Donetsk People's Republic

The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) materialized after the fall of President Viktor Yanukovych and the Ukraine-Crimea crisis. Activists in Donetsk province, where half the population was ethnically Russian, rejected the new regime in Kyiv, taking over government buildings and raiding police stations for weapons. DPR militias soon gained control of most of the province. Ukrainian security forces were cautious about attacking DPR positions, as Russia sent 40,000 troops to the border to protect ethnic Russians. Kyiv accused Russia of aiding the rebels with equipment and tactical support. After a civilian airliner was shot down over DPR-controlled territory, global attention focused on Russia's role in the conflict. The top two DPR leaders—Alexander Boroday and Colonel Igor Girkin, both Russian citizens—were replaced by figures born in Ukraine. By September 2014, government forces had retaken nearly all of Donetsk province except for the capital. Despite a cease-fire, sporadic fighting continued as DPR leadership rejected any resolution short of complete independence. On February 21, 2022, Russia recognized the DPR as a sovereign state. Then, on February 24, 2022, Russia began a military invasion of Ukraine.

Territory: Donetsk province (oblast), Ukraine.

Political Orientation: Pro-Russian nationalism.

Founded: April 7, 2014.

Stated Goal: Independence from Ukraine and close ties to Russia.

Alliances: Luhansk People's Republic, under the Novorossiya confederation.

Key Figures

  • Alexander Zakharchenko replaced Moscow-born Alexander Boroday as DPR prime minister in early August 2014. Previously, Zakharchenko was the DPR's commandant in Donetsk city and headed a militia of 1,000 fighters. Before the uprising, he led Oplot (Stronghold), a fraternal group organized in 2010 to preserve Soviet military traditions and oppose "fascism" (the pro-West political movement). Boroday remained deputy prime minister under Zakharchenko. In 2018, Zakharchenko was killed in a targeted bombing.
  • Vladimir Pashkov became the prime minister of the DPR in 2020.
  • Vladimir Kononov became DPR defense minister in mid-August 2014, replacing Moscow-born Igor Girkin (also known as Strelkov). Boroday announced the selection of the new defense minister, a militia leader who used the nom de guerre Tsar and claimed the rank of lieutenant colonel. Kononov was born in Donetsk.
  • Lieutenant General Vladimir Antyufeyev, born in Novosibirsk, Russia, became deputy prime minister in charge of state security in early July 2014. He transferred from a similar position in Transnistria, a rebel mini-state in Moldova, bringing a team of security specialists. Antyufeyev headed a notorious police unit in Latvia in 1990-1991.

Key Events

  • February 2014—Russia annexes the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.
  • April 2014—Following the annexation of Crimea, pro-Russian demonstrators occupying government buildings proclaimed the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
  • May 2014—DPR holds a referendum on independence on May 11, then affiliates with Novorossiya on May 24.
  • June 2014—Pro-Russian militias armed with tanks and artillery control most of Donetsk province.
  • July 2014—Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is shot down by a missile over DPR-held territory.
  • August 2014—Russian-born DPR top leaders step aside in favor of native Ukrainians.
  • September 2014—Ukraine offers "special status" for DPR territory, but rebels insist on independence.
  • March 2021—Russia begins massing troops along the Russia-Ukraine border.
  • February 2022—Russia officially recognizes the DPR as a sovereign Russian state on February 21, then Russia invades Ukraine on February 24. By September, Russia had annexed the DPR.
  • September 2023—In violation of international law, elections were held in Russian-occupied Ukraine, including DPR.

Status

In October 2014, the territory held by the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) had shrunk to the city of Donetsk and areas to the east. Violations of the September 5 cease-fire occurred daily. The most intense fighting centered on the Donetsk airport, a strategic supply point held by Ukrainian government forces.

An assassination attempt against Pavel Gubarev, an influential figure in the Novorossiya movement, left him in a coma in mid-October 2014. It was unclear whether the attack reflected dissension among Ukrainian separatists. Gubarev was returning from the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don when gunmen opened fire, causing his car to crash.

Background

The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is the larger of two rebel governments that arose in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region in the spring of 2014 following the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych. The Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) is allied with its Donetsk counterpart but has drawn less attention. Donetsk is the more influential province—being more populous and industrialized—and the DPR has given more communiques and interviews to the media.

Leaders and members of the DPR came from various predecessor organizations, including patriotic, military, and sports clubs with a pro-Russian slant. The tension between the pro-Russian East and Euro-friendly West is constant in Ukrainian politics. In January and February 2014, pro-Russian groups sent members to Kyiv to engage in street fighting against pro-West demonstrators. The group known as Oplot, self-described as "Ukraine's first fight club," was accused of kidnapping pro-West leader Dmytro Bulatov and cutting off part of his ear. Oplot, meaning "stronghold," is also the model name of a battle tank manufactured in eastern Ukraine.

After the Ukrainian parliament established a new pro-West government in February 2014, pro-Russian protesters seized government buildings in Donetsk, Luhansk, and other cities of eastern Ukraine. Early on, protest leader Pavel Gubarev declared himself "governor" of a "Donetsk People's Republic." The rebel government was announced on April 7, 2014. In mid-May, the DPR named Alexander Boroday as its prime minister. Reportedly, Boroday played a role in the March referendum in Crimea that led to its annexation by Russia. In Donetsk, Boroday said he was concerned about Russia acting as a private individual to support the fledgling DPR.

