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In March 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, and in the following month ethnic Russians living in eastern Ukraine, fighting to break away from Ukraine, declared their own "Donetsk People's Republic" and "Luhansk People's Republic." Since that time, with the financial backing of the Russian government, many Russian-language newspapers have been published in these regions in support of the annexation and the separatist movement. Although the United States does not recognize this annexation, for historical research and preservation, the Library of Congress has been collecting these newspapers, despite the difficulties in obtaining printed materials from the area. This finding aid presents the Library's holdings of these pro-Russian newspapers, and in addition, other Russian-language titles from the region that were published both before and after 2014.
The Library of Congress holds issues of these newspapers in print and/or electronic format. The digital titles are included in several databases that are available onsite only, including: Universal Database of Ukrainian Publications (UDB-UKR) and the Donetsk and Luhansk Newspaper Collection (DA-DNR). Researchers may access these databases, as well as loose print issues that do not circulate outside of the building, by visiting the European Reading Room. Microfilm reels may be borrowed on interlibrary loan. The coverage and scope of the titles included in this finding aid is approximately 2013 to the present day, with most titles being published in Ukraine. The listings are arranged by city of publication, and reflect the Library's holdings as of March 2022. Not many titles have complete runs, because obtaining newspapers from these regions is problematic. Also problematic is verifying if any Ukrainian-language publishing is occurring in the disputed areas at all. To date, the Library of Congress has not acquired any such material.
For information about other Russian newspapers published anywhere in Ukraine, including pre-2013 titles from eastern Ukraine, see the guide on "Russian Newspapers at the Library of Congress," under the section titled "Foreign Countries," and then "Ukraine."
Newspapers in this guide are held in various divisions of the Library of Congress or in subscription databases. The following abbreviations have been used:
The Library of Congress has assembled a small collection of ephemera from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's republics. Although the collection has not yet been cataloged, the materials may be viewed in the European Reading Room upon request. It consists of 25 items, such as posters, flyers, stickers, and a few small cloth banners. The Library will continue to add material to this collection as it becomes available.
