SUMMARY
On 16 September 2014, a union between the armed forces of Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) and Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) was announced as part of the larger Novorossiya project, which aimed to create a new Russian-majority state out of Ukraine's southern and eastern provinces. This action formalized already existing military collaboration between the two groups at leadership and command level, thus strengthening the already existing single unified front against the Ukrainian Government.
However, the group mostly continued to operate as before - a collection of relatively independent battalions, brigades and detachments, usually led by charismatic leaders (referred to as people's militias). Much of the co-ordination and command operated mainly at the level of resource distribution and assignment of frontline areas rather than at the issuance of direct orders. Further, power struggles between commanders were reported to take place with a relatively high frequency. The United Armed Forces of Novorossiya did, however, establish a number of joint battalions as well as established formal personnel training facilities such as the Donetsk Military Academy. The United Armed Forces of Novorossiya also meant an increase in military coordination, as well as some joint political structures, such as the (decorative) confederate parliament.
In late May 2015, high-level officials from the DPR indicate that the development of the Novorossiya project as an independent country is "put on hold" as an effect of the Minsk II agreement which determined a different path for the future self-determination of the Donbass region. Further, Novorossiya as a larger confederation, including places like Kharkiv and Odessa, was deemed a failure, as these regions could not break-away on their own from Ukraine. Following this, the DPR and LPR formally became independent actors, whilst retaining the new incompatibility for the Novorossiya area, on 9 June.
Thus, from 9 June the United Armed Forces of Novorossiya is considered defunct, with DPR and LPR having splintered from it. Worth noting, however, is that the DPR and LPR that left the United Armed Forces of Novorossiya shares the new incompatibility for the Novorossiya area. They therefore exist in the data as new entities separate from the groups with the same names which were active in 2014, in the territorial conflicts of Donetsk and Lugansk respectively. Both the DPR and LPR political leadership continue to assert the "liberated" territory controlled by the "army" as a joint entity (referred to as Donbass) in their official statements.
