Russian people's militias in Ukraine

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 the Russo-Ukrainian War. During the Donbas War (2014–2022), they were affiliated with the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). They supported the Russian military during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In September 2022, Russia annexed the DPR and LPR, and the paramilitaries are being integrated into the Russian military. They are designated as terrorist groups by the Government of Ukraine.

The separatist paramilitaries were formed during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The Donbas People's Militia was formed in March 2014 by Pavel Gubarev, who proclaimed himself "People's Governor" of Donetsk Oblast, while the Army of the South-East was formed in April in Luhansk Oblast. The Donbas War began in April 2014 after these groups seized Ukrainian government buildings in the Donbas, leading the Ukrainian government to launch its Anti-Terrorist Operation against them. During the Donbas War, Russian far-right groups were heavily involved in recruiting for the separatists, and many far-right activists joined them and formed their own volunteer units. The Russian separatists have been held responsible for war crimes, among them the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and the Mariupol rocket attacks, which they have denied.

The separatist paramilitaries were supported by, and were proxies of, the Russian Armed Forces.
Ukraine conflict: Deadly flare-up on eastern front line
BBC News (18 February 2020) Ukraine, the United States, and some analysts consider them to be under the command of Russia's 8th Combined Arms Army. Although the Russian government often denied direct involvement, saying their soldiers were there voluntarily, some of them had been captured with documents that said otherwise. The separatists admitted receiving supplies from Russia and being trained there. BBC reported that separatist ranks are composed of thousands of Russian citizens. DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko claimed in August 2014 that there were around 3,000 to 4,000 Russian volunteers fighting for his militia, which included serving and retired Russian Army servicemen. From September 2015, it was alleged that the separatist units, at the battalion level and up, have been acting under direct command of Russian Army officers.

In September 2014, the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Militias became the 1st Army Corps and 2nd Army Corps of the United Armed Forces of Novorossiya (russian: Объединённые Вооруженные Силы Новороссии; acronym NAF), which was to be the army of the proposed Novorossiya (New Russia) political union. The Novorossiya project was suspended in May 2015 due to infighting, but the two separatist armies would still operate in an unified manner.

Although called "militias", shortly before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the separatist republics began forced conscription of men to fight for Russia. The role of Donbas conscripts by Russian forces has been described as "cannon fodder", by November the reported casualty rate of the Separatist forces were to be almost 50% according to official Separatist sources and was presumed to be possibly higher.

History

On 3 March 2014, during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, groups of protesters took control of the regional administration building in Donetsk. An armed opposition group named the Donbas People's Militia, led by Pavel Gubarev, participated. This happened when 11 Ukrainian cities with significant populations of ethnic Russians erupted in demonstrations against the new Ukrainian government. On 6 April 2014, 2,000 pro-Russian protesters rallied outside the regional administration building. On the same day, groups of protesters in Eastern Ukraine stormed the regional administration building in Kharkiv, and the SBU headquarters in Luhansk. The groups created a people's council and demanded a referendum like the one held in Crimea. Within a few days, several government buildings in cities such as Kramatorsk and Sloviansk were also stormed. On 12 April, the supporters of the Donetsk People's Republic and members of Donbas People's Militia set up checkpoints and barricades in Sloviansk. The same day, former members of the Donetsk " Berkut" unit joined the ranks of the Donbas People's Militia.

On 13 April, the newly established Ukrainian government gave the separatists a deadline to disarm or face a "full-scale anti-terrorist campaign" in the region. Later that day, the first reports came in of fighting between the people's militia and Ukrainian troops near Sloviansk, with casualties on both sides. On 14 April, members of the Donbas People's Militia blocked Ukrainian military KrAZ trucks armed with Grad missiles from entering the city.
On 15 April, a full scale " Anti-Terrorist Operation" was launched by the Ukrainian government with aim of restoring their authority over the areas seized by the militia.

On 16 April, the militia entered Sloviansk with six BMD airborne amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicles they had obtained from elements of the 25th Airborne Brigade who had switched allegiance. A Ukrainian military column was disarmed after the vehicles were blockaded by locals in Kramatorsk. The militia also received a 2S9 "Nona-S" self-propelled 120 mm mortar. On April 20, an unidentified armed group in civilian clothes attacked a militia checkpoint at the entrance to the city of Sloviansk. Three attackers and three members of the militia were killed. On May 14, eight members of the militia seized an IMR armored vehicle from Novokramatorsky Mashinostroitelny Zavod.

