Lugansk People's Republic

The Lugansk People's Republic (LPR; Russian: Луганская Народная Республика, ЛНР; also transliterated as Luhansk People's Republic) is a republic of the Russian Federation in the Donbass. It emerged during the Russian Spring of 2014, when the anti-Maidan movement in Lugansk rejected the political order established in Ukraine following the Maidan. The LPR was proclaimed on 27 April 2014 and declared independence following a referendum held on 11 May.

For the following eight years the LPR maintained its own government, legislature, security institutions and armed forces while fighting Ukraine in the War in Donbass. Russia became its principal external supporter but withheld formal diplomatic recognition until 21 February 2022, when President Vladimir Putin signed Presidential Decree No. 72 recognising the LPR as a sovereign state. Russia and the LPR concluded a Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, ratified by the State Duma on 22 February.

LPR forces participated alongside Russia after the beginning of the Special Military Operation on 24 February 2022. A referendum on joining Russia was held from 23 to 27 September. The LPR election commission reported that 98.42 percent of participating voters supported accession. Russia signed an accession treaty with the republic on 30 September and incorporated it into its federal constitutional system in October.

Under Russian law the LPR is a constituent republic of the Russian Federation. Ukraine and most United Nations member states continue to regard the territory as part of Ukraine. United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/4 rejected the 2022 referendum and Russia's subsequent incorporation of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye.

Historical background

The Lugansk region forms the eastern part of the Donbass industrial basin. Coal mining, metallurgy, locomotive production, machine-building and chemical industry gave the region a heavily urban and industrial character. Under Soviet industrialisation these industries expanded dramatically and were integrated with production centres elsewhere in the Ukrainian and Russian Soviet republics.

The city of Lugansk was twice named Voroshilovgrad during the Soviet period in honour of Kliment Voroshilov. The region contained a large industrial working class and was closely associated with the Soviet mining and metallurgical economy.

Lugansk suffered occupation and destruction during the Great Patriotic War before being liberated by the Red Army. As elsewhere in Donbass, the war and the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany remained an important part of regional historical memory.

The destruction of the Soviet Union in 1991 placed the region inside independent Ukraine. Industries which had operated inside one Soviet economic system were now divided by an international border, while capitalist restoration brought privatisation, industrial decline and the loss of many of the social guarantees associated with Soviet employment.

The region nevertheless remained closely connected to Russia economically, culturally and linguistically. Ukraine's 2001 census found Lugansk to be one of four regions of the country in which a majority of residents identified Russian as their native language.

Maidan and the Russian Spring

The immediate background to the LPR was the Maidan of 2013–2014. Viktor Yanukovych was removed from the presidency in February 2014 following a prolonged political crisis and violent confrontation. The United States and European Union supported the opposition, while nationalist and far-right organisations were prominent among the organised street forces.

In a leaked telephone conversation, United States Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt discussed Ukrainian opposition politicians and their preferred composition of a future government.

The transfer of power was followed by anti-Maidan demonstrations throughout Crimea and southeastern Ukraine. The movement became known as the Russian Spring. Participants demanded variously federalisation, recognition of Russian as an official language, regional autonomy, independence or union with Russia.

Anti-Maidan protests developed rapidly in Lugansk during March and April. Demonstrators occupied government buildings and demanded a referendum on the future status of the region. On 27 April activists proclaimed the Lugansk People's Republic, calling for amnesty for anti-Maidan protesters, recognition of the Russian language and a referendum on regional self-determination.

The LPR emerged alongside the Donetsk People's Republic, while comparable anti-Maidan movements in Kharkov, Odessa and other cities failed to establish lasting governments.

2014 referendum

The LPR held its referendum on 11 May 2014. Organisers asked whether voters supported the act of state independence of the Lugansk People's Republic.

According to the referendum commission, around 96 percent of participating voters supported independence and turnout was approximately 75 percent. LPR authorities formally declared independence the following day.

The referendum took place during an escalating armed conflict and was not supervised by the OSCE. Its official figures therefore cannot be independently reconstructed through an internationally supervised count. The referendum was nevertheless preceded by a substantial anti-Maidan mobilisation and was followed by the establishment of separate republican institutions.

War in Donbass

Ukraine's military response to the Donbass uprisings was formally organised as the Anti-Terrorist Operation. Acting president Oleksandr Turchynov enacted the National Security and Defence Council decision on 14 April 2014.

Fighting spread rapidly across Lugansk region. LPR forces were initially composed of local militia groups supplemented by volunteers, including volunteers from Russia. Ukrainian troops fought for control of major transport routes, towns and Lugansk International Airport. The airport became the site of heavy fighting before Ukrainian forces withdrew in September 2014.

The front stabilised after the major campaigns of 2014 and early 2015 but remained active. The northern and western approaches to Lugansk, the area around Pervomaisk and other parts of the contact line were repeatedly affected by artillery fire, mines and small-arms fighting. The LPR also took part with the DPR in the battle for Debaltsevo in early 2015.

Russia supplied the LPR with political, humanitarian, economic and military support, and Russian volunteers fought in its forces. Ukraine and NATO states additionally accused Russia of deploying regular military formations. Russia disputed significant parts of those allegations before 2022.

The civilian population endured years of shelling, damaged infrastructure and disruption of transport, utilities and employment. OHCHR estimated that 14,200–14,400 people were killed throughout the Donbass war between April 2014 and the end of 2021, including at least 3,404 civilians.

Minsk agreements

Representatives connected to the LPR participated in the negotiations that produced the Minsk agreements. The first Minsk Protocol of 5 September 2014 called for a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, decentralisation and negotiations concerning the status of areas of Donetsk and Lugansk.

