Lugansk People's Republic

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Current flag of the Lugansk People's Republic.
Occupation of a building by Ukrainian security forces in Luhansk

The People's Republic of Lugansk , and Luhansk People's Republic ( Russian Луганская народная республика Luganskaja narodnaya respublika , Ukrainian Луганська народна республіка Luhanska narodna respublika ), is since April 2014 proclaimed republic in eastern Ukraine without international recognition. From August 2014 to November 2017, Igor Plotnitsky was the head . Leonid Passetschnik was appointed as his successor .

history

Proclamation of the Lugansk People's Republic after the illegal referendum in eastern Ukraine by Valery Bolotov on May 12, 2014
An armed separatist from the Lugansk People's Republic in June 2014

The Lugansk People's Republic was proclaimed on April 28, 2014 at the beginning of the war in Ukraine by a group of several hundred separatists in the Luhansk Oblast . The Chairman of the Joint Staff of Southeast Ukraine said that during the meeting to resolve the secession, only a small number of those present voted for the proclamation of the republic. Armed men then occupied numerous buildings in Luhansk Oblast.

On May 11, 2014, a referendum on “state independence” took place in parts of the area , in which, according to the self-appointed electoral commission, with 81% voter turnout, a majority of 96% voted in favor of independence from Ukraine. On the basis of this questioning, which did not meet any democratic principles, the separatists declared the Lugansk People's Republic to be “independent” on May 12, 2014.

The Ukrainian interim government , the European Union and the USA described the referendum as "illegal". On June 18, 2014, the de facto regime of South Ossetia (part of Georgia under international law ), which is only recognized by a few states, was the only government to officially recognize the independence of the Luhansk People's Republic. On July 25, 2014, the Luhansk People's Republic was placed on the list of sanctions of the European Union because of the illegal referendum, the violation of Ukrainian constitutional law and thus international law and the further undermining of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine .

Representatives of the People's Republics of Lugansk and Donetsk formed a union of the two republics to form New Russia on May 24, 2014 in Donetsk and signed a corresponding document at a congress in Donetsk.

On July 28th, the UNHCHR reported the total collapse of law and order, of a terrorist rule by the armed groups over the population of eastern Ukraine with deprivation of liberty, kidnappings, torture and executions. The November report mentioned further mass executions, forced labor, sexual violence and the ban on the Ukrainian language in schools.

The Lugansk People's Republic, represented by Igor W. Plotnitsky , took part in the negotiations of the OSCE Contact Group . On September 5, 2014, an armistice with Ukraine was announced in Minsk , which at best was observed sporadically.

Contrary to the efforts of the OSCE Contact Group, presidential and parliamentary elections were held on November 2nd. The OSCE ruled out the observation of the election as it clearly violated the Minsk peace plan and consequently called the process “so-called elections”. This opinion was shared by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose address and explanations also consistently placed the word “elections” in quotation marks (indicated by gestures during the speech) . Igor Plotnitsky is to lead the People's Republic of Lugansk as the new and old "head of the republic", according to the relevant statements.

The EU and the US called the elections illegal and illegitimate and, like Ukraine, do not recognize the result. Russia did not recognize the election either, only respected it . The Ukrainian December 7th date for local elections was announced in mid-September: the peace plan had provided for local elections under Ukrainian law, not the election of a “president”.

The former commander of the "Landwehr", who bears the combat name "Strelkow" and behind whom the Russian secret service colonel Igor Girkin hid, confirmed that it was not a "Landwehr" made up of citizens of the region, but the "regular army" of Russia who are fighting there.

Another "electoral farce" (NZZ) condemned internationally and condemned by the OSCE took place in November 2018, but the Russian representative at the Minsk negotiations said that according to the Minsk Agreement, "only local elections" were forbidden; that is not what the determination of a leader is about. In his opinion, this does not apply even to a “parliamentary election”. Passetschnik, who had replaced Plotnitski in 2017, won the "election" with 61 percent, while other candidates were prevented from taking part and only two selected parties were allowed to participate in the election of the "Supreme Soviet", the "Parliament".

economy

Retail and wholesale have collapsed as a result of the fighting. The area is excluded from international payments. The backward population - around half of the pre-war period according to estimates by Western institutions - is dependent on self-sufficiency. Since the beginning of 2016, the Russian government has been transferring pensions to the Lugansk region, although these are below the pre-war level. Basic drugs, including insulin and psychotropic drugs, were missing in the hospitals .