On May 15, the Donbas People's Militia sent an ultimatum to Kiev. They demanded the withdrawal of all Ukrainian troops from Donetsk oblast. On May 17, several members of the militia seized two BRDM unarmed armored vehicles from Severodonetsk and Lysychansk ( Luhansk Oblast) On May 22, the Federal State of Novorossiya was declared. On May 23, several members of the people's militia seized another BRDM-RKh unarmed armored vehicle from Loskutovka ( Luhansk Oblast)

In July 2014, the estimated manpower of the separatists was around 10,000–20,000.Ukraine's next battle is Donetsk, but no bombs, please
''USA Today''. 12 July 2014.

The militia were widely suspected to have been involved in the downing of a civilian airliner, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, on 17 July 2014.

On August 8, the militia claimed that after battles near the Russian border, they had captured 67 pieces of equipment in varying conditions (serviceable equipment without ammunition and fuel, with faults, damaged in battle and completely unusable), including 18 "Grad" multiple rocket launching systems, 15 tanks and armored personnel carriers, howitzers, MANPADS, etc. As of August 12, the militia had at least 200 armored vehicles.

The months of July and early August were disastrous for the militias, with many analysts saying they were on the verge of defeat, before a sudden counteroffensive, which the Ukrainian government said was supported by Russian troops, encircled thousands of Ukrainian troops and forced them into a retreat. The militias soon re-captured several strategic positions such as Savur-Mohyla and Luhansk International Airport. The armies of both the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) merged on 16 September 2014 to form the "United Armed Forces of Novorossiya". It was formed under the command of Lieutenant General Ivan Korsun as commander-in-chief.

On 2 February 2015, Head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, announced that there would be a general mobilization in the DPR of 10,000 volunteers, and he aimed to eventually expand the NAF to 100,000 soldiers.

In March 2015, the estimated manpower of the separatists rose to 30,000–35,000 personnel.

On 20 May 2015 the leadership of the Federal State of Novorossiya announced the termination of the confederation 'project' but the United Armed Forces was retained as the joint armed service of the DPR and LPR.Euan MacDonald: Divide and re-conquer?
Kyiv Post (11 June 2016)

The Ukrainian government in mid-2015 claimed there were about 42,500 fighters on the separatists' side, which include 9,000 Russian soldiers.

2022 Russian invasion

During the prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republic started a process of mass mobilization of its population in order to build an army for the Russian invasion. As there weren't enough volunteers in the separatist army, and the Russian government wasn't willing to start mobilization of its own population, men from ages 18 until 65 from any background were conscripted to form the separatist army. Groups of DPR/LPR officers roamed the streets searching for men at the age range, arresting and sending to conscription offices any they found. Most of the Donbas conscripts are unexperienced, received little-to-no training and were badly equipped, and suffered from morale issues and heavy casulties. The role of Donbas conscripts by Russian forces has been described as "cannon fodder". There were reports of conscipts being issued antiquated equipment such as World War I-era Mosin–Nagant rifles and the early Cold War-era T-62 tanks. By November, the DPR ombudsman reported that the DPR militia suffered almost 20,000 casualties (both wounded in action and killed in action), translating into a staggering 50% casualty rate, with outside observers believing it could possibly be higher.
The mass conscription has been considered a war crime by some, as the Article 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention bans the forceful conscription of soldiers from occupied territory, but Russian authorities claimed they are part of the independent sovereign nations of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic.

After the leaders of the Russian proxy republics signed treaties of annexation with the Russian president on September 30, 2022, the Russian State Duma approved legislation on October 3 mandating the integration of the "people's militias" into the Russian military, backdated to the date of annexation. Upon the "annexation" of Ukrainian territories in September 2022, Russian occupation officials began forcibly conscripting Ukrainian men in occupied parts of Kherson oblast, and were reportedly ready to mobilize 3,000 in occupied Zaporizhzhia oblast.

Structure

The militias consist of different armed groups, sworn to the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic. Militant groups which refused to do so were disarmed as gangs in the DPR. Other groups are autonomous forces.

According to '' Ukrainskyi Tyzhden'', a Donetsk Operative Command set up in May 2016 by Russia coordinates the military efforts of the Donetsk People's Republic. The tank battalions they claim Russia can deploy include the DPR Diesel Battalion, and LPR August Battalion. Euromaidan Press reported in September 2018 that the United Armed Forces of Novorossiya comprised two army corps: the 1st Corps, called the "People's Militia of the DNR" and the 2nd Corps, called "People's Militia of the LNR".Who is who in the Kremlin proxy "Luhansk People's Republic"
Euromaidan Press (7 September 2018)

On 28 December 2018 commander of the Ukrainian Navy Ihor Voronchenko claimed that the DPR had created a flotilla stationed at Novoazovsk