Igor Aleksandrovich Kornet [lower-alpha 1] (born 29 April 1973) is a Ukrainian militiaman, public official and separatist, since 2014 Minister of Interior of the Luhansk People's Republic. [1] [2]
Igor Kornet was born on 29 April 1973, in the family of a career officer of the Soviet Army Alexander Kornet. [3] In 1989 he graduated from school at the GSVG in Halle (GDR), after which he entered the Poltava Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile Command Red Banner School named after General of the Army Vatutin. [4] In 1993 he entered the service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. In 1999, he was dismissed from the post of a policeman of the patrol and guard service of the police of the Oktyabrsky district department of the GUMVD in the Luhansk region. [5] Until 2014, he worked as a criminal investigation officer at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Luhansk region. [1] [4] During the hostilities in the Donbass, he fought on the side of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). [3] Since 27 August 2014, he is the Minister of the Interior of the LPR. [6] On 20 November 2017, he was removed from office by the head of the LPR, Igor Plotnitsky, but refused to leave his post, continuing to work as a minister, ignoring orders from the leadership of the LPR and arresting some of its representatives. [7] After the resignation from the post of head of the LPR Igor Plotnitsky, Igor Kornet continued to work as the Minister of Internal Affairs of the LPR. [8] He is wanted in the framework of criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Art. 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (actions aimed at violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or at the seizure of state power). [3] Since March 2017, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (GSU ICR) has been investigating the role of Cornet in the murder of Russian citizen Artyom Bulgakov in November 2016. [1] [9]
In April 2023, Radio Free Europe published an alleged audio recording between Head of the Luhansk People's Republic Leonid Pasechnik and Russian President Vladimir Putin in which Pasichnik states that Kornet had formed an uncontrollable "gang" that had been "terrorising farmers and entrepreneurs." [1] In this conversation Putin is heard promising "to deal with them." [1]
On 15 May 2023 LPR forces reported that Kornet had been wounded in an explosion in a barbershop in Luhansk. [10] [1] [11] Leonid Pasechnik wrote on his Telegram channel that Kornet had been one of four seriously wounded and that "Doctors are fighting for the lives of the victims.” [10]
Due to the support of Russian aggression and the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine during the Russian-Ukrainian war, he is under personal international sanctions from different countries. [12] (Since April 8, 2022, by all countries of the European Union, [13] since 27 May 2022, by the UK, [12] since 20 June 2017, by the United States of America, [14] since 15 March 2019, by Canada, [14] since 13 April 2022, by Switzerland, [13] since October 2, 2020, by Australia, [13] since 26 February 2022, by Japan. [12] )
Luhansk, also known as Lugansk, is a city in the Donbas region, eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be 397,677, making Luhansk the 12th-largest city in Ukraine.
Pervomaisk is a city in Kadiivka urban hromada, Alchevsk Raion (district), Luhansk Oblast (region), Ukraine, on the left bank of the Luhan River. Pervomaisk is 71 kilometres (44 mi), by road, from Luhansk, 133 kilometres (83 mi) from Izvarino, where there is the de jure international border between Ukraine and Russia, and 736km from Kyiv.
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The Luhansk People's Republic or Lugansk People's Republic is a republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitaries in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed by Russia in 2022. The entire territory of LPR is viewed as sovereign territory of Ukraine by nearly all UN member states.
Igor Venediktovich Plotnitsky is a former Ukrainian separatist leader who served as the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in eastern Ukraine, from 14 August 2014 to 24 November 2017. He was born 26 June 1964 either in Luhansk or in the town of Kelmentsi, Chernivtsi Oblast. Plotnitsky himself did not issue a public statement on 24 November 2017, but on that day a Luhansk People's Republic website claimed he had resigned as their president. On 25 November the 38-member People's Council of the self-proclaimed state unanimously approved Plotnitsky's resignation.
Aleksey Borisovich Mozgovoy was a commander of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine. He was the leader of the pro-Russian Prizrak Brigade and also served as "judge" on the "People's Court", notorious for issuing controversial death sentences.
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Leonid Ivanovich Pasechnik is a Ukrainian-born politician who has served as Head of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) since 2017. He holds the position in acting capacity ever since the illegal and unrecognized Russian 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.
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Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bednov was a former Soviet and Ukrainian militsiya officer and rebel commander of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine. He was the leader of the pro-Russian Batman Rapid Response Group. He was assassinated in Luhansk, with a debate among his supporters on who was responsible although on the day of his killing LPR "prosecutor's office" issued an official statement confirming "liquidation" of Bednov as "a head of a criminal organization".
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Igor Anatolyevich Guzhva is a Ukrainian journalist, commentator, television host, and editor-in-chief of the website Strana.ua. From 2013 until July 29, 2015, he was the owner and leader of the media holding Multimedia Invest Group. Since October 1, 2018, he has been a political refugee in the European Union (Austria).