Historical and legal features of the formation of the state sovereignty of Donetsk People's Republic in 1917–1919

The article is devoted to the historical and legal features and origins of the formation of the state sovereignty of Donetsk People's Republic (hereinafter the DPR). The problem of the formation of the state sovereignty of the DPR is multifaceted and in many ways unique. Today, there is a shortage of special studies, and the available works are rather fragmentary, concentrating on certain aspects of the problem. Fundamentally important issues of methodological, theoretical and practical orientation are practically deprived of scientific attention. Based on the involvement of a set of documents of a political and legal nature, the author analysed the existing in 1917–1919 various state-political projects on the territory of the modern DPR. Analysing the historical and legal features and origins of the formation of the state sovereignty of the DPR, it seems appropriate appeal to historical and legal methods of research. The methodological guidelines are substantiated by the interdisciplinary nature of the issue, which allows comprehensively considering specific phenomena, taking a fresh look at the already established and interconnected facts and events in the region. It allows us to more accurately place legal assessments from the standpoint of the past state of its form, content and essence, as well as through the prism of modern understanding. The analysis of the materials allowed coming to a number of conclusions and making some generalisations. The purpose of the article is to attempt to analyse the historical and legal features and origins of the formation of the DPR state sovereignty based on the involvement of documents of a political and legal nature, affecting the period 1917–1919.