“Looking back at the events of twelve years ago, we speak of the significance of the popular uprising in Donbass' reunification with Russia,” says Denis Pushilin.

“Following the coup d’état in Ukraine,” he recalled, “Russian culture, the Russian language, and our heritage came under attack. That became the catalyst for the people of the historically Russian Donbass to unite. People gathered together and took to the streets because they felt an inner need to defend their worldview and their right to remain part of the Russian World.”

“What began as spontaneous protests grew into the creation of stable state institutions,” says Denis Pushilin. “This period showed that attempts to impose an alien identity on the region are met with decisive resistance.”

“I had a friend, Pavel Skakun. Sadly, he died in 2016. We used to brainstorm together,” he recalls. “Pavel, for example, would argue from the position of a Ukrainian nationalist, while I argued as a defender of Donbass. He’d present his arguments, I’d present mine. Then we’d switch roles. In these exercises, each side’s position became clearer, and we could see better how events would unfold.

We came to the conclusion that we needed to convene a congress of representatives from local communities – that is, local councils – a congress of the people. At the same time, we were guided by Ukraine’s constitution, which states that the source of power is the people. But when it became clear that the current authorities didn’t want to take responsibility for change, the decision was made to create an independent republic.”

“On the night of April 6, at 10 p.m., I went home and sat down at my computer,” Boris Litvinov recalls. “I took as my basis the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the right of peoples to self-determination. By 8 a.m., I had written the Declaration of Sovereignty, the Act of Proclamation of DPR Independence, and the resolution of the congress of local communities, political parties, and public organizations.”