Helion has been publishing a series on the Russo-Ukraine War. A previous edition had a look at the Donetsk Peoples Republic so now it is time to look at the other separatist area, the Luhansk People's Republic. This area is to the north of the Donetsk region yet is in many ways quite similar. There was no strong central authority, simply a group of warlords who had a similar goal. That was to separate themselves from Ukraine. This was assisted by the Russian Federation who provided weapons and other equipment in an attempt to annex this part of the nation.

The separatist movement took form shortly after Russia invaded Crimea and took over that section of Ukraine. At the time, the Ukraine army was not well disposed to push out the Russians. So rebels in Luhansk decided the time was right to foment rebellion. However, things did not go as planned. The Luhansk fighters were not well coordinated and while they were successful in some areas initially, often times their gains were taken back by a more determined Ukraine Army.

As the Luhansk People's Republic was basically a Russian proxy state, they continued to receive help from that nation. Not only did it include weapons and supplies, but the Russians used their artillery massed on the Russian side of the border to help out. Soon, things reached a stalemate that lasted for many years with low level fighting across and fairly fixed front line. When the Russians invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it mostly used what was by then a much better Luhansk force in the initial forays from the east. Shortly after Russia formerly integrated both the Luhansk and Donetsk regions into the Russian Federation and those previous entities ceased to exist.

As with others in this series, the author has very much done his homework in order to properly tell the full story. We are provided a preamble to the formation of the republic along with the seeming multitudinous political intrigues that include the inevitible assassinations and mini-coups that go along with these sorts of organizations. Add to it some great period photos and the now usual goodly number of maps and you have another great read that I can highly recommend to you.

 January 2024

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