Igor Plotnitsky

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Venediktovich and the family name is Plotnitsky.

Igor Plotnitsky
Игорь Плотницкий
Aleksandr Bednov
Personal details
Born
Igor Venediktovich Plotnitsky

(1964-06-25) 25 June 1964 (age 59)
Peace for Lugansk Region[1]
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Soviet Union (Until 1991)
Ukraine Ukraine (Until 2014)
Luhansk People's Republic Luhansk People's Republic (Since 2014-Present)
Years of service1982–1991
2014–present
RankMajor

Igor Venediktovich Plotnitsky[a] (born 25 June 1964) is a former Ukrainian separatist leader who served as the head[2] of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in eastern Ukraine, from 14 August 2014 to 24 November 2017.[3] He was born 26 June 1964 either in Luhansk[4] or in the town of Kelmentsi,[5] Chernivtsi Oblast.[6] Plotnitsky himself did not issue a public statement on 24 November 2017, but on that day a Luhansk People's Republic website claimed he had resigned as their president.[7] On 25 November the 38-member People's Council of the self-proclaimed state unanimously approved Plotnitsky's resignation.[8]

Biography

Plotnitsky was born either in Luhansk or in the town of Kelmentsi to Venedikt and Nina Plotnitsky.[4][6] He also has a brother Mykhailo Plotnitsky who resides in Kyiv.[6] Plotnitsky graduated from a school in Kelmentsi[9] and moved to Luhansk (then part of Soviet Ukraine) in 1982, when he joined the army[6] and served in Penza where he graduated from the Penza Artillery and Engineer College.[9] In 1991 Plotnitsky retired from the Soviet Army as a major and moved to Luhansk.[9]

Plotnitsky was a reserve officer of the Soviet Army and started to dedicate himself to business activities after the fall of

Soviet Union. Eventually Plotnitsky opened his own business in sale of fuel and lubrication materials.[9] In 2004-2012[9] he worked for the regional Inspectorate for the Protection of Consumer Rights.[9][10]

In 2018 Plotnitsky was arrested and was in pre-trial detention in a Russian jail in St. Petersburg on charges of embezzlement and abuse of power.[11]

Luhansk People's Republic

With the start of

Valeriy Bolotov on 14 August 2014, Plotnitsky succeeded him as a Head of the LPR.[3][9]

Plotnitsky won the

Minsk Protocol which they signed.[13] Despite winning the election, Plotnitsky later stated that he had been appointed to the post, but did not specify by whom.[9]

Another journalist's research points to a direct connection between Plotnitsky and a former Ukrainian official,

Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine issued a statement, that he and Aleksandr Popov are suspected of kidnapping Nadiya Savchenko.[15] Since 10 November 2014 Plotnitsky has been wanted by the Security Service of Ukraine for his role in the LPR.[16]

Plotnitsky challenged Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to a duel (possibly to be broadcast live on TV) in an open letter published on 19 November 2014 in which he proposed "Whoever wins will dictate their terms to the opposing side".[17] Plotinsky said that if he won the duel, he would begin by ending all military action in the country's turbulent east, and would then force "all legal, half-legal, paralegal and illegal armed groups" into exile.[17]

On 11 February 2015, the LPR leadership signed the

Ukrainian constitution to grant it special status within Ukraine's borders.[18][19] The next week Plotnitsky said that "If Ukraine remains like it is now, we will never be together", but that if the Ukrainian government would carry out the reforms laid out in the Minsk agreement "Time will tell whether we will be part of the future, new and renewed Ukraine."[20]

On 18 January 2017 Plotnitsky (on his official website) declared "we will never return to Ukraine!" and that the LPR was "returning to its home – Russia, the Russian world".[21]

On 22 November 2017 Russian media citing unofficial sources stated that he had been

Minsk process.[7] Plotnitsky himself did not issue a public statement on 24 November 2017.[7] The following day the 38-member People's Council of the self-proclaimed state unanimously approved Plotnitsky's resignation.[8]

Sanctions

Sanctioned by the

UK government in 2014 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War. [24]

2016 assassination attempt

Further information:
War in Donbas (2014-2022)

On 6 August 2016 Plotnitsky's car exploded, injuring its passengers including Plotnitsky.[25]According to the separatists, an explosive device had been planted and detonated near a set of traffic lights.[25] They also claimed Ukrainian "saboteurs" might be behind the "terrorist" attack – a claim denied by the Ukrainian authorities.[25] On 7 August 2016 Plotnitsky was said to be stable after hospital treatment.[25]

Conflict with Cossacks

Members of Russian

Krasny Luch
on 28 February 2015.

Anti-Semitism

In June 2015, Plotnitsky told an audience at a Russian university that Ukraine's

anti-Semitic.[26] The Anti-Defamation League also condemned Plotnitsky.[26]

Notes

  1. ^ Russian: И́горь Венеди́ктович Плотни́цкий
    Ukrainian: Ігор Венедиктович Плотницький, romanized: Ihor Venedyktovych Plotnytskyi

References

  1. ^ "Why are Ukraine separatist elections controversial?". BBC News Europe. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  2. ^ Глава ЛНР Игорь Плотницкий ушел в отставку
  3. ^ a b Глава ЛНР" временно "ушёл в отставку (in Russian). rbc.ru. 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Биография Игоря Плотницкого (Biography of Igor Plotnytskiy)" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  5. ^ Parents of the terrorists leader left native village out of shame for their son Archived 2015-07-11 at the Wayback Machine Ukrinform. 12 September 2014
  6. ^ a b c d "Що думають про лідера "ЛНР" на рідній Буковині". BBC News Україна (in Ukrainian). 11 September 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  7. ^
    Radio Free Europe
    (24 November 2017)
  8. ^ a b Народный совет ЛНР единогласно проголосовал за отставку Плотницкого (in Russian). 25 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k File on the 10 main terrorists of Donbas. Bulvar Gordona.
  10. ^ a b Биография Игоря Плотницкого (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 20 August 2014.
  11. ^ Крутов, Марк (22 February 2018). "Был в медалях, теперь в "Крестах". Сообщения об аресте Игоря Плотницкого". Радио Свобода (in Russian). Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  12. ^ "TASS: Luhansk Republic Council open for cooperation with Ukrainian parliament". TASS.
  13. Russian Foreign Ministry
    .
  14. Ukrayinska Pravda
    . 24 December 2014
  15. General Prosecutor of Ukraine
    . 30 October 2014
  16. Ukrainian Interior Ministry
    . 10 November 2014
  17. ^
    Moscow Times
    (19 November 2014)
  18. ^ "Ukraine ceasefire deal agreed at Belarus talks". The Guardian. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  19. ^ "Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements" (Press release) (in Russian). Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  20. ^ Militia leader not sure if unrecognized Luhansk republic will remain part of "new Ukraine".
    TASS
    . 18 February 2015.
  21. ^ (in Russian), Statement of the Head of the Luhansk People's Republic, The site of the Head of the Luhansk People's Republic (18 January 2017)
  22. ^ "Kremlin 'Following' Situation in Ukraine's Russia-Backed Separatist-Controlled Luhansk". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 22 November 2017.
  23. ^ "Plotnitsky did not leave "LPR" – Russian media | UNIAN".
  24. ^ "CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK" (PDF). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  25. ^ a b c d Ukraine crisis: Blast injures Luhansk rebel leader Plotnitsky, BBC News (7 August 2016)
  26. ^ a b c d e Top rebel leader accuses Jews of masterminding Ukrainian revolution, The Jerusalem Post (22 June 2015)
  27. Spiegel Online. 22 May 2014. Archived
    from the original on 28 May 2014.
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