The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) are two regions that broke away from Ukraine when they were initially declared by Russian separatists to be independent sovereign states during the pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine in April 2014. Their secession occurred just one month after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and triggered the War in Donbas. Both separatist movements received support from Russia, but their declarations of independence gained only limited international recognition. In September 2022, Russia annexed the DPR and the LPR, incorporating both of them as Russian republics with no sovereignty.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian government has classified Russian separatism as a terrorist movement. In addition to Ukraine, the majority of the international community, including the United Nations, has regarded the DPR and the LPR—like Crimea—as Ukrainian territory under Russian occupation. Three days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia recognized the DPR and the LPR as independent and sovereign. Two other United Nations members followed: Syria in June 2022 and North Korea (which is involved in fighting against Ukraine) in July 2022. Although the two separatist states renounced their declarations of independence upon annexation, they have continued to claim the entirety of Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast on behalf of Russia's sovereign authority amidst the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Beyond United Nations members, the DPR and the LPR recognized each other. They were also recognized by two states with limited or no international recognition: South Ossetia (2014) and Abkhazia (2022). However, South Ossetia and Abkhazia are similarly classified by most of the international community as Georgian territory under Russian occupation since the Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008.
The United Nations and most of the international community have consistently condemned the DPR and LPR's initial independence claims, as well as the subsequent annexation. Both are illegal under mainstream interpretations of international law, according to which the territory should belong to Ukraine.
History In November 2014, representatives of Novorossiya sent a request of diplomatic recognition to several Latin American states, including Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Formal responses to the requests were not issued.
In May 2015, the confederation ceased its activities due to their "incompatibility with the Normandy Format plan of peace settlement", promoting for DPR and LPR becoming autonomous regions within the Ukrainian borders. The Minsk Accords laid out the process for this to be achieved.
On 15 February 2022, citing Ukraine's non-implementation of the Minsk Accords, the Russian State Duma voted to ask President Vladimir Putin to recognize the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics as independent states. The bill was proposed by the Communist Party.
On 21 February 2022, the State Duma of Russia passed a bill to officially recognize the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic in Eastern Ukraine as independent states. The bill was approved by President Vladimir Putin. On the same day, Putin signed decrees recognizing the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic, and also signed agreements on friendship, cooperation, and assistance with the republics.
The moves between the State Duma and Putin have been described as coordinated and in prelude to a Russian invasion.
Aftermath of Russian recognition A February poll released by the independent Levada Center found that 45% of Russians backed Russia's recognition of the separatist-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.
On 24 February 2022, Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which included sending troops into the DPR and LPR. The need to secure their territorial integrity was used as a legal justification.
State Duma deputy Mikhail Matveyev, who voted in favour of DPR and LPR recognition, denounced the invasion, stating:
After limited success during a seven-month military campaign, Vladimir Putin recognized the Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as independent states, and signed treaties of accession into the Russian Federation with the military-civil administrations of those two regions, as well as the DPR and LPR. This was despite not having full control of the four new regions, continuing to fight for it with the Ukrainians.
Countries and entities that recognized the DPR and LPR as independent states
UN member states State Date of recognition Diplomatic relations established Notes 1 21 February 2022 21 February 2022 In his address recognizing the DPR and LPR, Putin also supported their claims to the Donbas region of Ukraine. 2 29 June 2022 In February 2022, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad stated "Syria supports President Vladimir Putin's decision to recognise the republics of Luhansk and Donetsk" at an event in Moscow. Syria's state news agency SANA later reported that Syria was "ready to build relations with republics of Luhansk and Donetsk".
As a response to the recognition, Ukraine severed all of its diplomatic relations with Syria, and Syria did the same towards Ukraine on 20 July 2022. Prior to relations being severed, the embassies of the two countries were closed in 2016 and 2018 respectively during the Syrian civil war.
Following the fall of the al-Assad regime on 8 December 2024, it is unknown what the foreign policy position of the new Syrian transitional government is with respect to the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
On 25 September 2025, during a bilateral meeting between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Syrian Interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Ukraine and Syria announced the resumption of diplomatic relations. The discussions primarily focused on bilateral issues, including political, security, economic, and humanitarian cooperation. However, there was no mention of the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, and the matter was deliberately left outside the scope of the talks. 3 13 July 2022 On 13 July 2022, the Korean Central News Agency reported that Foreign Minister of North Korea Choe Son-hui sent letters to counterparts in the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, recognizing the independence of the republics and expressed the will to develop the state-to-state relations.
As a result of the recognition, Ukraine has severed its diplomatic relations with North Korea.
Non-UN states State Date of recognition Diplomatic relations established Notes 1 11 May 2014 11 May 2014 The Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics both declared independence almost simultaneously, and were united under the Novorossiya confederation from 23 May 2014 to 20 May 2015. 2 18 June 2014 (LPR)27 June 2014 (DPR) 28 January 2015 (LPR) 12 May 2015 (DPR) On 27 June 2014, South Ossetia's Security Council decided to recognize the Donetsk People's Republic. South Ossetia's president told the media: "I believe the recognition of the Donetsk republic is the right step, South Ossetia's people support and hail the decision to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk." 3 25 February 2022 9 March 2022 (DPR)10 March 2022 (LPR) On 22 February 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a statement welcoming the recognition of independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics by Russian president Vladimir Putin.On 25 February 2022 President Aslan Bzhania announced the recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic.
Positions by other countries
Countries and entities that supported recognizing the DPR and LPR as independent states
UN member states State Notes Despite calls for recognition of the two republics, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry had rejected recognition but it has supported Russia's decision. The statement reads: "In such a situation, we respectfully understand the decision of the Russian side to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. The Republic of Belarus has always actively and consistently advocated a peaceful settlement of the conflict in south-eastern Ukraine. We still consider diplomatic methods to be a priority and are ready to contribute to this process in every possible way." President Faustin-Archange Touadéra stated on RIA Novosti news “I believe that this decision will undoubtedly save lives and prevent a lot of violence. According to our analysis, this decision aims to save people's lives. This decision is supported by many because it aims to avoid violence and the loss of human lives.” President Daniel Ortega stated "I'm sure that if a referendum is held there, as was done in Crimea, people will vote for their regions to be included in Russia. This is a Russian population and it's not subject to the dictates of NATO, the EU and the U.S." The Deputy Head of the Sovereign Council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo stated: "Russia has the right to act in the interests of its citizens and protect its people. It has the right under the constitution and under the law. The whole world must realize that it has the right to defend its people." Later on, the claims were denied. President Nicolás Maduro "reaffirmed all his support" for Russian President Putin "in defense of peace in Russia", stating "the territory of Luhansk and Donetsk assumed the functions of people's republics to defend themselves from a massacre that the fascist sectors that had seized power in Ukraine began to execute hunting men, hunting women, assaulting families, bombing, with heavy weapons and a conflict began".
Countries and entities that did not support recognizing the DPR and LPR as independent states UN member states