Lugansk People’s Republic in the Context of Identification Processes

The article is devoted to the analysis of the processes of identification in the history of Lugansk and the territories that make up the Lugansk People’s Republic. The factors of the formation of the industrial specificity of the Lugansk society are considered, and the historical roots of various ethno-demographic groups that influenced the historical image of Lugansk, such as the Don Cossacks and the Serbs, are traced. The history of changes in the name of the city, Lugansk and Voroshilovgrad, is examined in the light of value, political, and ideological factors. The identification processes in the history of Lugansk during the 18th-20th centuries reflected various aspects of its significance within the Russian state: as a natural source of military-industrial resources, as a political-administrative unit, as an industrial hub, and as a collective entity with a specific socio-political and behavioral image. The issue of state borders and relations with Ukraine was particularly acute during the Civil War of 1917-1922, which was reflected in the tragic history of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic. The historical processes of identification and self-identification of the demographic community of Lugansk and its surrounding territories played a crucial role in the historical choices of 2014 and 2022. The Luhansk mentality was the value-based core of the protest movement against the results of the 2014 Kiev coup, and it served as a stable collective foundation for the processes of establishing the LPR in the Russian civilizational space during the years 2014-2022, and as a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.