Allied Militias

Militias supporting the DPR took control of a dozen cities and towns in Donetsk province in April 2014. The fighters were armed with light infantry weapons. The militias soon acquired tanks and artillery, which they said were captured from Ukrainian military installations. On April 16, a crowd of civilians persuaded a column of government troops to surrender six armored vehicles on the road to Sloviansk. The Ukrainian government said Russian forces across the border were supporting the militias with equipment, artillery fire, aerial intelligence, and new fighters.

Colonel Igor Girkin, formerly an intelligence officer in the Russian army, emerged as the overall commander of DPR forces, numbering 15,000 or more. It is unclear how many were volunteers who crossed the border from western Russia. Several militias operated autonomously within their assigned zones.

  • Oplot (Stronghold), headed by future Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko, held Donetsk city with 1,000 fighters.
  • The Sloviansk brigade, commanded by Girkin, won a reputation as heroes in heavy fighting around that city.
  • The Vostok (East) battalion, under Major Alexander Khodakovsky (head of Ukraine's state security until Yanukovych fell), included Chechen veterans from Russia's Second Chechen War.
  • The Horlivka militia suffered heavy losses as government troops retook the city in July. Lieutenant Colonel Igor Bezler escaped to Russia.
  • The Prizrak (Ghost) battalion, assigned to the Luhansk People's Republic, was commanded by Alexei Mozgovoy, who was personally loyal to Girkin and swore to carry on with guerrilla warfare for Novorossiya if necessary. Mozgovoy was killed in 2015.

Crash of MH17 and New Leadership

On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed about forty miles east of Donetsk, killing the 298 people aboard, many Dutch citizens. The DPR denied responsibility, but early reports indicated Igor Girkin had boasted on the Russian social media site VKontakte of shooting down a transport plane, and photographs showed a high-altitude missile launcher leaving the area on the road to Russia. Global condemnation—mainly from Europe, where support for sanctions against Moscow had been softening—put Russia and the DPR on the defensive. After initial resistance, the DPR agreed to cooperate with international crash investigators. However, fighting intensified as Ukrainian government troops escalated operations while Russian forces stood down.

In August 2014, Alexander Boroday returned from a trip to Russia and announced the time for a native Ukrainian to take over as DPR leader. The new prime minister, Oplot militia commander Alexander Zakharchenko, called for a cease-fire to allow food and other humanitarian aid to be delivered to eastern Ukraine. A convoy of trucks loaded with relief supplies departed Moscow and crossed into Ukraine, pushing past Ukrainian inspectors at the border. Zakharchenko emphasized that the humanitarian cease-fire was not a preliminary to surrender. On August 24, Ukraine's independence day, the DPR mocked celebrations in Kyiv with a parade of captured soldiers in Donetsk.

In early September 2014, negotiations in Minsk, Belarus, led to an exchange of prisoners and a cease-fire. At the same time, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced a plan to grant amnesty and special status to rebel-held areas as a step toward autonomy. Zakharchenko and individual militia commanders rejected this proposal as a path to peace, insisting the DPR would determine its fate. The cease-fire generally held through September and into October, although local violations were frequent. The DPR said it could not guarantee the safety of drone aircraft sent to monitor the cease-fire by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Russia began massing troops along the Donbas region of the Russia-Ukraine border starting in March 2021. On February 21, 2022, Russia officially recognized the DPR and LPR as sovereign states and stationed troops in the DPR and LPR-held regions of Donbas. The Minsk agreements were declared void by President Vladimir Putin, and on February 24, Russia began what it called a special military operation—the invasion of Ukraine. More than 30,000 individuals were killed in the invasion, and many more were kidnapped by Russia to be used in the invasion, including children. Russia maintained they were protecting the citizens of Donbas from genocide, but Donbas citizens and most of the world rejected this claim. Russian officials were appointed as prime ministers and cabinet leaders in July 2022. Despite objections by the United Nations, Russia's annexation stood. In 2023, President Putin marked the first anniversary of the Donbas invasion, saying, "I congratulate you on the occasion of the Day of Reunification of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions with Russia." Fighting continued in the region as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Ukranian force's counteroffensive regained modest territory.

Bibliography

"Address on Day of Reunification of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Lugansk People’s Republic and the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions with Russia." Kremlin: President of Russia, 30 Sept. 2023, en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/72403. Accessed 5 Oct. 2023.

"Crisis in Ukraine: Ukraine Unveils 'Special Status' for Eastern Part of Country and Grants Amnesty to Separatists." Political Intelligence Briefing, 24, Sept. 2014, p. 20-27. search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=98585922&site=ehost

Marples, David R. The War in Ukraine's Donbas: Origins Contexts and the Future. Central European University Press, 2022.

Ramzy, Austin. "The Invasion of Ukraine: How Russia Attacked and What Happens Next." The New York Times, 24 Feb. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/world/europe/why-russia-attacked-ukraine.html. Accessed 24 Feb. 2022.

Rotar, Igor. "The Kremlin 'Specialist for Creating New Independent States' Moves to Eastern Ukraine." Eurasia Daily Monitor, vol. 11, no. 132, 21 July 2014, p. 3-4. search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=98369026&site=ehost

Socor, Vladimir. "Strelkov/Girkin Demoted, Transnistrian Siloviki Strengthened in 'Donetsk People's Republic.'" Eurasia Daily Monitor, vol. 11, no. 151, 15 Aug. 2014, p. 1-3. search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=98369073&site=ehost

Woehrel, Steven. "Ukraine: Current Issues and US Policy." Congressional Research Service Report, 20 May 2014, p. 21. search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=96889198&site=ehost