 February 2022 – 5 days before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Tens of thousands of local residents were forcibly mobilized for the war. According to the Eastern Human Rights Group, as of mid-June, about 140,000 people were forcibly mobilized in the DPR and LPR, of which from 48,000 to 96,000 were sent to the front and the rest to logistics support. On 21 February 2022, Russia recognised the independence of the DPR and LPR. The next day, the

Federation Council of Russia The Federation Council (russian: Сове́т Федера́ции – ''Soviet Federatsii'', common abbreviation: Совфед – ''Sovfed''), or Senate (officially, starting from July 1, 2020) ( ru , Сенат , translit = Senat), is th ...

authorised the use of military force, and Russian forces openly advanced into the separatist territories. Russian president Vladimir Putin declared that the Minsk agreements "no longer existed", and that Ukraine, not Russia, was to blame for their collapse. A Russian military attack into Ukrainian government-controlled territory began on the morning of 24 February, when Putin

announced An announcement (ANN) is a Usenet, mailing list or e-mail message sent to notify subscribers that a software project has made a new release version. Newsgroup announcement recipients often have a name like "comp.''somegroup''.announce". Mailing l ...

a "special military operation" to "

demilitarise Demilitarisation or demilitarization may mean the reduction of state armed forces; it is the opposite of militarisation in many respects. For instance, the demilitarisation of Northern Ireland entailed the reduction of British security and military ...

and

denazify Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allies of World War II, Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazism, Nazi ideology following the Second World W ...

" Ukraine. In the course of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, around 55% of Donetsk Oblast came under the control of Russia and the DPR by June 2022. In the south of Donetsk Oblast, the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

laid siege to Mariupol for almost three months. According to Ukrainian sources, an estimated 22,000 civilians were killed and 20,000 to 50,000 were illegally deported to Russia by June 2022. A vehicle convoy of 82

ethnic Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, other ...

was able to leave the city via a humanitarian corridor. On 19 April 2022, a town hall assembly was reportedly organized in Russian-occupied Rozivka, where a majority of attendees (mainly seniors) voted by hand to join the Donetsk People's Republic. This came despite two hurdles: the raion was outside the borders claimed by the DPR, and the raion had not existed since 18 July 2020. The vote was claimed to be rigged, and organizers threatened anyone voting against it with arrest. On 21 May 2022, the town of

Oskil The Oskil ( uk, Оскiл) or Oskol (russian: Оскол) is a south-flowing river in Russia and Ukraine. It arises roughly between Kursk and Voronezh and flows south to join the Seversky Donets which flows southeast to join the Don. It is lon ...

in the Kharkiv Oblast was declared part of the DPR. The town was later recaptured by Ukrainian forces during the

Kharkiv Counteroffensive The 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive was a counteroffensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of the Kharkiv Oblast which was launched on 6 September 2022. Following the launch of the Kherson counteroff ...

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...

, the former Russian president and as of July 2022 vice chairman of the Russian Security Council, in July 2022 shared a map of Ukraine where most of Ukraine, including DPR, had been absorbed by Russia. Map of Russia - Donetsk

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' reported that forcibly recruited men from Donbas were used as cannon fodder. According to DPR officials, more than 3,000 were killed and over 13,000 wounded, "a casualty rate of 80 percent of the initial fighting force." Human rights activists reported a huge – up to 30,000 people as of August 2022 – death toll among mobilized recruits in clashes with the well-trained

Armed Forces of Ukraine , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly known ...

. On 16 August 2022, Vladimir Putin stated that "the objectives of this operation are clearly defined – ensuring the security of Russia and our citizens, protecting the residents of Donbass from genocide."

Annexation by Russia

On 20 September 2022, the People's Council of the Donetsk People's Republic scheduled a "referendum" on the republic's entry into Russia as a federal subject for 23–27 September. On 21 September, Russian President Putin announced a partial mobilization in Russia. He said that "in order to protect our motherland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to ensure the safety of our people and people in the liberated territories", he decided to declare a partial mobilization. On 12 October 2022, the United Nations General Assembly voted in Resolution ES-11/4 to condemn the annexation. The resolution received a vast majority of 143 countries in support of condemning Russia's annexation, 35 abstaining, and only 5 against condemning Russia's annexation.

Government and politics

In early April 2014, a Donetsk People's Council was formed out of protesters who occupied the building of the Donetsk Regional Council on 6 April 2014. '' The New York Times'' described the self-proclaimed state as

, while

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

described it as

neo-Stalinist Neo-Stalinism (russian: Неосталинизм) is the promotion of positive views of Joseph Stalin's role in history, the partial re-establishing of Stalin's policies on certain issues and nostalgia for the Stalin period. Neo-Stalinism overl ...

and a " totalitarian, North Korea-like statelet". Administration proper in DPR territories is performed by those authorities which performed these functions prior to the war in Donbas. The DPR leadership has also appointed mayors. Some sources described the "Donetsk People's Republic" during this period as a Russian puppet government. On 5 February 2020, Denis Pushilin unexpectedly appointed

Vladimir Pashkov Vladimir Igorevich Pashkov (russian: Владимир Игоревич Пашков; born 4 February 1961) was Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic which is recognised only by Russia and two other partially-r ...

, a Russian citizen and former deputy governor of Russia's Irkutsk Oblast, as the chairman of the government. This appointment was received in Ukraine as a demonstration of direct control over DPR by Russia. Several Russian officials were appointed to cabinet posts and prime ministership of the DPR in June and July 2022.

Legislature

The parliament of the Donetsk People's Republic is the People's Council and has 100 deputies.

