The Western media has been portraying Ukraine’s separatists as a homogenous and cohesive group. Such portrayal has led many in the West to perceive the separatists as an idealist group inspired by the liberal norms of self-determination and nationalism. A thorough examination of the separatist groups is needed to debunk the myths mentioned above and show the real motivation behind the separatist insurgency and internal fights in lawless eastern Ukraine – Power.
There are currently more than 10 competing separatist/pro-Russian groups in Donetsk and Luhansk, their views raging from strongly pro-Russian Cossacks to a rather satirical Ukrainian version of ‘Fight Club’ called ‘Oplot’. This article will present a brief overview of the main separatist groups and introduce some of the key internal disagreements among the pro-Russian insurgents. The article will also attempt to identify groups that the government should negotiate with in order to marginalize the strongly pro-Russian Cossacks and self-serving criminal gangs.
Before dwelling into a kaleidoscope of separatist politics, there is an important distinction that needs to be made. Although the media has portrayed Luhansk and Donetsk as a cohesive entity that fights for independence in unison and has been referring to it as Donbass or Novorussia. In reality Novorusia is nothing more than an imagined geography. Donetsk groups, whipped into a homogenous element by the Oplot, have been hijacking policy direction and negotiations with the government since the beginning of the war in eastern Ukraine. In the meantime, Luhansk groups have little to no say when it comes to strategy and have been fighting each other more than the Ukrainian forces.
There are 4 rival insurgent groups in Luhansk: Batman military unit, Kremlin-backed Rusich group, Great Don Cossack National Guard and Luhansk People’s Republic, as well as multiple smaller criminal gangs all fighting for the leadership of the territory. Currently, the two main contenders are the Luhansk People’s Republic led by Plotinsky and the Great Don Cossack National Guard led by Dremov.
Although both groups are pro-Russian, Cossacks have expressed a strong intention to incorporate Donbass into Russian territory. Luhansk People’s Republic, on the other hand, is less radical and for now is focused on gaining de facto independence. The Russian government showed concern over the infighting among the insurgents and has recently sent reinforcements to strengthen the control center and establish a coordinating mechanism to forego internal power struggles. The silver lining that the Ukrainian forces ought to exploit is that Russia has not yet expressly backed any of the 4 main contenders, meaning that the Ukrainian government can chose the weakest of the four groups and by inviting them to the negotiations table further destabilize the balance of power among the separatists. The weakest group at the moment is the Batman military unit, which has recently lost its leader and namesake, who was killed by fellow insurgents, undoubtedly, with the help of Russian secret services.
In contrast, the leadership in Donetsk is well established, continued fighting with the Ukrainian forces keeps the coalition together. The coalition of insurgents in Donetsk is currently comprised of the Donetsk People’s Republic led by Zakharchenko, Ukrainian version of ‘Fight Club’ called ‘Oplot’, Cossack Council of Dontesk, Donbass People’s Militia and the Army of South-East. The coalition is run by the Donetsk People’s Republic, which derives its military authority from Oplot. The Ukrainian government should learn from the events in Luhansk, where the entire leadership apparatus crumbled down after a few days of low-intensity fighting, therefore, a ceasefire is paramount. The Ukrainian government should exploit the lack of ideals behind the separatists’ cause, leaving them susceptible to power mongering and internal infighting.
To conclude, the Western media should stop portraying Ukraine’s separatists as a homogenous entity fighting for the values of independence and self-determination and show them for who they really are – power-hungry and self-serving gangs. The government should get a better grip of internal separatist politics and pro-actively divide and rule. The government has the power to legitimize and de-legitimize insurgent groups by either including or excluding them from negotiations’ table and further disrupting the coalitions’ balance of power.
Donara Barojan is a research intern at Albany Associates with a great interest in East European Affairs.
