Since the outbreak of the armed conflict in the east of Ukraine in 2014, the Kremlin-backed and so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has undertaken several steps to assert its claim to statehood. As Coda has reported, that effort has included cultivating European politicians, and back in 2016 we profiled the DPR’s “honorary consul” to Czechia. 

But since then, the effort to open embassies has advanced considerably, and six “representation centers” now exist in five European countries.

The Czech Republic, Greece, France, Finland, and Italy now have DPR representation centers and in May, authorities in the DRP announced plans to open several more, with Austria, Belgium, Serbia, Germany, Norway and Turkey among their potential locations.

While none of the officials at the centers responded to interview requests, documents published on the website of the DPR’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs outline the objectives of the foreign offices. “International legal recognition and joining the United Nations,” are among the DPR’s stated objectives, according to one document published last March.