Political parties

Political parties active in the DPR include Donetsk Republic, the Communist Party of the Donetsk People's Republic,

Free Donbas Free Donbas (russian: Свободный Донбасс, Svobodnyy Donbass) is a public movement and political bloc in the Donetsk Oblast fighting for the separation of the region from Ukraine. The bloc includes several parties and movements. The ...

, and the New Russia Party. Donetsk Republic and the Communists endorsed Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko's candidature for the premiership in 2014. In the ensuing 2014 elections, the Communists were banned from participating independently because they had "made too many mistakes" in their submitted documents. Donetsk Republic gained a majority in the DPR People's Soviet with 68.53% of the vote and 68 seats. Free Donbas, including candidates from the Russian-nationalist extremist New Russia Party, won 31.65% of the vote and 32 seats.

Passports and citizenship

In March 2016, the DPR began to issue passports despite a 2015 statement by Zakharchenko that, without at least partial recognition of DPR, local passports would be a "waste of resources". In November 2016 the DPR announced that all of its citizens had

dual Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual (grammatical ...

Ukrainian/Donetsk People's Republic citizenship. In June 2019, Russia started giving Russian passports to the inhabitants of the DPR and Luhansk People's Republic under a simplified procedure allegedly on "humanitarian grounds" (such as enabling international travel for eastern Ukrainian residents whose passports have expired).Russia starts giving passports to Ukrainians from Donetsk, Luhansk
,

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

(14 June 2019) Since December 2019 Ukrainian passports are no longer considered a valid identifying document in the DPR and Ukrainian licence plates were declared illegal.The march of dis-integration
, The Ukrainian Week (7 March 2020) Meanwhile, the previous favourable view of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the DPR press was replaced with personal accusations of genocide and "crimes against Donbas", and proposals of organising a tribunal against him in absentia. In March 2020 Russian was declared to be the only state language of the DPR; previously in its May 2014 constitution, the DPR had declared both Russian and Ukrainian its official languages. According to the

Ukrainian press Since November 2015 Ukrainian authorities, state agencies and local government authorities are forbidden to act as founders (or cofounders) of printed media outlets.

, by mid-2021, local residents received half a million Russian passports.The leader of fighters Pushilin gathered in "United Russia"
, Ukrayinska Pravda (15 July 2021)
"United Russia" went on the offensive in the Donbass
, The Ukrainian Week (15 July 2021) Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak stated in a July 2021 interview with ''

Politique internationale ''Politique internationale'' is a quarterly French political affairs magazine covering international relations based in Paris, France. History and profile ''Politique internationale'' was established by Patrick Wajsman in 1978. The headquarters i ...

'' that 470,000 local residents had received Russian passports; he added that "as soon as the situation in Donbass is resolved....The general procedure for granting citizenship will be restored."At Putin assure: We distribute passports of the Russian Federation in Donbass not for annexation of ORDLO
, Ukrayinska Pravda (20 July 2021)

Military

The Donbas People's Militia was formed by Pavel Gubarev, who was elected People's Governor of Donetsk Oblast and Igor Girkin, appointed the Minister of Defence of the Donetsk People's Republic. The People's Militia of the DPR (russian: Вооружённые силы ДНР) comprise the Russian separatist forces in the DPR. On 10 January 2020 president of the non-recognised pro-Russian

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

accused DPR of staging a coup in his country. DPR commander Akhra Avidzba was commanding on the spot. Unlike South Ossetia, Abkhazia had not then recognised DPR.

Problems of governance

OSCE monitors met with the self-proclaimed mayor of Sloviansk, Volodymyr Pavlenko, on 20 June 2014. According to him, sewage systems in Sloviansk had collapsed, resulting in the release of least 10,000 litres of untreated sewage into the river , a tributary of the Seversky Donets. He called this an "environmental catastrophe", and said that it had the potential to affect both Russia and Ukraine. As of May 2014, the Ukrainian Government was paying wages and pensions for the inhabitants of the DPR. The closing of bank branches led to problems in receiving these, especially since the National Bank of Ukraine ordered banks to suspend financial transactions in places which are not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities on 7 August 2014. Only the Oschadbank ( State Savings Bank of Ukraine) continued to function in territories controlled by the DPR, but it also closed its branches there on 1 December 2014. In response, tens of thousands of pensioners have registered their address as being in Ukrainian-controlled areas while still living in separatist-controlled areas, and must travel outside of separatist areas to collect their pensions on a monthly basis. In October 2014, the DPR announced the creation of its own central bank and tax office, obliging residents to register to the DPR and pay taxes to it. Some local entrepreneurs refused to register. According to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine a number of local mutinies have taken place due to unpaid wages and pensions, the council claims that on 24 November 2014, the local "Women Resistance Battalion" presented to Zakharchenko an ultimatum to get out of Donetsk in two months. Since April 2015, the DPR has been issuing its own vehicle number plates. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine reported that in the DPR, "parallel 'justice systems' have begun operating". They found this new judiciary to be "non-transparent, subject to constant change, seriously under-resourced and, in many instances, completely non-functional".

Law and order

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is the DPR's agency responsible for implementing law and order. In 2014, the DPR introduced the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

for cases of treason, espionage, and assassination of political leaders. There had already been accusations of extrajudicial execution. After 2015 a number of DPR and LPR field commanders and other significant figures were killed or otherwise removed from power. This included

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

commander Pavel Dryomov, commander of Private Military Company (''ЧВК'') Dmitry Utkin ("Wagner"),

Alexander Bednov Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bednov (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бедно́в, uk, Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович Бєдно́в; 29 August 1969 – 1 January 2015) was a former Soviet and Ukraini ...

