International recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk

The area held by the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic within Ukraine

The Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic declared independence from Ukraine following an unofficial status referendum in May 2014. Shortly thereafter, both self-proclaimed states merged to form the short-lived confederation of Novorossiya.

History and current state[]

In November 2014, representatives of Novorossiya send a request of diplomatic recognition to several Latin American states, like Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.^[1] Nevertheless, none of the states answered the request. In May 2015, the confederation of Novorossiya was dissolved.

The territory controlled by the two republics is internationally recognized as parts of Ukraine by all 193 member states of the United Nations (including Russia). Donetsk and Luhansk have only received international recognition from each other and from South Ossetia, which itself is only recognized by 5 of the 193 UN member states.

Positions taken by states[]

States formally recognizing the Donetsk People's Republic as independent[]

	State	Date of recognition	Diplomatic relations established	Notes
1	Luhansk	11 May 2014	11 May 2014	Both Donetsk and Luhansk have simultaneously declared independence and were previously united under the Novorossiya confederation from 2014–15. Main article:
2	South Ossetia	27 June 2014^[2]	12 May 2015^[3]	Main article: Donetsk–South Ossetia relations

States formally recognizing the Luhansk People's Republic as independent[]

	State	Date of recognition	Diplomatic relations established	Notes
1	Donetsk	11 May 2014	11 May 2014	Both Luhansk and Donetsk have simultaneously declared independence and were previously united under the Novorossiya confederation from 2014–15. Main article:
2	South Ossetia	18 June 2014^[4]	28 January 2015^[5]	Main article: