Leonid Ivanovich Pasechnik (born 15 March 1970) was head of the Luhansk People's Republic from 21 November 2017, succeeding Igor Plotnitsky.
Biography[]
Leonid Ivanovich Pasechnik was born in Voroshilovgrad, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (present-day Luhansk, Ukraine) in 1970, and he worked for the Security Service of Ukraine in Luhansk Oblast, in which position he fought against contraband operations during the 2000s. In 2014, he sided with the pro-Russian militants during the Donbass War, serving as Minister of the Security Service of the Luhansk People's Republic from 2014 to 2017. After Igor Plotnitsky was severely wounded in combat, Pasechnik succeeded him as head of the LPR in November 2017, and, on 6 December 2021, he formally joined the United Russia party whilst also leading the Peace for Lugansk Region party.