("Batman"), Aleksey Mozgovoy, Yevgeny Ishchenko, Andrei Purgin and Dmitry Lyamin (the last two arrested). In August 2016 Igor Plotnitsky, head of

LPR LPR may refer to: *Laryngopharyngeal reflux, a form of acid reflux *Lawful permanent resident * Lazarus Program file *Libertarian Party of Russia * License plate recognition *Line Printer Daemon protocol (RFC1179) * Line Printer Remote service *'' ...

, was seriously injured in a car bombing attack in Luhansk. In September 2016 Evgeny Zhilin (Yevhen Zhylin), leader of the separatist "Oplot" unit, was killed in a restaurant near Moscow. In October 2016 military commander Arseniy Pavlov ("Motorola") was killed by an IED planted at his house. In February 2017 a bomb planted in an office killed

("Givi"). On 31 August 2018 DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko was killed by a bomb in a restaurant in Donetsk. The DPR and Russia blamed the Security Service of Ukraine; Ukraine rejected these accusations, stating that Zakharchenko's death was the result of civil strife in the DPR.Ukraine: Top rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko killed in Donetsk blast
".

. 31 August 2018. In May 2015, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed four laws concerning decommunisation in Ukraine. Various cities and many villages in Donbas were renamed. The

Ukrainian decommunisation laws Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

were condemned by the DPR. In addition to Ukrainian

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

there are reports of "thousands" of prisoners who were arrested as part of internal fighting between various militant groups inside DPR. Aiden Aslin,

Shaun Pinner Shaun Pinner is a former soldier of the British Army who joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces as a contracted fighter in 2018 and fought during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. During the siege of Mariupol, he was captured and sentenced to dea ...

Brahim Saadoune Brahim Saâdoune ( ar, إبراهيم سعدون, Ibrāhīm Saʻdūn; born 2000) uk, Брахім Саадун, Brakhim Saadunrussian: Брагим Саадун, Bragim Saadun is a Moroccan student who joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces as a fi ...

have been sentenced to death. The DPR lifted the death penalty moratorium.

Right-wing nationalism

Far-right pro-Russian forces in the Russian-Ukrainian war

According to a 2016 report by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), Russian ethnic and imperialist nationalism has shaped the official ideology of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. During the War in Donbas, especially at the beginning, far-right groups played an important role on the pro-Russian side, arguably more so than on the Ukrainian side. Afterward, the pro-Russian far-right groups gradually became less important in Donbas as the need for Russian radical nationalists started to disappear. According to

Marlène Laruelle Marlène Laruelle (born 21 December 1972) is a French historian, sociologist, and political scientist specializing on Eurasia and Europe. She is Research Professor and Director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) ...

, separatist ideologues in Donbas produced an ideology composed of three strands of Russian nationalism:

, Orthodox, and Soviet. Members and former members of Russian National Unity (RNU), the

National Bolshevik Party The National Bolshevik Party (NBP; russian: Национал-большевистская партия), also known as the Nazbols (russian: нацболы), operated from 1993 to 2007 as a Russian political party with a political program of Nat ...

, Eurasian Youth Union, and Cossack groups formed branches to recruit volunteers to join the separatists.Yudina, Natalia (2015)
"Russian nationalists fight Ukrainian war"
in: ''Journal on Baltic Security'', Volume 1, Issue 1 ( de Gruyter). pp.47–69. doi:10.1515/jobs-2016-0012. A former RNU member, Pavel Gubarev, was founder of the Donbas People's Militia and first "governor" of the Donetsk People's Republic. RNU is particularly linked to the

Russian Orthodox Army The Russian Orthodox Army, ROA (russian: Русская православная армия, ''Russkaya pravoslavnaya armiya'') was a Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatist paramilitary group in Ukraine that has been fighting ...

, one of a number of separatist units described as "pro-Tsarist" and "extremist" Orthodox nationalists. Neo-Nazi unit ' Rusich' is part of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary group in Ukraine which has been linked to far-right extremism.Šmíd, Tomáš & Šmídová, Alexandra. (2021)
Anti-government Non-state Armed Actors in the Conflict in Eastern Ukraine
''Czech Journal of International Relations'', Volume 56, Issue 2. pp.48-49. Quote: "Another group of Russian citizens who became involved in the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine were members of the so-called right-wing units of the Russian Spring." Some of the most influential far-right nationalists among the Russian separatists are neo-imperialists, who seek to revive the Russian Empire. These included Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin, the minister of defence of the Donetsk People's Republic, who espouses Russian neo-imperialism and ethno-nationalism. The Russian Imperial Movement, a white supremacist militant group, has recruited thousands of volunteers to join the separatists. Some separatists have flown the black-yellow-white Russian imperial flag, such as the Sparta Battalion. In 2014, volunteers from the National Liberation Movement joined the Donetsk People's Militia bearing portraits of

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

. Other Russian nationalist volunteers involved in separatist militias included members of the Eurasian Youth Union, and of banned groups such as the Slavic Union and Movement Against Illegal Immigration. Another Russian separatist paramilitary unit, the

Interbrigades The Interbrigades (russian: Интербригады) is a volunteer movement organized by the unregistered Russian National Bolshevik political party "The Other Russia" to participate in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine on the side of ...

