International Movement of Donbass Интернациональное движение Донбасса Інтернаціональний рух Донбасу | |
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| Abbreviation | IDD or IRD |
| Leader | Sergey Chepik (last) |
| Founders | Dmitry Kornilov,Vladimir Kornilov |
| Founded | 18 November 1990 (1990-11-18) |
| Dissolved | 2003 (2003) |
| Succeeded by | Donetsk Republic |
| Headquarters | Donetsk,Ukraine |
| Youth wing | Youth League of Intermovement of Donbass |
| Ideology | Anti-Ukrainization Soviet nationalism Russophilia Federalism Donbass regionalism Donbass separatism |
| Colours | Red Azure Black |
TheInternational Movement of Donbass (Russian:Интернациональное движение Донбасса,romanized: Internatsional'noye dvizheniye Donbassa, IDD;Ukrainian:Інтернаціональний рух Донбасу,romanized: Internatsionalʹnyy rukh Donbasu, IRD), or justIntermovement (Russian:Интердвижение;Ukrainian:Інтеррух), also called theInterfront of the Donbass (Russian:Интерфронт Донбасса;Ukrainian:Інтерфронт Донбасу) was a political movement in the lateUkrainian SSR and the first decade of independentUkraine. It was founded in 1990 by the members of theintelligentsia in theDonbas region inEastern Ukraine. It was founded in opposition to thePeople's Movement of Ukraine, which favored Ukrainian independence from theSoviet Union.[1] SimilarInterfront pro-Soviet movements existed in theLatvian SSR,Moldovan SSR and other republics.
In 1992, it grew stronger as miners and local elites opposed the perceived economic mismanagement of the central government inKyiv and allegedUkrainization.[2] In 1993, the Interfront participated in a rally inDonetsk against the economic policy ofLeonid Kravchuk. The rally was co-sponsored by theSocialist Party of Ukraine.[3]
In a publication from 1993, the Interfront emphasized the multinational character of the Donbas.
(The) Donbass has since the old times served as home to dozens of peoples. The territory of what is now the Donbass has been part of theKhazar Khanate,Golden Horde, theCrimean Khanate, theRussian Empire, theDonetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic and (finally) theUkrainian State... the Donbass is the centre [of] a unique multinational culture.
— Programm of the Intermovement of the Donbass (Projekt), in: Nash Donbass, No. 1 (January 1993), p. 4.[4]
In 1993 and 1994, the chairman of the Intermovement was Dmitriy Kornilov.[5][6]
In 1993, members of the Interfront participated in the foundation of theCivil Congress of Ukraine. Kornilov became the ideological leader of the Civic Congress.[7] The Congress turned into theSlavic Party in 1998.
In 1997, Kornilov said that Donetsk is "beyond doubt"Russian.[8] Two years later, he repeated that the Donetsk region "orients itself towardsMoscow".[9]
Dmitriy Kornilov died in 2002. His brother, Vladimir Kornilov continued his work and later became a citizen of theDonetsk People's Republic. Some observers see the smallDonetsk Republic political party as the successor movement to the Interfront of the Donbas.[10]
The flag of theDonetsk People's Republic is claimed by the separatist authorities to be based on the flag of theDonetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic, whom they consider the "People's Republic's" predecessor.[11] However, there is no evidence of any such flag in 1918, and it is most likely based on the flag of the Interfront.[12][13]
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 theatre of Donetsk University.