Kornet Igor Aleksandrovich

Kornet Igor Aleksandrovich was born on April 29, 1973, in Luhansk. A pro-Russian collaborator, he served as the “Minister of Internal Affairs of the LPR” and is one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed “LPR.” He is a former employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. In 2014, he sided with Russia during the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

After the collapse of the USSR in 1993, he worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. In 1999, he was dismissed from his position as a patrol police officer in the district department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Luhansk Oblast.

At the beginning of Russia’s encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine in 2014-2015, Kornet held a leadership position among the militants. On August 27, 2014, he was appointed “Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs,” and later became the “Minister” in the so-called “LPR.” After his appointment as minister, Igor Kornet decided to reform the “Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR” and increase the ministry’s staff.

In 2017, militants under Kornet’s command surrounded the center of Luhansk and seized administrative buildings and a television company’s office, attempting to carry out a “military coup” against the then-leader of the “LPR,” Igor Plotnitsky.

Since 2015, Kornet has been wanted for crimes against Ukraine’s national security. On October 19, 2022, by Presidential Decree, he was included in the NSDC’s sanctions list as a person supporting Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. He is wanted under a criminal investigation under an Article 109, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine related to actions aimed at forcibly changing or overthrowing the constitutional order and seizing state power in Ukraine. From June 20, 2017, to May 27, 2022, he was under sanctions from all European Union countries, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, and Japan. By the decree of the President of Ukraine on June 24, 2021, he was included in Ukraine’s sanctions list.

On May 15, 2023, an explosion occurred in one of the barbershops in Luhansk, resulting in Kornet sustaining severe injuries and being taken to intensive care.