, is made up of activists from the National Bolshevik (Nazbol) group Other Russia. An article in '' Dissent'' noted that "despite their

paraphernalia, many of the Russian-speaking nationalists Russia supports in the Donbass are just as right-wing as their counterparts from the Azov Battalion". In July 2015, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, said at a press conference that he respected Ukraine's far-right party Right Sector "when they beat up the gays in Kyiv and when they tried to depose Poroshenko". While far-right activists played a part in the early days of the conflict, their importance was often exaggerated, and their importance on both sides of the conflict declined over time. The political climate in Donetsk further pushed far-right groups into the margins. In April 2022, news outlets noted that a video posted on Donetsk People's Republic's website showed Denis Pushilin awarding a medal to Lieutenant Roman Vorobyov ( Somalia Battalion) while Vorobyov was wearing patches affiliated with

neo-Nazism Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

: the '' Totenkopf'' used by the

3rd SS Panzer Division The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (german: 3. SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, ''Totenkopf'', is German for "de ...

, and the '' valknut''. However, the video did not show Vorobyov getting his medal when it was posted on Pushilin's website.

Recognition and international relations

The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) initially sought recognition as a sovereign state following its declaration of independence in April 2014. Subsequently, the DPR willingly acceded to the Russian Federation as a

Russian federal subject The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (russian ...

in September–October 2022, effectively ceasing to exist as a sovereign state in any capacity and revoking its status as such in the eyes of the international community. The DPR claims direct succession to Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast. From 2014 to 2022, Ukraine, the United Nations, and most of the international community regarded the DPR as an illegal entity occupying a portion of Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast ''(see: International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War)''. The Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), which had a similar backstory, was regarded in the exact same way. Crimea's status was treated slightly differently since Russia annexed that territory immediately after its declaration of independence in March 2014. Up until February 2022, Russia did not recognise the DPR, although it maintained informal relations with the DPR. On 21 February 2022, Russia officially recognised the DPR and the LPR at the same time, marking a major escalation in the 2021–2022 diplomatic crisis between Russia and Ukraine. Three days later, on 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the entire country of Ukraine, partially under the pretext of protecting the DPR and the LPR. The war had wide-reaching repercussions for Ukraine, Russia, and the international community as a whole ''(see: War crimes, Humanitarian impact, Environmental impact,

Economic impact An economic impact analysis (EIA) examines the effect of an event on the economy in a specified area, ranging from a single neighborhood to the entire globe. It usually measures changes in business revenue, business profits, personal wages, and ...

, and Ukrainian cultural heritage)''. In September 2022, Russia made moves to consolidate the territories that it had occupied in Ukraine, including Donetsk,

Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...

, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. Russia officially annexed these four territories in September–October 2022. Between February 2022 and October 2022, in addition to receiving Russian recognition, the DPR was recognised by North Korea (13 July 2022) and Syria (29 June 2022). This means that three United Nations member states recognised the DPR in total throughout its period of ''de facto'' independence. The DPR was also recognised by three other breakaway entities: the LPR, South Ossetia (19 June 2014),South Ossetia Recognizes 'Luhansk People's Republic'
, Radio free Europe (19 June 2014) and Abkhazia (25 February 2022).

Relations with Ukraine

The Ukrainian government passed the "" on 16 September 2014, which designated a special status within Ukraine on certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions ( CADLR), in line with the Minsk agreements. The status lasted for three years, and then was extended annually several times. In January 2015, Ukraine declared the Russia-backed

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

republics in Donbas to be terrorist organizations.

Relations with Russia

Russia has recognised identity documents, diplomas, birth, and marriage certificates and vehicle registration plates as issued by the DPR and the LPR since 18 February 2017, enabling people living in DPR-controlled territories to travel, work, or study in Russia. According to the decree, it was signed "to protect human rights and freedoms" in accordance with "the widely recognised principles of international humanitarian law". On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed agreements on friendship, cooperation, and assistance with DPR and the LPR, coinciding with Russia's official recognition of the two quasi-states. The Russian State Duma had approved a draft resolution appealing for him to recognize both quasi-states on 15 February. Shortly afterwards,

also recognized the independence of the DPR.

Relations with extremist groups in Europe

According to the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, a number of European politicians from

extreme-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

and extreme-left have received all-expenses-paid trips to the Donetsk People's Republic.

Far-right

As well as Russian far-right groups (see '' #Right-wing nationalism''), the DPR has cultivated relations with other European far-right groups and activists. The Lansing Institute for Global Threats and Democracies Studies acquired a memorandum of cooperation between the DPR and the far-right Russian Imperial Movement, which trains foreign volunteers; including members of the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division and

Der Dritte Weg The III. Path or The Third Path (german: Der III. Weg, ) is a far-right and neo-Nazi political party in Germany. It was founded on 28 September 2013 by former NPD officials, and activists from the banned ''Free Network South''. They have tie ...

. Professor

Anton Shekhovtsov Anton Volodymyrovich Shekhovtsov ( ua, Антон Володимирович Шеховцов; russian: Антон Владимирович Шеховцов; born 1978) is a Ukrainian political scientist, academic and writer. He is known for his ...

, an expert on far-right movements in Russia and abroad, reported in 2014 that Polish neo-fascist group "Falanga", Italian far-right group "Millennium" and French

Eurasianists Eurasianism (russian: евразийство, ''yevraziystvo'') is a political movement in Russia which states that Russian civilization does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of Eurasia, t ...

had joined the Donbas separatists. Members of Serbian Action have also joined the Donbas separatists. According to Italian newspaper '' la Repubblica'', well-known Italian neo-fascist Andrea Palmeri (former member of the far-right New Force party) has been fighting for the DPR since 2014, and was hailed by DPR leader Gubarev as a "real fascist". Other far-right activists with links to the DPR include French far-right

MEP MEP may refer to: Organisations and politics * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka * Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...