Under the umbrella of the Trilateral Contact Group agreed in Minsk , the Ministry of Energy in Kiev and the leadership of the unrecognized People's Republic are trying to regulate the export of coal from the Lugansk mines for Ukrainian industry. The oligarch Rinat Akhmetov , who has retired to Kiev will pay for information Western experts up to 35,000 miners in the areas of Lugansk and Donetsk still the content and is involved in the export business. However, production has fallen far below the pre-war level, and many mines are flooded and mined.

Acceptance of LNR passes

The internationally unrecognized "People's Republic of Lugansk" has been issuing its own passports since mid-2015. LNR passports are de facto recognized by Russia. Holders of such a passport are allowed to enter and reside in Russia, as well as to apply to Russian universities. School certificates of the Lugansk and Donetsk "People's Republic" are u. a. accepted by Lomonosov University Moscow and Saint Petersburg State University , as the rectors of these universities declared in June 2015. The pass can be used to book flights with Russian airlines. To the RBK editorial team confirmed u. a. The S7 Airlines and the Rostov-on-Don airport that passes the LNR and DNR are accepted. With the pass you can also use all lines of the state railway company Rossijskije schelesnyje dorogi . According to the legal scholar Clif Burns, the recognition of passports from the "People's Republics" is a violation of Russia's sovereignty of Ukraine.

On February 18, 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree officially recognizing the passports and other papers of the “People's Republics” of Donetsk and Lugansk as valid. Russia is thereby violating the Minsk Agreement and its goal of the full territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. According to Oleksandr Turchynov , Putin's decree means that Russia recognizes the “people's republics”. The German government also condemned Putin's decree. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert confirmed that the move would undermine Ukraine's unity. Russian experts saw Putin's decree as the beginning of a secession of the territories from Ukraine. The OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said that Putin's decision complicates the implementation of the Minsk agreements and on the situation in Abkhazia remember, an occupied territory, but which is not recognized by Russia of the international community as an independent state.

Financing through labor camps

According to an eastern Ukrainian human rights group, a network of labor camps that “evoke memories of the Soviet gulags ” generates € 300,000 to € 500,000 a month in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Around 10,000 prison inmates are said to be forced to do heavy work there.

