Pavel Gubarev, one of the figures involved in establishing the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR) in 2014, has been charged in Moscow with allegedly “discrediting” the Russian Armed Forces. The case has already been referred to court. Gubarev says he does not expect serious consequences and describes the proceedings as “utter nonsense”.
Gubarev was born in Sievierodonetsk, Ukraine. During the pro-Russian protests in Donetsk in 2014, he declared himself the “people’s governor” of Donbas and took part in organising armed formations that later became part of the DNR structures. Although he never formally held a senior post in the separatist entity, he was one of the recognisable faces of the uprising. After the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, he joined the Russian army.
Gubarev is politically close to Igor Girkin, also known as Strelkov, a former officer of Russia’s security services and one of the key actors in the initial phase of the conflict in Donbas. In 2014, Strelkov commanded forces that seized and for several months controlled the city of Sloviansk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, becoming one of the central figures of the separatist movement. In recent years, however, he openly criticised the Russian military leadership over its conduct of the war in Ukraine and was sentenced in Russia to four years in prison for “extremism”. Gubarev organised a small group of supporters for him during the trial.
Today, Gubarev runs a so-called “Z-blog” on Telegram with around 34,000 followers. The term refers to pro-war channels that support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and use the letter “Z” as a symbol of the war. At the same time, many such bloggers, while loyal to the idea of the war, frequently criticise Russia’s Ministry of Defence and local officials over operational failures and conditions on the ground.