Plotnitsky Igor Venidiktovich

Plotnitsky Igor Venidiktovich (born June 24, 1964, in Kelmentsi, Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian political and military figure known for his collaborationist activities with Russia. From 2014 to 2017, he served as the self-proclaimed head and chairman of the Council of Ministers of the puppet formation, the Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR). Plotnitsky was a member of the LNR Council of Ministers from August 20 to August 26, 2014, and also served as the Minister of Defense of the LNR from May to August 2014. He is recognized as a terrorist in Ukraine.

He was actively involved in the activities of the LNR terrorist organization, starting in April 2014, when he became the commander of the “Zorya” battalion. On May 21, 2014, the “Republican Assembly” of the LNR appointed him as the Minister of Defense of the republic. On August 14, 2014, Valery Bolotov, then head of the LNR, announced his resignation and Plotnitsky’s appointment to his position. Plotnitsky planned an operation to destroy Ukrainian army units in the area of Zelenopillya.

In October 2014, Plotnitsky submitted documents to the unrecognized Central Election Commission of the LNR as a candidate for the position of head of the republic. On November 3, 2014, after the LNR elections, the republic’s Central Election Commission declared his victory with 63.17% of the vote. These elections were recognized only by Russia, which violated the Minsk agreements. On November 4, 2014, Plotnitsky was formally inaugurated, with the ceremony conducted by retired Metropolitan of the UOC (MP) Ioanniky.

On October 30, 2014, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine charged Igor Plotnitsky and Russian citizen Alexander Popov with the abduction of Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko.

On August 6, 2016, an explosion occurred at the intersection of Vatutina and Karpinsky Streets in Lugansk, which destroyed Igor Plotnitsky’s SUV. As a result of the explosion, one of his bodyguards was killed, two others were injured, and Plotnitsky was taken to intensive care in serious condition. He was discharged from the hospital the day after the assassination attempt, leading to suspicions of a possible staging.

On November 24, 2017, LNR Minister of State Security Leonid Pasechnik announced that Plotnitsky had submitted his resignation due to health reasons, a consequence of a coup that led to his escape to Russia. In February 2018, militant Vladlen Zaruba, an associate of the first LNR leader Valery Bolotov, claimed that Plotnitsky had been arrested in Russia for embezzling 1 billion dollars allocated by Russia and was being held in the St. Petersburg pre-trial detention center “Kresty” (after moving to Kolpino — “Kresty-2”).

In March 2021, Plotnitsky was found guilty of downing a Ukrainian Il-76 aircraft in 2014 in Lugansk. The court in Dnipro sentenced him in absentia to life imprisonment.