Jean-Luc Schaffhauser, Italian nationalist Alessandro Musolino, German

journalist Manuel Ochsenreiter, and Emmanuel Leroy, a far-right adviser to

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...

, former leader of the

National Rally The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...

. Finnish neo-Nazis have been recruited for pro-Russian forces by

Johan Bäckman Erkki Johan Bäckman (born 18 May 1971) is a Finnish political activist, author, legal sociologist, propagandist, and convicted stalker working for the Russian Government. Bäckman has been a prominent Finnish propagandist in Russia who has ...

and Janus Putkonen, who are aligned with the local far-right pro-Russian party Power Belongs to the People. Putkonen also runs the Russian-funded DONi (Donbass International News Agency) and MV-media, which publish pro-Russian propaganda about the DPR.

Far-left

The DPR has also cultivated relations with various far-left groups. A small number of Spanish socialists travelled to Ukraine to fight for the separatists, with some explaining they were "repaying the favour" to Russia for the USSR's support to Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. Spanish fighters founded the 'Carlos Palomino International Brigade', which flew the flag of the Second Spanish Republic. In 2015, it reportedly had less than ten members, and was later disbanded. A female member of the

Israeli Communist Party The Israeli Communist Party, commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Maki (), is a communist political party in Israel and forms part of the political alliance known as Hadash. It was originally known as Rakah, an acronym for ''Reshima Komunistit H ...

also reportedly fought for the separatists in 2015. Other examples of far-left groups fighting for the separatists were the 'DKO' (Volunteer Communist Unit) and the Interunit, which has been inactive since 2017. The Italian communist ska punk group Banda Bassotti has also been active in support of the DPR and has organized trips to Donetsk, one of which saw the participation of Eleonora Forenza, a member of the European Parliament for the

Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party ( it, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista, PRC) is a communist political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who replac ...

Andrej Hunko Andrej Konstantin Hunko (born 29 September 1963 in Munich) is a German politician ( The Left). He has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2009 and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) since 2010. He has b ...

, a member of the German parliament for the far-left party

Die Linke The Left (german: Die Linke; stylised as and in its logo as ), commonly referred to as the Left Party (german: Die Linkspartei, links=no ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of th ...

, also travelled to Donetsk to support the separatists.

Economy

The DPR has its own central bank, the Donetsk Republican Bank. The republic's economy is frequently described as dependent on

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

and

gunrunning Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small ar ...

, with some labelling it a mafia state. Joining DPR military formations or its civil services has become one of the few guarantees for a stable income in the DPR. By late October 2014, many banks and other businesses in the DPR were shut, and people were often left without social benefits payments. Sources (who declined to be identified, citing security concerns) inside the DPR administration have told Bloomberg News that Russia transfers 2.5 billion

Russian rubles ''hum''; cv, тенкĕ ''tenke''; kv, шайт ''shayt''; Lak: къуруш ''k'urush''; Mari: теҥге ''tenge''; os, сом ''som''; tt-Cyrl, сум ''sum''; udm, манет ''manet''; sah, солкуобай ''solkuobay'' , name_ab ...

($37 million) for pensions every month.The Central Bank With No Currency, No Interest Rates, But ATMs
, Bloomberg News (16 16 September 2015) By mid-February 2016 Russia had sent 48 humanitarian convoys to rebel-held territory that were said to have delivered more than 58,000 tons of cargo including food, medicines, construction materials, diesel generators and fuel and lubricants. President Poroshenko called this a "flagrant violation of international law" and Valentyn Nalyvaychenko said it was a "direct invasion". '' Reuters'' in late October 2014 reported long lines at soup kitchens. In the same month in at least one factory, workers no longer received wages, only food rations. By June 2015, due to logistical and transport problems, prices in DPR-controlled territory are significantly higher than in territory controlled by Ukraine. This led to an increase of supplies (of more expensive products and those of lower quality) from Russia. Mines and heavy-industry facilities damaged by shelling were forced to close, undermining the wider chain of economic ties in the region. Three industrial facilities were under DPR "temporary management" by late October 2014. By early June 2015, 80% of companies physically located in the Donetsk People's Republic had re-registered on territory under Ukrainian control. The new ruling elites of the DPR have displaced the previous oligarchic structures in the region. The new powerholders expropriated profitable businesses. For instance, Rinat Akhmetov lost control over his assets in the region after they were nationalised. Under Russia's guidance, the republic set up trade and production monopolies through which the trade in coal and steel is organised. Lacking private banks, its own currency, and direct access to the Black Sea, DPR's survival depends exclusively on Russia's economic support and trade through the common border. A DPR official often promised financial support from Russia without giving specific details. Prime Minister Aleksandr Zakharchenko in late October 2014 stated that "We have the Russian Federation's agreement in principle on granting us special conditions on gas (deliveries)". Zakharchenko also claimed that "And, finally, we managed to link up with the financial and banking structure of the Russian Federation". When ''Reuters'' tried to get more details from a source close to Zakharchenko the only reply was "Money likes silence". Early October 2014 Zakharchenko stated, "The economy will be complete, if possible, oriented towards the Russian market. We consider Russia our strategic partner". According to Zakharchenko this would "secure our economy from impacts from outside, including from Ukraine".Donetsk Republic PM speaks in favour of economic cooperation with Russia
, Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (12 October 2014) According to Yury Makohon, from the Ukrainian National Institute for Strategic Studies, "Trade volume between Russia and Donetsk Oblast has seen a massive slump since the beginning of 2014". Since Russia did not recognise the legal status of the self-proclaimed republic, all the trade it did with it was on the basis of Ukrainian law. DPR authorities have created a multi-currency zone in which both the rouble (Russia's currency) and the hryvnia (Ukraine's currency) can be used, and also the Euro and U.S. Dollar. Cash shortages are widespread and, due to a lack of roubles, the hryvnia is the most-used currency. According to Ukraine's security services in May 2016 alone the Russian government has passed US$19 million in cash to fund the DPR administration as well as 35,000 blank Russian passports. Since late February 2015, DPR-controlled territories receive their natural gas directly from Russia. According to Russia, Ukraine should pay for these deliveries; Ukraine claims it does not receive payments for the supplies from DPR-controlled territory.Russian gas for the Donbas: the games being played with Kyiv and Brussels
, Centre for Eastern Studies (25 February 2015) On 2 July 2015, Ukrainian Energy Minister

