The highest point in left-bank Ukraine is Mohyla Mechetna hill (367.1 m (1,204 ft) above sea level), which is located in the vicinity of the city of Petrovske, in Russian-controlled territory.

[21] On 18 February 2022, the LPR and DPR separatist authorities ordered a general evacuation of women and children to Russia, and the next day a full mobilization of males "able to hold a weapon in their hands".

[28] One thousand pro-Russian activists seized and occupied the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) building in the city of Luhansk on 6 April 2014, following similar occupations in Donetsk and Kharkiv.

One was scheduled for 11 May, and was meant to determine whether the region would seek greater autonomy (and potentially independence), or retain its previous constitutional status within Ukraine.

[39] They then warned the Ukrainian government that if it did not meet these demands by 14:00 on 29 April, they would launch an armed insurgency in tandem with that of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

[45][46] Oleksandr Turchynov, then acting president of Ukraine, admitted the next day that government forces were unable to stabilise the situation in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

[48] In Krasnyi Luch, the municipal council conceded to demands by activists to support the 11 May 2014 referendum, and followed by raising the Russian flag over the building.

[63] The still-extant Luhansk Oblast Council did not support independence, but called for immediate federalisation of Ukraine, asserting that "an absolute majority of people voted for the right to make their own decisions about how to live".

[64][65] The council also requested an immediate end to Ukrainian military activity in the region, amnesty for anti-government protestors, and official status for the Russian language in Ukraine.

[77] The UN detailed growing lawlessness, documenting cases of targeted killings, torture, and abduction, carried out by Luhansk People's Republic insurgents.

[78] An 18 November 2014 United Nations report on eastern Ukraine declared that the Luhansk People's Republic was in a state of "total breakdown of law and order".

[81] In December 2015 the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine reported "Parallel 'justice systems' have begun operating" in territory controlled by the Luhansk People's Republic.

[82] On 1 January 2015, forces loyal to the Luhansk People's Republic ambushed and killed Alexander Bednov, head of a pro-Russian battalion called "Batman".

[83][84][85] On 12 February 2015, DPR and LPR leaders Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky signed the Minsk II agreement, although without any mention of their self-proclaimed titles or the republics.

[100] Russian media reported that Plotnitsky had fled the unrecognised republic on 23 November 2017, first travelling from Luhansk to Rostov-on-Don by car and then flying to Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

[105] Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak stated in a July 2021 interview with Politique internationale that 470 thousand local residents had received a Russian passport; he added that "as soon as the situation in Donbas is resolved....The general procedure for granting citizenship will be restored.

[107] Previously the separatist leaders had made Ukrainian LPR's second state language, but in practice it was already disappearing from school curricula prior to June 2020.

Three days later, on 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the entire country of Ukraine, partially under the pretext of protecting the LPR and the DPR.

In September 2022, Russia made moves to consolidate the territories that it had occupied in Ukraine, including Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.

"[127] Ukrainian authorities decried the decree and claimed that it was contradictory to the Minsk II agreement, and also that it "legally recognised the quasi-state terrorist groups which cover Russia's occupation of part of Donbas.

[129] A report by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) stated that the official ideology of the LPR is shaped by right-wing Russian nationalism, neo-imperialism and Orthodox fundamentalism.

[76][139] On 6 July 2015 the Luhansk People's Republic leader (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky set elections for "mayors and regional heads" for 1 November 2015 in territory under his control.

[141] This happened 4 days after a Normandy four meeting in which it was agreed that the October 2015 Ukrainian local elections in LPR and DPR controlled territories would be held in accordance to the February 2015 Minsk II agreement.

[142] Also during the meeting it is believed that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to use his influence to not allow the DPR and Luhansk People's Republic election to take place on 18 October 2015 and 1 November 2015.

[21] In the summer of 2014, there were several secessionist armed groups without a unified command, among them Zarya ("Dawn") artillery brigade, "well equipped from Russia", and other "[p]aramilitary units loyal [to] their respective chieftains".

[147] Ukrainian sources reported in 2021 that the People's Militia of the LPR is under the control of the 2nd Army Corps, which is subordinated to the specially created 12th Reserve Command of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces at its headquarters in the city of Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast.

[148][149] In 2022, the award Hero of the Luhansk People's Republic (Russian: Герой Луганской Народной Республики) was bestowed on Ramzan Kadyrov.

[151][152] The cities are as follows: Alchevsk, Antratsyt, Bryanka, Kirovsk, Krasnodon, Krasnyi Luch, Lysychansk, Lugansk, Pervomaisk, Rovenky, Rubezhnoye, Sverdlovsk, Severodonetsk, and Stakhanov.

[152] The districts are as follows: Antratsyt, Belovodsk, Belokurakino, Krasnodon, Kremennaya, Lutugino, Markovka, Melove, Novoaidar, Novopskov, Perevalsk, Svatovo, Sverdlovsk, Slavianoserbsk, Stanytsia-Luganskaya, Starobelsk, and Troitskoye.

[153] Concerns include strict control over politics by the security services, allowing no meaningful opposition, and harsh restrictions on local media.