Leonid Pasechnik | |
|---|---|
| Леонид Пасечник | |
.jpg) Russian official portrait, 2025 | |
| Head of the Luhansk People's Republic[1] | |
| Assumed office 25 November 2017[a][b] | |
| Prime Minister | Sergey Kozlov |
| Preceded by | Igor Plotnitsky |
| Minister of State Security of theLuhansk People’s Republic | |
| In office 9 October 2014 – 21 November 2018 Acting from 25 November 2017 | |
| President | Igor Plotnisky |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1970-03-15)15 March 1970 (age 55) |
| Political party | United Russia (2021–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Peace to Luhanshchyna (2014–present) |
| Alma mater | Donetsk Military-Political College |
| Awards | Medal For Military Service to Ukraine |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Ukraine (1993–2014) Luhansk People's Republic (2014–2017) |
| Branch/service |  Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Ministry of State Security of the Luhansk People's Republic |
| Years of service | 1993–2017 |
| Rank | Major General (MSS) |
Leonid Ivanovich Pasechnik (Russian:Леони́д Ива́нович Па́сечник;Ukrainian:Леонід Іванович Пасічник,romanized: Leonid Ivanovych Pasichnyk; born 15 March 1970) is a Russian politician who has served as head of theLuhansk People's Republic (LPR) since 2017. He holds the position in acting capacity ever since theRussian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in 2022. Pasechnik had previously held office as the LPR's Minister of State Security from 2014 to 2018.[2][3][4]
Prior to his political career, Pasechnik served in theSecurity Service of Ukraine until the2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, which he supported.
Pasechnik's father, Ivan Sergeyevich, worked inSoviet law enforcement, for theOBKhSS, for 26 years.[4] In 1975 the Pasechnik family moved toMagadan in theRussian Far East[5] where Pasechnik's father was associated with gold mine operations.[4]
Pasechnik graduated the Donetsk Military-Political College and worked for theSecurity Service of Ukraine (SBU) inLuhansk Oblast as a chief of a detachment combatingcontraband operations[6] and the chief of the Stakhanov district detachment.[4] On 15 August 2006 he became famous for intercepting large quantities of contraband atIzvaryne border checkpoint ($1.94 mln and 7.24 mln Russian rubles), at the same time reportedly refusing a bribe out of principle.[7][4] In March 2007 SBU Lieutenant Colonel Pasechnik received from theUkrainian PresidentViktor Yushchenko amedal For Military Service to Ukraine, "for showing integrity and professionalism in the line of duty" during the aforementioned operation.[4][7]
In 2014 he sided withpro-Russian militants, becoming on 9 October 2014 a minister of State Security for the self-proclaimed state Luhansk People's Republic (LPR).[4] As part of that role, he oversaw the "notorious" prisons and isolation cells in the LPR, in which, many media have reported,torture of people with anti-separatist views took place.[7]
On 21 November 2017,armed men in unmarked uniforms took up positions in the centre of Lugansk in what appeared to be a power struggle between the head of the republicIgor Plotnitsky and the supporters of LPR Interior MinisterIgor Kornet, who was sacked the previous day.[8][9] Three days later, a government statement declared that Plotnitsky had resigned "for health reasons (due to) multiplewar wounds (and) the effects of blast injuries, (which) took their toll."[10] It was also stated that Pasechnik had been named acting leader "until the next elections."[10] Russian media reported that Plotnitsky had fled the unrecognised republic on 23 November 2017 toRussia.[11] On 25 November the 38-member People's Council of the LPR unanimously approved the change in leadership.[12]
Pasechnik's position on theMinsk Agreements has been unclear. Upon taking office, he quickly declared his adherence to theMinsk Agreements, saying that "the republic will be consistently executing the obligations taken under these agreements."[13] On 30 March 2018 Pasechnik stated "Our (LPR) experience can help allregions of Ukraine eventually gain freedom and independence, and then we can together declare a new Ukraine in which representatives of different nationalities and cultures will freely live."[14] While meeting people living in territory controlled by LPR in the summer of 2019, Pasechnik stated: "It does not mean, that we will return back into Ukraine. This is the only way to stop this madness, this war. You should understand that we, as a sovereign state will be a state within the state – that will be our special status".[15]
He was sanctioned by theUK government in 2018 in relation to theRusso-Ukrainian War.[16]
On 6 December 2021, Pasechnik became a member of the Russian ruling partyUnited Russia.[17] United Russia chairmanDmitry Medvedev personally handed him his party member card during the party's annual congress inMoscow.[17]
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In February 2022,Russia invaded Ukraine, citing Ukraine's failure to implement the Minsk Agreements by not granting regions of the Donbas the required special status. On 27 March 2022, Pasechnik said that the LPR may hold a referendum to join Russia in the near future.[18][19] The authorities of the Luhansk People's Republic eventually scheduled a "referendum" on the republic's entry into Russia as afederal subject for 23–27 September.[20]
On 30 September 2022, together withDonetsk People's Republic HeadDenis Pushilin and pro-Russian occupation administration HeadsVladimir Saldo of Kherson Oblast andYevgeny Balitsky of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, attended in Moscow the ceremony in whichPresident of RussiaVladimir Putin formally announced theannexation and incorporation of those regions into Russia.[21]
He is a former officer of Ukraine's security services. He used to head the K department, which fought smuggling in Luhansk region and he was quite successful in that role