Volodymyr Demchyshyn Volodymyr Vasylyovych Demchyshyn ( uk, Володимир Васильович Демчишин) is a former Ukrainian banker and politician and a Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine (2014-2016) in the second Yatsenyuk Government./(we ...

announced that he "did not expect" that Ukraine would supply natural gas to territory controlled by separatist troops in the 2015–2016 heating season. Since 25 November 2015 Ukraine has halted all its imports of (and payments for) natural gas from Russia. The DPR set up its own

mobile network operator A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier, is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sell ...

called Feniks, which was to be fully operational by the end of the summer of 2015. On 5 February 2015, Kyivstar claimed that Feniks illegally used equipment that they officially gave up in territories controlled by pro-Russian separatists. On 18 April 2015, Prime Minister Zakharchenk issued a decree stating that all equipment given up by Kyivstar fell under the control of the separatists in order to "meet the needs of the population in the communication services".Kremlin-separatist area gets its own mobile operator
, Kyiv Post (5 June 2015)
Kyivstar switches off mobile network in militant-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk region
,

(5 February 2015) The SIM cards of Feniks display the slogan "Connection for the victory". In June 2015, the DPR authorities announced the start of military pension payments in US dollars. In mid-March 2017, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a temporary ban on the movement of goods to and from territory controlled by DPR and LPR. Ukraine has not bought coal from the

Donets Black Coal Basin The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

since then.

Anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

mines under DPR control reportedly supply coal to Poland through Russian shell companies to disguise its real origin. According to Ukrainian and Russian media, the coal export company Vneshtorgservis, owned by

Serhiy Kurchenko Serhiy Vitaliiovych Kurchenko ( uk, Сергі́й Віта́лійович Ку́рченко; born 21 September 1985) is a Ukrainian businessman and founder/owner of the group of companies "Gas Ukraine 2009" specializing in trading of liquefie ...

, owes massive debts to coal mines located in separatist-controlled territory and other local companies. Sergey Zdrilyuk ("Abwehr"), former deputy of DPR militia, stated in an interview in 2020 that large-scale disassembly of mining equipment for scrap metal and other forms of

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

took place routinely during Igor Girkin's time as a militia commander, and that Girkin took significant amounts of money with him to Moscow. Militia groups such as "Vostok" and "Oplot" as well as various "Cossack formations", were involved in looting on systematic basis.

Human rights

An early March 2016 United Nations OHCHR report stated that people that lived in separatist-controlled areas were experiencing "complete absence of rule of law, reports of arbitrary detention, torture and incommunicado detention, and no access to real redress mechanisms".

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...

evaluates the eastern Donbas territories controlled by the DPR and LPR as "not free", scoring 4 out of 100 in its 2022 Freedom in the World index, noting issues with severe political and media repression, numerous reports of torture, and arbitrary detention. '' The Guardian'' noted on 17 February 2022 "Public opposition in the DPR is virtually non-existent."

War crimes

An 18 November 2014 United Nations report on eastern Ukraine stated that the DPR was in a state of "total breakdown of law and order". The report noted "cases of serious human rights abuses by the armed groups continued to be reported, including torture, arbitrary and incommunicado detention,

summary execution A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...

s, forced labour, sexual violence, as well as the destruction and illegal seizure of property may amount to

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

".Almost 1,000 dead since east Ukraine truce – UN
, BBC News (21 November 2014)
Ukraine death toll rises to more than 4,300 despite ceasefire – U.N.
, Reuters (21 November 2014) The November report also stated "the HRMMU continued to receive allegations of sexual and gender-based violence in the eastern regions. In one reported incident, members of the pro-Russian Vostok Battalion "arrested" a woman for violating a curfew and beat her with metal sticks for three hours. The woman was also raped by several pro-Russian rebels from the battalion. The report also states that the UN mission "continued to receive reports of torture and ill-treatment by the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and volunteer battalions and by the (pro-Russian separatist) armed groups, including beating, death threats, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and lack of access to medical assistance". In a 15 December 2014 press conference in Kyiv,

UN Assistant Secretary-General An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly on the recommendation of the Secretary-General of the Uni ...

for human rights Ivan Šimonović stated that the majority of human rights violations were committed in areas controlled by pro-Russian rebels. The United Nations report also accused the Ukrainian Army and Ukrainian (volunteer) territorial defence battalions, including the

