Donetsk People's Republic

The Donetsk People's Republic (Russian: Донецкая Народная Республика, tr. Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, IPA: [dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə]; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, Russian: ДНР) is an unrecognised republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, with its capital in Donetsk. The DPR was created by militarily-armed Russian-backed separatists in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed by Russia in 2022. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity in 2014, pro-Russian unrest erupted in the eastern part of the country. Shortly thereafter, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, while the armed separatists seized government buildings and proclaimed the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) as independent states, which received no international recognition from United Nations member states before 2022. This sparked the War in Donbas, part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. On 21 February 2022, Russia recognised the DPR and LPR as sovereign states. Three days later, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, partially under the pretext of protecting the republics. Russian forces captured more of Donetsk Oblast, which became part of the DPR. In September 2022, Russia announced the annexation of the DPR and other occupied territories, following disputed referendums. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling on countries not to recognise what it called the "attempted illegal annexation" and demanded that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw". The Head of the Donetsk People's Republic is Denis Pushilin, and its parliament is the People's Council. The ideology of the DPR is said to have been shaped by right-wing Russian nationalism, neo-imperialism and Orthodox fundamentalism. Russian far-right groups played an important role among the separatists, especially at the beginning. Organizations such as the United Nations Human Rights Office and Human Rights Watch have reported human rights abuses in the DPR, including internment, torture, extrajudicial killings, forced conscription, as well as political and media repression. The Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia has also been held responsible for war crimes, among them the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Ukraine views the DPR and LPR as terrorist organisations. The DPR and LPR are sometimes described as puppet states of Russia during their periods of nominal independence. From Wikipedia