Europe@War №21 - War in Ukraine, Vol. 1. Armed Formations of the Donetsk People's Republic, 2014-2022 (2022) OPT.pdf

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No.21
WAR IN UKRAINE
VOLUME 1: ARMED FORMATIONS
OF THE DONETSK PEOPLE’S
REPUBLIC, 2014–2022
EDWARD CROWTHER
Helion & Company Limited
Unit 8 Amherst Business Centre
Budbrooke Road
Warwick
CV34 5WE
England
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Text © Edward Crowther 2022
Photographs © as individually credited
Colour figures Giorgio Albertini © Helion &
Company 2022; colour profiles by and ©
David Bocquelet 2022
Maps: Tiago Alexandre Batista © Helion &
Company 2022
Designed and typeset by Farr out
Publications, Wokingham, Berkshire
Cover design Paul Hewitt, Battlefield Design
(www.battlefield-design.co.uk)
Every reasonable effort has been made to
trace copyright holders and to obtain their
permission for the use of copyright material.
The author and publisher apologise for any
errors or omissions in this work, and would
be grateful if notified of any corrections that
should be incorporated in future reprints or
editions of this book.
ISBN 978-1-80451-177-0
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication
Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
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without the express written consent of
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We always welcome receiving book
proposals from prospective authors.
CONTENTS
Introduction and Acknowledgements
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Origins of the Conflict in Eastern Ukraine
Ideology and Motivation
Propaganda and Symbology
Strategic Aims of the DPR and the Russian Federation
Key Battles and the Formation of Units
Command and Control of DPR 1st Army Corps
DPR 1st Army Corps and Principal Units
Armed Formations of the DPR not falling under 1st Army Corps
Weaponry and Equipment
Medals and Memorialisation
Conclusion
2
5
10
15
18
19
32
33
51
53
68
70
71
72
78
Bibliography
Notes
About the Author
Note: In order to simplify the use of this book, all names, locations and geographic
designations are as provided in
The Times World Atlas,
or other traditionally accepted major
sources of reference, as of the time of described events.
EUROPE@WAR VOLUME 21
INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is about the armed formations of the Donetsk People’s
Republic (DPR), a de facto political entity in eastern Ukraine,
covering the period in time from their creation in 2014 to their
official recognition by the Russian Federation in February 2022.
The armed formations of the DPR were widely acknowledged
to be the more powerful and combat effective of the two
unrecognised de facto entities in eastern Ukraine, the other being
that of the neighbouring Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR). A better
understanding of the armed formations of the DPR, and its role as
a key proxy force for the Kremlin, improves understanding of the
Ukraine conflict.
This book seeks to bring the armed formations of the DPR
during this period into greater focus, explaining the history of
their creation, motivational ideology, structure, capabilities and
equipment. In total, the armed formations of the DPR and LPR
together are thought to have numbered some 40,000 people, but in
the West they were often glossed over in a single line as ‘separatist’
or ‘pro-Russian’ forces.
The relationship of the DPR with its patron state, the Russian
Federation, will also be examined. To utilise the terminology of
the study of proxy warfare, the complex and changing nature of the
relationship between the ‘benefactor’ (Russia) and the ‘proxy’ (the
DPR) will be explored.
1
Simply put, the DPR as a Kremlin proxy developed – as most
proxies do – its own internal dynamics, and interests that ran
parallel and sometimes counter to those of the Kremlin. This is
not to absolve the Kremlin of responsibility in sparking and then
fanning the flames of conflict in Donbas, thereby turning hitherto
mostly peaceful political differences into an armed conflict that had
– by the end of 2021 – already claimed around 14,000 lives.
Rather, this book is an attempt to aid external comprehension
of the DPR and its armed formations as de facto entities, but to be
clear, understanding does not imply justification. To borrow the
words of the geographer Gerard Toal about the invasions of Georgia
and Ukraine: ‘Understanding is not justification. Given the high
stakes involved … it is vital that we strive to deeply comprehend
Russia’s invasions of 2008 and 2014.’
2
This book will take it as axiomatic that the DPR’s armed formations
were heavily supplied and supported by the Russian Federation,
and that the DPR was almost entirely reliant on Russian political,
military and financial support. More fundamentally, the Kremlin
acted from 2014 to early 2022 as the sole ‘security guarantor’ for the
two People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine.
By employing proxy forces in Donbas, the Kremlin sought to lower
international accountability for the ensuing violence by building in
degrees of separation from the Russian state. This separation was not
without cost though, as there were serious problems of delegation,
command and control – manifested in the often unruly, chaotic and
violent nature of the DPR’s armed formations and indeed the DPR
more broadly.
