In 2011, Denis Vladimirovich Pushilin, born in 1981 in Makiivka, Ukraine, was working for MMM, the company widely described as a massive pyramid scheme in Russian history. Earlier in his career he had held sales positions for various firms. At the time, MMM was undergoing a controversial revival, and Pushilin joined the company’s Ukrainian subsidiary in 2011, which stated it would offer enhanced benefits to retirees and people with disabilities. The enterprise already had a history of criminal investigations in Moldova, Belarus, and Russia, casting a shadow over its activities.
As the MMM narrative evolved, the organization inspired the formation of a political party in 2013 bearing the same acronym, with Pushilin becoming a visible participant. His campaign for the Ukrainian parliamentary election that year yielded a modest result, capturing 77 votes and accounting for about 0.08% of the total in Kyiv’s 94th district. This moment marked a short engagement with Ukrainian politics, after which Pushilin shifted his focus and began to position himself as a leading voice amid the Maidan protests and the ensuing political upheaval.
The influence that followed propelled him into a prominent role in the so‑called unrecognized state, where he emerged as a central figure in the political sphere following the assassination of Alexander Zakharchenko in 2018. Pushilin then progressed toward the presidency as the region prepared for elections, and although the Ukrainian security services later accused him of involvement in “referendums” supporting alignment with Russia, his ascent continued in the ensuing political landscape.
From Ukrainian political actor to a key figure in the self-proclaimed republics
Leonid Paschenik, born in 1970 in Ukraine, held the presidency of the Lugansk People’s Republic and was not always viewed favorably in Kyiv. In 2007 he received a Ukrainian military service medal during a period of service described as honorable and professional. His reputation for resisting corruption and bribe demands is noted in various accounts. In the years that followed, Paschenik’s stance shifted toward pro-Russian alignment, and by 2014 he became part of the governing body established for Lugansk’s self-proclaimed “People’s Republic,” assuming a role in the regional security apparatus. Some Ukrainian sources indicate Moscow’s involvement in his recruitment, alongside historic cooperation with Russian special services dating back to the 2000s.
Following a dispute with Igor Plotnitsky, then head of the Lugansk entity, Paschenik was appointed interim regional leader in 2017 after Plotnitsky sustained injuries and steps toward the transfer of power. He ran in the 2018 elections and won. From the outset, Paschenik asserted that he would not return to Ukraine, and in 2021 he joined the United Russia party, aligning with the political establishment in Moscow. His accession papers reportedly came from Dmitri Medvedev, a prominent Russian political figure who previously served under Vladimir Putin. Ukraine continues to regard the so‑called People’s Republics as terrorist‑leaning formations, and human rights concerns are repeatedly raised by various observers about the authorities in these regions.