Azov Battalion, of human rights abuses such as illegal detention, torture and ill-treatment of DPR and LPR supporters, noting official denials. Amnesty International reported on 24 December 2014 that pro-government volunteer battalions were blocking Ukrainian aid convoys from entering separatist-controlled territory. On 24 July, Human Rights Watch accused the pro-Russian fighters of not taking measures to avoid encamping in densely populated civilian areas." It also accused Ukrainian government forces and pro-government volunteer battalions of indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, stating that "The use of indiscriminate rockets in populated areas violates international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, and may amount to war crimes."Human Rights Watch: Ukrainian forces are rocketing civilians
". '' The Washington Post''. 25 July 2014. A report by the OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that was released on 2 March 2015 described media postings and online videos which indicated that the pro-Russian armed groups of the DPR carried out "summary, extrajudicial or arbitrary executions" of captured Ukrainian soldiers. In one incident, corpses of Ukrainian servicemen were found with "their hands tied with white electrical cable" after the pro-Russian rebel groups captured Donetsk International Airport. In January a DPR leader claimed that the rebel forces were detaining up to five "subversives" between the ages of 18 and 35 per day. A number of captured

were forced to march in Donetsk while being assaulted by rebel soldiers and onlookers. The report also said that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies had engaged in a "pattern of enforced disappearances, secret detention and ill-treatment" of people suspected of "separatism" and "terrorism". The report also mentions videos of members of one particular pro-Russian unit talking about running a torture facility in the basement of a Luhansk library. The head of the unit in question was the pro-Russian separatist commander Aleksandr Biednov, known as "Batman" (who was later killed) and the "head" of the torture chamber was a rebel called "Maniac" who "allegedly used a hammer to torture prisoners and surgery kit to scare and extract confessions from prisoners". In September 2015, OSCE published a report on the testimonies of victims held in places of illegal detention in Donbas. In December 2015, a team led by Małgorzata Gosiewska published a comprehensive report on war crimes in Donbas.

Allegations of anti-semitism

Alleged members of the Donetsk Republic carrying the flag of the Russian Federation, passed out a leaflet to Jews that informed all Jews over the age of 16 that they would have to report to the ''Commissioner for Nationalities'' in the Donetsk Regional Administration building and register their property and religion. It also claimed that Jews would be charged a $50 'registration fee'. If they did not comply, they would have their citizenship revoked, face 'forceful expulsion' and see their assets confiscated. The leaflet stated the purpose of registration was because "Jewish community of Ukraine supported ''

Bandera Bandera - from a Spanish word meaning a ''flag'' - may refer to: Places * Bandera County, Texas ** Bandera, Texas, its county seat ** Bandera Creek, a river in Texas, with its source near Bandera Pass ** Bandera Pass, a mountain pass in Bandera C ...

Junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...

," and "oppose the pro-Slavic People's Republic of Donetsk". The authenticity of the leaflet could not be independently verified. '' The New York Times'', ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

'', and '' The New Republic'' said the fliers were "most likely a hoax". France 24 also reported on the questionable authenticity of the leaflets. According to Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the leaflets looked like some sort of provocation, and an attempt to paint the pro-Russian forces as

anti-semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. The chief rabbi of Donetsk Pinchas Vishedski stated that the flyer was a fake meant to discredit the self-proclaimed republic, and saying that anti-Semitic incidents in eastern Ukraine are "rare, unlike in Kiev and western Ukraine" and believes the men were 'trying to use the Jewish community in Donetsk as an instrument in the conflict;' however, he also called the DPR Press Secretary Aleksander Kriakov "the most famous anti-Semite in the region" and questioned DPR's decision to appoint him.

Religion

At first the DPR adopted a constitution which stated that the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was the official religion of the self-declared state. This was changed with the promulgation of a law "on freedom of conscience and religious organisation" in November 2015, backed by three deputies professing Rodnovery (Slavic native faith), whose members organised the Svarozhich Battalion (of the Vostok Brigade) and the Rusich Company. The new law caused the dissatisfaction of Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol of the Moscow Patriarchate church. Donetsk separatists consider Christian denominations such as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and wider Roman Catholic Church, and Protestantism, as all being anti-Russian and see them as obstacles in the path of the separatist goal of uniting the region with Russia. To complement this emphasis on Orthodoxy against churches deemed "heretical" and anti-Russian, the separatists have been successful in enlisting the widespread support of many people in Donetsk belonging to the indigenous Greek Orthodox community. These are mainly Pontic Greeks settled in Donetsk and elsewhere in southern Russia and Ukraine since the Middle Ages, and are in the main descendants of refugees from the Pontic Alps, Eastern Anatolia, and the Crimea, dating to the Ottoman conquests of these regions in the late 15th century. There have been widespread media reports of these ethnic Greeks and those with roots in southern Ukraine now living mainly in Northern Greece fighting with Donetsk separatist forces on the justification that their war represents a struggle for Christian Orthodoxy against the forces of what they often describe as "schismatics" and "fascists".

Romani people

Hundreds of Romani families fled Donbas in 2014. The ''News of Donbas'' reported that members of the

Donbas People's Militia The Donetsk People's Militia and Luhansk People's Militia (formerly also called Russian separatist forces in Donbas) are pro-Russian paramilitaries in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which have been fighting the Armed Forces of Ukraine i ...

engaged in assaults and robbery on the

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

(also known as gypsies) population of Sloviansk. The armed separatists beat women and children, looted homes, and carried off the stolen goods in trucks, according to eyewitnesses. Romani fled en masse to live with relatives in other parts of the country, fearing ethnic cleansing, displacement and murder. Some men who decided to remain formed militia groups to protect their families and homes. DPR Mayor Ponomarev said the attacks were only against gypsies who were involved in drug trafficking, and that he was 'cleaning the city from drugs.' The US mission to the OSCE and Ukrainian Prime Minister

Yatsenyuk Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk ( uk, Арсеній Петрович Яценюк ; born 22 May 1974) is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine twice – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and f ...

condemned these actions.