3
The DPR was chaotic and unstable from the moment of its creation
and formed – along with the neighbouring LPR – an area in eastern
Ukraine where people lived outside the norms of international rule
of law, suffering an extreme drop in living standards and freedom of
movement. This book does not wish to glamourise the DPR’s armed
formations, who as well as fighting the Ukrainian state, ensured
control for the DPR’s rulers, despite the well-rehearsed trappings of
imitation democracy.
As this book was being finalised in early 2022, the relatively static
or ‘frozen’ nature of the conflict in eastern Ukraine was altered,
first by the official recognition of the DPR and LPR as independent
states by the Russian Federation on 21 February 2022, and then by
the massive Russian ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine that
commenced on 24 February 2022.
In a speech on 24 February, one of Putin’s stated goals for the
‘special military operation’ was to come to the aid of the Donetsk and
Luhansk People’s Republics, and he referred to treaties of ‘friendship
and mutual assistance’ that had been ratified just two days earlier.
4
‘Defenders of Donbass.’ Magnet, c. 2016. The outline of the Donetsk People’s Republic on the left depicts the whole of pre-conflict Donetsk oblast,
only around 30 percent of which was controlled by the DPR at the time. (Author’s collection)
2
WAR IN UKRAINE VOLUME 1: ARMED FORMATIONS OF THE DONETSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC, 2014-2022
A constellation of just some of the DPR and LPR armed formation units that were unleashed in eastern Ukraine. Among the insignia of various DPR
1st Army Corps units which will be discussed in this book are the insignia for the LPR’s Prizrak (Призрак, Russian for ‘ghost’) unit, and a morale patch
for ‘Sofa warriors’ (Дива�½�½ые войска). Magnet, c. 2016. (Author’s collection)
The outcome of this ‘special military operation’ was, at the time
of writing, still to be determined. DPR 1st Army Corps units were
heavily engaged in the fighting, and involved in advances towards
the urban centres of Volnovakha and Mariupol. What is clear is
that the outcome of the Kremlin’s ‘special military operation’, one
way or other, will determine the future of the DPR and LPR as
political entities.
This book was always meant to be historical rather than predictive
in its formulation, and will outline the turbulent creation and often
chaotic nature of the armed formations of the DPR from 2014 to
February 2022 when these formations joined Putin’s ‘special military
operation.’ These DPR formations are now involved – fighting
alongside the forces of the Russian Federation – in the massive
conflict in eastern Ukraine, the outcome of which will reshape the
security architecture of Europe.
Scope of Focus
By focusing on the DPR’s armed formations, the role of Russian
Federation regular units, in particular in the first two years
of conflict, will be discussed where relevant, but in terms of a
necessary limitation of scope this book will not examine these units
in great detail. Similarly, the much-publicised role of the Russian
Private Military Company (PMC) Wagner Group, in particular at
Debaltseve, will be touched upon, but similarly this PMC and its use
by Russia in Donbas is not the book’s primary focus.
It aims to collect and synthesise these various information sources
and provide a concise and readable account of the DPR’s armed
formations, in particular for the reader who may be less familiar
with some of the disparate information sources available on the
conflict in eastern Ukraine.
One major feature of the conflict in eastern Ukraine from 2014
to 2022 was the intense use of information warfare of all kinds.
From a position of relative military weakness, compared to the
Ukrainian state, as well for reasons of bombast and ‘nation building’
propaganda, the DPR had a strong incentive to continuously
exaggerate its military capabilities in its official media. For this
reason, official reports or media products produced by the DPR
during this period should be treated with caution.
A second major source of information was Ukrainian or Western
open-source investigation and reporting into the DPR’s capabilities.
Ukrainian open-source investigation was usually incredibly detailed,
and often written with the benefit of a deep understanding of the
terrain and actors involved. However, for various understandable
reasons, which will be discussed in more depth below, Ukrainian
sources tended to place a much greater emphasis on the role of the
Russian Federation in the DPR’s armed formations, often denying
any form of ‘agency’ on the part of the DPR at all.
The book therefore attempts to synthesise various sources of
information about the DPR’s armed formations and present them in
what it hopes will be a balanced way.
Methodology
This book was written entirely from open-source information,
utilising sources in the Ukrainian, Russian and English languages.
Terms, Naming Conventions and Transliteration
Any writing about the DPR and the Ukraine conflict has to take a
position on terminology.
3

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