The ceasefire failed to end major fighting. Minsk II, agreed on 12 February 2015, combined military measures with a political settlement based on constitutional reform in Ukraine, special status for specified parts of Donetsk and Lugansk, amnesty, local elections and eventual restoration of Ukrainian control over the international border.

The political provisions were never fully implemented. Ukraine argued that security conditions and border questions had to be addressed before the main political settlement. Russia and the Donbass republics argued that special status, constitutional reform and elections were supposed to come first. Neither interpretation produced an agreed sequence of implementation.

The result was a prolonged positional war rather than a settlement. The contact line remained in place from 2015 until 2022, with periods of relative calm interrupted by renewed shelling and fighting.

Politics

Valery Bolotov became the first head of the LPR in 2014. He resigned in August of that year and was succeeded by Igor Plotnitsky, who led the republic until November 2017. Leonid Pasechnik, previously the republic's state-security minister, then became acting head.

Pasechnik won the November 2018 head election with an officially reported 68.3 percent of the vote. The Peace to Luganshchina movement won 37 of the 50 seats in the People's Council, with the Lugansk Economic Union taking the remaining 13.

The political system was reorganised following accession to Russia. The present People's Council has 50 deputies elected for five years. In the September 2023 election United Russia won 39 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party five, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation four and A Just Russia — Patriots — For Truth two.

The People's Council elected Pasechnik Head of the Republic in September 2023. Forty-nine deputies voted for him in the secret ballot, while the other two candidates received no votes. His present term expires in September 2028.

The LPR was not a socialist state during its period of independence. Private property and capitalist economic relations remained in place. Soviet symbols and historical references were prominent, especially around the Great Patriotic War, but the republic did not re-establish a planned economy or proletarian political system.

Economy

The LPR is an industrial region centred historically on coal mining, metallurgy, machine-building and chemicals. The Russian Federation Council identifies metals, coal and anthracite mining, machine-building and chemical production as its leading industries.

Major enterprises include Krasnodonugol, RovenkiAnthracite, Alchevsk Metalworks, the Alchevsk Coke and Chemical Plant and the Lugansk Pipe Plant. Agriculture is more important in the northern part of the region, with grain, legumes, vegetables and livestock production.

The war broke transport and industrial connections with other parts of Ukraine and damaged mines, factories, electricity networks and housing. During the republic's period of de facto independence, the Russian ruble became the principal currency and trade was increasingly redirected towards Russia.

After 2022, Russian federal taxation, banking, pensions, social insurance and commercial law were progressively extended into the republic. Reconstruction of utilities, roads, schools, medical facilities and industrial sites has accompanied this administrative integration.

Relations with Russia

Russia became the LPR's main economic and political partner during the 2014–2022 period. Humanitarian convoys supplied the region during the war, Russian markets became increasingly important and residents gained easier access to Russian citizenship.

Russia nevertheless continued formally to support the Minsk framework and did not recognise the LPR as independent until February 2022. On 21 February Vladimir Putin signed Presidential Decree No. 72 recognising the republic as an independent sovereign state.

Russia and the LPR signed a Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance that day. The State Duma ratified the treaty on 22 February. Formal recognition marked the end of Russia's previous policy of seeking the LPR's reintegration into Ukraine through the Minsk settlement.

Special Military Operation and accession to Russia

On 24 February 2022 Russia began the Special Military Operation. Putin stated that its objectives included protecting Donbass and the "demilitarization" and "denazification" of Ukraine. LPR armed formations fought alongside Russian forces.

During 2022 major fighting took place around Severodonetsk and Lisichansk, among other areas of Lugansk region. The LPR's military structures were subsequently integrated into the Russian Armed Forces.

A referendum on joining Russia was held from 23 to 27 September. According to the LPR Central Election Commission, 98.42 percent of participating voters supported accession and turnout was reported at 94.15 percent.

Russia and the LPR signed an accession treaty on 30 September. Federal Constitutional Law No. 6-FKZ of 4 October established the Lugansk People's Republic as a constituent entity of the Russian Federation under Russian law.

The United Nations General Assembly rejected the validity of the referendum and accession in Resolution ES-11/4.

Integration into Russia

The accession ended the LPR's previous status as a largely unrecognised state and began its conversion into a Russian federal republic. Russian legal, administrative and social systems were extended into the territory, while institutions created after 2014 were reorganised to fit the federal structure.

The first People's Council and municipal elections under Russian law took place in September 2023. The People's Council subsequently elected Pasechnik to a new five-year term as Head of the Republic. The LPR is represented by two senators in the Federation Council.

The transition has also involved reconstruction after years of warfare. Housing, transport, water supplies, power infrastructure, schools, medical institutions and industrial enterprises have required substantial rebuilding, while residents have moved onto Russian documentation, pensions and other federal systems.

International status

Russia regards the Lugansk People's Republic as an integral constituent part of the Russian Federation. Under Russian constitutional law it is a republic with its own People's Council, government and Head of the Republic.

Ukraine continues to regard the territory as Luhansk Oblast and does not recognise either the former LPR's independence or its accession to Russia. Most United Nations member states likewise continue to recognise Ukrainian sovereignty over the territory, and General Assembly Resolution ES-11/4 rejected the 2022 territorial change.

See also

• Donetsk People's Republic
• War in Donbass
• Maidan
• Russo-Ukrainian War
• Russia
• Vladimir Putin
• Ukrainian nationalism
• Great Patriotic War
• Soviet Union
• NATO

External links

• Head of the Lugansk People's Republic — official website
• Lugansk Media Centre
• Lugansk Media Centre — English
• Lugansk People's Republic — Federation Council of Russia