Pavel Yuryevich Gubarev (russian: Па́вел Ю́рьевич Гу́барев, ; or Pavlo Yuriyovych Hubariev uk, Павло Юрійович Губарєв; born 10 February 1983) is a Russian activist who proclaimed himself the "People's Governor" of the Donetsk Region at the Regional Assembly on 3 March 2014, after separatists seized the building. Gubarev had earlier declared himself leader 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 in ...

. Since then, he has been sidelined by other separatist leaders and was banned from taking part in the

2014 Donbas parliamentary elections The 2014 Donbas general elections were held on 2 November 2014 by the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, which were at that time both members of the now defunct Novorossiya confederation. These elections also eliminated the post of "People's Governor". Gubarev was not a figure in local politics prior to the beginning of the

2014 pro-Russian conflict 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 ...

. Shortly after declaring himself "People's Governor" on 6 March 2014, Gubarev was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) for "advocating separatism" and "illegal seizure of power". He faced up to ten years in prison. On 7 May 2014, Gubarev was freed in exchange for SBU officers detained earlier by the

Early life

Gubarev gained a degree in history from the

Donetsk National University Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University (Vasyl' Stus DonNU) ( uk, Донецький національний університет імені Василя Стуса, ''Donets’kyi Natsional’nyi Universytet''; russian: Донецкий на ...

, and later became an employee of a Donetsk advertising agency. In 2007, he founded and served as the company director of the "Morozko" company, which supplied hired

Ded Moroz Ded Moroz (russian: Дед Мороз, ; Russian diminutive: russian: Дедушка Мороз, Dedushka Moroz, label=none; sk, Dedo Mráz; pl, Dziadek Mróz) or Morozko (russian: Морозко) is a legendary figure similar to Saint Nicho ...

(Santa Claus) figures in the Donetsk area.

Career and activities

Gubarev was a member of the

Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine The Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine (PSPU) is a banned Pro-Russian National Bolshevik political party in Ukraine led by Nataliya Vitrenko. The party was represented in Ukraine's national parliament between 1998 and 2002. History The p ...

, a pro-Russian party based in the southeast of the country. According to an unnamed acquaintance, Gubarev advocates

Pan-Slavism Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had rule ...

. In earlier years Gubarev was a member of the neo-Nazi

Russian National Unity Russian National Unity (RNU; transcribed Russkoe natsionalnoe edinstvo RNE) or All-Russian civic patriotic movement "Russian National Unity" (russian: Всероссийское общественное патриотическое движен� ...

paramilitary group, that later took part in the

War in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

on the side of pro-Russian forces. Gubarev has publicly given thanks to this group for providing him with military training. In the same interview he said he was not a radical nationalist and described himself as "centre-left". On 1 March 2014, pro-Russian citizens at a meeting in Lenin Square in the center of Donetsk elected Gubarev as governor of the region. From the beginning of the

2014 Crimean crisis In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv ...

, Gubarev led pro-Russian protesters who blockaded and occupied the Donetsk Regional State Administration building. During a press-conference with journalists on 6 March 2014, Gubarev stated that his main goal as the self-proclaimed governor was to declare a referendum on the territorial status of

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 ...

, non-recognition of the new Ukrainian government, and non-recognition of Donetsk governor

Serhiy Taruta Serhiy Oleksiyovych Taruta ( uk, Сергій Олексійович Тарута, rus, Сергей Алексеевич Тарута, r=Sergei Alekseyevich Taruta, born 22 July 1955 in Vynohradne, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian ...

. On 6 March 2014, the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukraini ...

arrested Gubarev. Following his arrest, Gubarev was reportedly taken to Kyiv for detention. He was later charged with wanting to damage "the territorial integrity and independence of the state". On 16 March, a crowd of protesters stormed government buildings in Donetsk demanding Gubarev's release. On 7 May 2014, Gubarev and two other pro-Russian activists were freed in exchange for SBU officers, detained earlier by the

. In October 2014, during a failed assassination attempt on him, Gubarev lost control of his car when it came under gunfire and suffered a head injury. He later regained consciousness and was moved from intensive care to the ordinary ward of the hospital. Gubarev was excluded by the election commission from participating in the

Yasynuvata Raion Yasynuvata Raion ( uk, Ясинуватський район, ) was one of the administrative raions (a ''district'') of Donetsk Oblast, located in southeastern Ukraine. The administrative center of the district was the city of Yasynuvata, whic ...

mayor by the

Donetsk People's Republic 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 en ...

. Following the death of

Alexander Zakharchenko Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko uk, Олекса́ндр Володи́мирович Заха́рченко, translit=Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Zakharchenko (26 June 1976 – 31 August 2018) was a Ukrainian separatist leader who was the he ...

, there were elections in the Donetsk People's Republic on 11 November 2018. In September 2018, Pavel Gubarev went to Moscow and obtained permission to be a candidate for the post of head of the Donetsk People's Republic. Gubarev and supporters collected 15,000 signatures for his nomination papers (the law only requires 10,000 signatures). Gubarev's candidacy displeased

Denis Pushilin Denis Vladimirovich Pushilin (russian: Дени́с Влади́мирович Пуши́лин, ; uk, Денис Володимирович Пушилін, Denys Volodymyrovych Pushylin; born 9 May 1981) is a Russian and Ukrainian politician ...

, who has taken over as head of the Donetsk People's Republic, and pressure has been put on Gubarev. On 29 September 2018, Gubarev's wife, Ekaterina, was arrested and temporarily detained to prevent her attending the Free Donbas party convention so that she was excluded from the party list for the "elections" of the

People's Council of the Donetsk People's Republic The People's Council (russian: Народный Совет, Narodny Sovet), formerly the Supreme Council (russian: Высший Совет, Vysshy Sovet), is the regional parliament of the Donetsk People's Republic, a disputed entity annexed as ...

on 11 November. At the convention, the Free Donbas movement was taken over by supporters of

. After this incident Ekaterina Gubareva left for Rostov-on-Don. In early October 2018, the electoral commission ruled that the signatures on Gubarev's nomination papers were invalid; the authorities in Russia often use this method to exclude candidates. In 2022, Gubarev signed a short-term contract with 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 ...

, as a private, in order to participate in the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. During his service there, he declared in an interview their goal to free from "possession" those who he considers to be Russians, even at the cost of killing them all, which would amount to genocide on Ukrainians.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gubarev, Pavel 1983 births Living people People from Sievierodonetsk Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine politicians Pro-Russian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine Prisoners and detainees of Ukraine Russian nationalists People of the Donetsk People's Republic Donetsk National University alumni Pro-Russian people of the war in Donbas People of Anti-Maidan Heads of government who were later imprisoned Ukrainian collaborators with Russia Russian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions Individuals designated as terrorist by the government of Ukraine