Pavel Gubarev

In the late 90s, Gubarev was a member of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, a pro-Russian party based in the southeast of the country.[4][5] According to an unnamed acquaintance, Gubarev advocated Pan-Slavism.[4] Between 1999-2001, Gubarev was a member of the neo-Nazi Russian National Unity paramilitary group, that later took part in the War in Donbas on the side of pro-Russian forces.[6][7][8][9] Gubarev has publicly given thanks to this group for providing him with military training. In the same interview he said he was not a radical nationalist and described himself as "centre-left".[10]

On 1 March 2014, pro-Russian citizens at a meeting in Lenin Square in the center of Donetsk elected Gubarev as governor of the region.[11] On 3 March 2014, Gubarev led pro-Russian protesters who blockaded and occupied the Donetsk Regional State Administration building.[12] During a press-conference with journalists on 6 March 2014, Gubarev stated that his main goal as the self-proclaimed governor was to declare a referendum on the territorial status of Donetsk Oblast, non-recognition of the new Ukrainian government, and non-recognition of Donetsk governor Serhiy Taruta.[13]

On 6 March 2014, the Security Service of Ukraine arrested Gubarev.[14] Following his arrest, Gubarev was reportedly taken to Kyiv for detention.[15] He was later charged with wanting to damage "the territorial integrity and independence of the state".[16] On 16 March, a crowd of protesters stormed government buildings in Donetsk demanding Gubarev's release.[17] On 7 May 2014, Gubarev and two other pro-Russian activists were freed in exchange for SBU officers, detained earlier by the Donbas People's Militia.[18][19] Gubarev appeared in then separatist-held Slavyansk to give a defiant speech on Victory Day, calling for all 'Ukrainian Nazis to be eliminated'. [20]

However, in the time of his detention, other senior separatist figures had emerged, notably Igor Girkin, and Alexander Borodai, meaning that freed, Gubarev had an uncertain position in the separatist hierarchy going forward. [21] With Borodai serving as Donetsk People's Republic Prime Minister, and Gubarev's 'People's Governor' post largely superseded, Gubarev took to mostly engaging himself in media activities, being effectively sidelined from any meaningful role in DPR affairs. [22] Gubarev was sanctioned by the United Kingdom on 25 July 2014 in relation to his actions from earlier in 2014.[23]

In October 2014, Gubarev's car came under gunfire in a planned attack. Gubarev lost control of the car, and sustained a head injury in the resulting crash.[24][25] Gubarev had planned to stand in November's 2014 Donbas parliamentary elections representing his Novorossiya party, however he excluded by the election commission from participating "because his party was not able to hold a founding conference".[22] This exclusion from the ballot effectively marked the end of Gubarev as a key player in the Donbas political scene.

After some time away from public life, in February 2016 Gubarev was appointed Yasynuvata Raion mayor by the Donetsk People's Republic, however he would only hold this position for a few months.[26] Following the death of Alexander Zakharchenko, there were elections in the Donetsk People's Republic on 11 November 2018.[27][28] Gubarev declared his desire to stand as a candidate for the post of head of the Donetsk People's Republic, however he was excluded after being accused of having forged signatures on his nomination papers, with it said that his candidacy had displeased Denis Pushilin, who at that time was acting head of the DNR, and favourite to take the post permanently, which he duly did.[29] This effectively marked the end of Gubarev's political career in the DNR, and he largely disappeared from public life afer that. His wife's political career would continue in Russian-controlled territories following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[30]

In 2022, Gubarev signed a short-term contract with the Russian Armed Forces, as a private, in order to participate in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[32] During his service there, he declared in an interview their goal to free from "possession" those who he considers to be Russians, even at the cost of killing them all, which would amount to genocide on Ukrainians.[31]

In May 2023, Gubarev became one of the leaders of the newly-founded Russian pro-war ultranationalist group the Club of Angry Patriots.[33]