Web links

Commons : Lugansk People's Republic  - collection of images
Wiktionary: Lugansk People's Republic  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
  • Sabine Fischer: The Donbas conflict. Clashing narratives and interests, difficult peace process. SWP study, February 2019. doi: 10.18449 / 2019S03 , ( PDF ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://lug-info.com/documents/one/4
  2. ^ Igor Plotnitsky is the new Prime Minister of the "Lugansk People's Republic". Voice of Russia , August 21, 2014, accessed September 10, 2014 .
  3. ^ New head of the republic in Luhansk. taz , November 26, 2017, accessed on September 2, 2018 .
  4. ^ “Small part for the proclamation of the republic” according to lenta.ru, translation Kaliningrad-domizil
  5. ↑ Russia respects referendum. Die Welt , accessed on May 13, 2014 .
  6. ↑ https://www.zeit.de/news/2014-05/11/konfligte-separatisten-haben-referendum-in-ostukraine-durch-11180602
  7. ↑ Ridiculous but extremely dangerous. Tages-Anzeiger , accessed on May 13, 2014 .
  8. ↑ East of Ukraine votes on secession from Kiev. Transitional government calls referendum "criminal farce". Die Welt , May 11, 2014, accessed on May 11, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Crisis in Ukraine: EU does not recognize “alleged referendums”. In: Münchner Merkur . May 11, 2014, accessed May 12, 2014 .
  10. ↑ "Признать Луганскую Народную Республику в качестве суверенного независимого госnoiдарnubliki" Ukas "O prisubliki". Administrazija Presidenta Respubliki Juschnaja Ossetija, June 18, 2014, accessed on June 19, 2014 .
  11. ↑ Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 810/2014 of the Council of 25 July 2014 implementing the Regulation (EU) No. 269/2014 of the Council on restrictive measures in the face of acts that undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine or threaten . In: Official Journal of the European Union .
  12. ↑ Korrespondent.net : Донецкая и Луганская народные республики объединились в Новороссию
  13. ↑ UNHCHR declaration on July 28, 2014: A total breakdown of law and order and a reign of fear and terror have been inflicted by armed groups on the population of eastern Ukraine. The report documents how these armed groups continue to abduct, detain, torture and execute people kept as hostages in order to intimidate and "to exercise their power over the population in raw and brutal ways."
  14. ↑ a b Ukraine death toll rises to more than 4,300 despite ceasefire - UN , Reuters, November 20, 2014
  15. ↑ OSCE warns against holding planned elections in eastern Ukraine , Aargauer Zeitung, November 1, 2014
  16. ^ Election farce in eastern Ukraine - The blinded observers of Donetsk , n-tv, November 2, 2014
  17. ↑ So-called elections not in line with Minsk Protocol, says OSCE Chair, calling for enhanced efforts and dialogue to implement all commitments , OSCE, October 31, 2014
  18. ↑ Address by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - put “elections” in quotation marks OCZE, November 4, 2014
  19. ↑ Ukraine: Ban deplores planned holding of November 'elections' by rebel groups , UNO News Center, October 29, 2014
  20. ^ Office of the Spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Photo of the quotation marks from Ban Ki-moon , Nov. 4, 2014
  21. ↑ The ballot box under obscure observation ( memento of November 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), ARD, November 2, 2014
  22. ^ Eastern Ukraine: An election result as in Real Socialism SPON of November 3, 2014, accessed on November 3, 2014
  23. ^ "EU calls east Ukraine vote obstacle to peace, won't recognize it" Reuters of November 2, 2014, accessed on November 2, 2014
  24. ↑ Thomas Grove and Richard Balmforth: "Ukraine crisis deepens after rebel vote in east" Reuters of November 3, 2014, accessed on November 3, 2014
  25. ^ The Kremlin does not recognize the elections but "respects" them ( Memento of November 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); on tvi.ua on November 7, 2014, accessed on November 7, 2014
  26. ↑ Separatist elections have no legitimacy Website of the FDP portal liberal, October 31, 2014
  27. ^ Donetsk and Luhansk: Eastern Ukrainian rebels call their own elections , Spiegel, September 23, 2014
  28. ↑ You have to keep collecting the hotheads , Tages-Anzeiger, December 4, 2014; The “so-called elections of November 2, which were held by the separatists, were a clear violation of the provisions of the Minsk Agreement that were specially agreed for elections.”
  29. ^ Former separatist criticizes pro-Russian forces, in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 14, 2017, p. 5
  30. ↑ Russia consolidates its control over the Donbass , NZZ , November 13, 2018, page 3, title of the print edition
  31. ↑ Konrad Schuller, Im Schattenreich der Hybridkrieger, in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , June 9, 2016, p. 3.
  32. ↑ Cathrin Kahlweit, Black Pages of Coal, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 20, 2016, p. 7.
  33. ↑ Владимир Дергачев, Вера Холмогорова, Тимофей Дзядко: Расследование РБК: как в России признали паспорта ДНР и ЛНР ( RBK searches: As in Russia passes the DNR and LNR were recognized ). In: RBK , February 2, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Moscow is trying to move red lines" , MDR, February 27, 2017
  35. ↑ Russia now recognizes Ukrainian rebel documents, passports . In: The Washington Post , February 18, 2017.
    Moscow recognizes the passports issued by the separatists in eastern Ukraine ( memento of February 23, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). In: Zeit Online , February 18, 2017.
  36. ↑ Berlin criticizes Putin's decree for separatist passports . In: Spiegel Online , February 20, 2017.
  37. ↑ Steve Gutterman: Interview: OSCE Says Russian Move Undermines Ukraine Peace Efforts . In: Radio Free Europe , February 19, 2017.
  38. ^ Penal camps in eastern Ukraine: Forced labor financing model ( Memento from February 15, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). Report by Deutschlandradio on July 13, 2017