Luhansk People's Republic / Луганская Народная Республика /Луганська Народна Республіка

The Luhansk People's Republic, alternatively spelled as Lugansk People's Republic (Russian: Луга́нская Наро́дная Респу́блика, tr. Luganskaya Narodnaya Respublika, Ukrainian: Луганська Народна Республіка, romanized: Luhanska Narodna Respublika), usually abbreviated as LPR or LNR, is a landlocked proto-state. It is located in Luhansk Oblast in the Donbass region, a territory internationally recognized to be a part of Ukraine. Luhansk is its capital and biggest city. The population of the republic is approximately 1.5 million people. In its constitution, LPR is proclaimed to be a democratic constitutional state. The current head of state is Leonid Pasechnik.

The LPR declared independence from Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, along with Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Republic of Crimea. A still-ongoing armed conflict with Ukraine followed its declaration of independence. The LPR and DPR receive humanitarian assistance from Russia. According to NATO and Ukraine, Russia had also provided military aid to the rebels, a claim that Russia denies. Ukraine's legislation describes the LPR's area as a "temporarily occupied territory", and the government of LPR is described as an occupying administration of the Russian Federation. The February 2015 Minsk agreement signed by the DPR, LDR and Ukraine was meant to stop the conflict and reintegrate rebel held territory into Ukraine in exchange for more autonomy for the area,  but the agreement was never fully implemented.

LPR remains unrecognised by any UN member state, including Russia – although Russia recognises documents issued by the LPR government, such as identity documents, diplomas, birth and marriage certificates and vehicle registration plates. The Luhansk People's Republic is not recognized by any UN member state. It has been recognized by two other states with limited international recognition: South Ossetia and by Donetsk People's Republic. 

LPR has been in a state of armed conflict with the Ukraine since the former declared independence in 2014. The Ukrainian military operation against the republic is officially called an anti-terrorist operation, although it is not considered as such by the Supreme Court of Ukraine itself or by either the EU, US, or Russia. The Russian Federation does not recognize LPR as a state, but it recognizes official documents issued by the LPR government, such as identity documents, diplomas, birth and marriage certificates and vehicle registration plates. This recognition was introduced in February 2017 and enabled people living in LPR controlled territories to travel, work or study in Russia. According to the presidential decree that introduced it, the reason for the decree was "to protect human rights and freedoms" in accordance with "the widely recognized principles of international humanitarian law." Ukrainian authorities decried the decree and claimed that it was contradictory to the Minsk II agreement, and also that it "legally recognised the quasi-state terrorist groups which cover Russia's occupation of part of Donbas." In 2019 leader of LPR Leonid Pasechnik expressed an intention to eventually rejoin Ukraine "as a sovereign state within the [Ukrainian] state".