LGBT community

On 8 June 2014, it was reported that armed militants from the Donetsk Republic attacked a gay club in the capital of Donetsk, injuring several. Witnesses said 20 people forced their way into the club, stealing jewellery and other valuables; the assailants fired shots in the club, and several people were hurt. In July 2015, a DPR Ministry of Information spokesperson stated "there are no gays in Donetsk, as they all went to Kyiv". In 2015, the Deputy Minister of Political Affairs of the Donetsk People's Republic stated: "A culture of homosexuality is spreading... This is why we must kill anyone who is involved in this."

Prejudice against Ukrainian speakers

On 18 April 2014, Vyacheslav Ponomarev asked local residents of Sloviansk to report all suspicious persons, especially if they were speaking Ukrainian. He also promised that the local media would publish a phone number to report them. An 18 November 2014 United Nations report on eastern Ukraine stated that the DPR violated the rights of Ukrainian-speaking children because schools in rebel-controlled areas teach only in Russian and forbid pupils to speak Ukrainian. In its May 2014 constitution, the DPR regime declared Russian and Ukrainian its official languages. However, in March 2020, Russian was declared to be the sole official language of the DPR.

Abductions

The Committee to Protect Journalists said that separatists had seized up to ten foreign reporters during the week following the shooting down of the Malaysian aircraft. On 22 July 2014, armed men from the DPR abducted Ukrainian freelance journalist Anton Skiba as he arrived with a CNN crew at a hotel in Donetsk. The DPR often counters such accusations by pointing towards non-governmental organisations, such as

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

's reporting that pro-Ukrainian volunteer paramilitary battalions, such as the Aidar Battalion, Donbas Battalion, Azov Battalion often acted like "renegade gangs", and were implicated in torture, abductions, and summary executions. Amnesty International and the (OHCHR) also raised similar concerns about Radical Party leader and Ukrainian MP Oleh Lyashko and his militia. Donetsk has also observed significant rise in violent crime (homicide, rape, including underage victims) under the control of separatist forces. In July 2015 local authorities of Druzhkovka, previously occupied by separatist forces, exposed a previous torture site in one of the town's cellars. On 2 June 2017 the freelance journalist

Stanislav Aseyev Stanislav Volodymyrovych Aseyev (, also Stanyslav Asieiev, Stanislav Vasin ; born October 1, 1989) is a Ukrainian writer and journalist, founder Justice Initiative Fund. His best known work is the novel ''The Melchior Elephant'' (2016). In May 201 ...

was abducted. Firstly the DPR "government" denied knowing his whereabouts but on 16 July, an agent of the DPR's Ministry of State Security confirmed that Aseyev was in their custody and that he was suspected of espionage. Independent media is not allowed to report from the DPR-controlled territory.

, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the

European Federation of Journalists The European Federation of Journalists is the European regional organisation of the International Federation of Journalists. It is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing about 320,000 journalists in 71 journalists’ orga ...

, Human Rights Watch, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, PEN International,

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

and the United States Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have called for the immediate release of Aseyev. He was released as part of a prison exchange and handed over to Ukrainian authorities on 29 December 2019. Sergey Zdrilyuk ("Abwehr"), former deputy of DPR militia, confirmed in 2020 that Igor Girkin personally executed

he considered "traitors" or "spies". This statement was first made in Girkin's interview earlier that year, although Girkin insisted the executions were part of his "military tribunal based on laws of war". Girkin also confessed that he was involved in the murder of Volodymyr Ivanovych Rybak, a representative of Horlivka who was abducted on 17 April 2014 after trying to raise a Ukrainian flag: "Naturally, Rybak, as a person who actively opposed the "militias", was an enemy in my eyes. And his death, probably, is to some extent also under my responsibility".

Education

By the start of the 2015–2016 school-year DPR's authorities had overhauled the curriculum. Ukrainian language lessons were decreased from around eight hours a week to two hours; while the time devoted to

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

and literature lessons were increased. The history classes were changed to give greater emphasis to the history of Donbas. The grading system was changed from (Ukraine's) 12-point scheme to the five-point grading system that is also used in Russia. According to the director of a college in Donetsk "We give students the choice between the two but the Russian one is taken into greater account". School graduates will receive a Russian certificate, allowing them to enter both local universities and institutions in Russia. In April 2016 DPR authorities designed "statehood awareness lessons" were introduced in schools (in territory controlled by them). On 25 September 2017 a new law on education was signed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (draft approved by Verkhovna Rada on 5 September 2017) which says that Ukrainian language is the language of education at all levels.

Culture and sports

Donetsk People's Republic national football team The Donetsk People's Republic football team is a team representing the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), a disputed Russian republic in eastern Ukraine. The team is not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA and therefore cannot compete for the FIFA World Cu ...

has represented the country in international games organised by ConIFA, although as of August 2022, it is not listed as a member on the organization's website.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Authority control History of Donetsk Oblast 2014 establishments in Ukraine Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Ukraine Russian-speaking countries and territories 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine Separatism in Ukraine Russian irredentism Russification Russian occupation of Ukraine Organizations designated as terrorist by Ukraine Novorossiya (confederation) Articles containing video clips States and territories established in 2014 War in Donbas Frozen conflict zones Sanctioned due to Russo-Ukrainian War Territorial disputes of Ukraine Republics