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This is a list article aboutflags that have been used by pro-Russian separatists inUkraine and in areas occupied byRussia and Russian-controlled forces during theRusso-Ukrainian War.
Theflag [ru] of theDonetsk People's Republic was claimed by the Russian-controlled militias to be based on the flag of theDonetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic, whom they claim as the "People's Republic's" predecessor.[1] However, there is no evidence of any such flag in 1918, and it is most likely based on the flag of theInternational Movement of Donbass, a Soviet anti-Ukrainian independence organisation started at Donetsk University in August 1989.[2][3]
The original DPR flag also featured a coat of arms of the republic that said "DonetskRus'" (Донецкая Русь) in the centre. It was identical to the eastern UkrainianDonetsk Republic political party flag, while also retaining the words "Donetsk Republic" (Russian:Донецкая Республика). A simpler whitedouble-headed eagle variant was used bypro-Russian protesters since 7 April 2014 and then by separatists of theDonbas People's Militia.
By October 2014, a second main flag which carried the words "Donetsk People's Republic" (Донецкая Народная Республика) was created with an updated doubled-headed eagle that looked less similar to theRussian coat of arms. This flag appeared to be more prominently used by the militant organization, even appearing on ballot boxes during their2014 elections.[citation needed] The simplified black, blue and redtricolor without inscriptions or coats of arms started being adopted after 2017.[citation needed]
![First flag of the Donetsk People's Republic, based on the political party Donetsk Republic[3][4][specify]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFlag_of_the_Donetsk_Republic_(Organisation).svg)
![Second flag of the Donetsk People's Republic (October 2014 – 2017)[5]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFlag_of_the_Donetsk_People%2527s_Republic_(2014-2018).svg)
![Current flag of the Donetsk People's Republic[6]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFlag_of_Donetsk_People%2527s_Republic.svg)
There have beenseveral flags [ru] used to represent theLuhansk People's Republic. The first flag featured a similar design to the flag used by the Donetsk People's Republic, the main differences being that the top stripe was light blue or azure, a color used in the1950–1992 flag of the Ukrainian SSR, instead of black. It featured a different coat of arms, and it contained the wordsLuhansk Republic (Луганская Республика) inRussian. The original shade of light blue used for the top stripe may have been inspired by the shade of blue used in the flag of the city of Luhansk. The second was adopted at some point in October 2014, with an abbreviation of the group's local name replacing the aforementioned text. On 2 November 2014, the Republic adopted a new flag that resembled the previous flags but lacked the coat of arms.
![First flag of the Luhansk People's Republic displayed on 9 May 2014[7][8]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFlag_of_rastyazhka-Luganskoj.svg)
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![Second flag of the Luhansk People's Republic (October 2014 – 2017)[11][12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFlag_of_the_Lugansk_People%2527s_Republic_(Late_2014).svg)
![Current flag of the Luhansk People's Republic[13]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFlag_of_the_Luhansk_People%2527s_Republic.svg)
Russia initiallyoccupied much ofKherson Oblast in early 2022, but was forced to retreat from the right bank of theDnieper River, giving up the city of Kherson in November.
At the Moscowsigning ceremony between Russian PresidentVladimir Putin and the Russian-installed head of the occupied part of the oblast,Volodymyr Saldo, the flag of Kherson Oblast was presented as a blue field with a white stripe in the middle, featuring the 1803 coat of arms ofKherson supported by golden oak branches and blue ribbons, and surmounted by theImperial Crown.[14][failed verification]
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Russiaoccupies the southern half of Ukraine'sZaporizhzhia Oblast as of 2023.
In the early months of the occupation, the coat of arms used by the occupational forces was originally the same as that of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast but re-worded in Russian.[15][16] However, on 25 May 2022, it was replaced by the 1811 coat of arms of the city of Zaporizhzhia (then called Oleksandrivsk in Ukrainian or Aleksandrovsk in Russian), which was again adopted by the city in 2003, with the magenta color associated with Cossacks replaced with red due to "historical" reasons.[17]
On 30 September 2022, Russia declared the annexation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, despite controlling only the southern part of it.[14] At a Moscow signing ceremony between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian-installed head of the occupied southern half of the oblast,Yevhen Balytskyi, the flag of the Zaporizhzhia region was presented as a bi-color field in green and red, and the 1811 coat of arms of Aleksandrovsk (Zaporizhzhia at the time) in the middle.[17]
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The Kharkiv People's Republic (Russian: Харьковская Народная Республика) was a short-livedself-proclaimed state inKharkiv,Ukraine. It was declared byseparatists during the2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The separatists were led byYevhen Zhylin.[18] It was created on 7 April 2014 when pro-Russian protesters stormed government buildings in Kharkiv and declared the Kharkiv People's Republic. It was dissolved when Ukrainian authorities regained control of the building later that same day.[19][20][21]
![Proposed flag of the Kharkiv People's Republic[22]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFlag_of_the_Kharkov_People%2527s_Republic.svg)
![Flag used in Russian-occupied Kharkiv Oblast[23]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFlag_of_Russian-occupied_Kharkiv_Oblast.svg)
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Novorossiya (lit. 'New Russia') was an unrecognisedconfederation of theDonetsk andLuhansk People's Republics, claiming the territory of theDonetsk andLuhansk oblasts in theDonbas region ofeastern Ukraine. However, on 20 May 2015, the leaders of the Federal State of Novorossiya declared that they would halt the confederation 'project.'[24]
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The battle flag is based on thenaval jackof the Imperial Russian Navy. Oleksandr Chalenko, who worked as a political journalist inKyiv, described the flag and explained its symbolism in an item published byIzvestia on 20 March 2014:[25][unreliable source?] "It's a red flag with a blue Saint Andrew's cross. The flag of the Russian Navy. Of the Navy, which played a prominent military role in the emergence and establishment of historical Novorossiya."
A white-yellow-blacktricolor was presented on 13 August 2014 byOleg Tsaryov as a potential flag for the confederation of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.[26][better source needed] This resembled an upside-downRomanov flag, which was the national flag of theRussian Empire from 1858 to 1883.
Some have noted that the flag's design resembles theConfederate States of America'sNavy jack and battle flag, known also as the "Dixie flag", though this is almost certainly a coincidence.[27][28] Ukrainian political analyst Mikhail Pavliv is credited with having created the flag; Pavliv explains that he had simply stumbled upon the flag online somewhere, and that the leader of theNew Russia Party,Pavel Gubarev, later picked it up.[citation needed] However, Gubarev has stated that the inspiration for the flag came from banners used byCossacks in the 18th century.[citation needed] The only Cossacks that used a similar banner where theSemirechye Cossacks fromKyrgyzstan who never saw combat or service in or near Ukraine.[29]
But Vladimir Kornilov, the world's leading – and only – specialist on the short-lived state (and author ofThe Assassinated Dream, a book on its history), does not agree. The myths that grew around the Republic, [Kornilov] added, led to distorted views of its history, and 'pictures of some flag which was never actually used.' In fact, the flag used by the Donetsk People's Republic is, with alterations, that of the International Movement for Donbas or the Interdvizheniye Donbasa, an organisation whose roots started only in August 1989, in a lecture theater of Donetsk University.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Part of theRusso-Ukrainian war (2022–present) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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