Igor Venediktovich Plotnitsky[a] (born 25 June 1964) is a former Ukrainian separatist leader who served as the head[2] of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in eastern Ukraine, from 14 August 2014 to 24 November 2017.

[6] 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.

[9] Another journalist's research points to a direct connection between Plotnitsky and a former Ukrainian official, Oleksandr Yefremov (former Governor of Luhansk Oblast), one of the leaders of Party of Regions.

[9][14] On 30 October 2014, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine issued a statement, that he and Aleksandr Popov are suspected of kidnapping Nadiya Savchenko.

[16] Plotnitsky challenged Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to a duel (possibly to be broadcast live on TV) in an open letter published on 19 November 2014 in which he proposed "Whoever wins will dictate their terms to the opposing side".

[17] Plotinsky said that if he won the duel, he would begin by ending all military action in the country's turbulent east, and would then force "all legal, half-legal, paralegal and illegal armed groups" into exile.

[25] Members of Russian Cossacks, particularly Pavel Dryomov, accused Plotnitsky of embezzlement of state property and called for an armed coup-d'état against him.

Dryomov also pointed out that the regional administration of Luhansk Oblast was being controlled by "people of Oleksandr Yefremov", while Plotnitsky was promoted by another Ukrainian parliamentarian Natalia Korolevska.

Another conflict ensued in the city of Rovenky on 21 January 2015 and another street fight took place involving grenade launchers and armoured personnel vehicles in Krasny Luch on 28 February 2015.