DONBASS PEOPLE'S MILITIA T-Shirt

The United Armed Forces of Novorossiya (Russian: Объединённые Вооруженные Силы Новороссии), formerly the Donbass People's Militia (Russian: "Наро́дное ополче́ние Донба́сса") and the Army of the South-East (Russian: "А́рмия Ю́го-Восто́ка"), are both militias and armed volunteer groups affiliated with the Federal State of Novorossiya. It is regarded as a terrorist group by the Ukrainian government, and are often viewed as criminal gangs for their behaviour. When it was called "Donbass People's Militia", it was mostly active in the Donetsk Oblast. The militia was formed by Pavel Gubarev, who was elected "People's Governor" of Donetsk Oblast by pro-Russian protesters. Since then, it has fought a war against the Ukrainian government in the Donbass region of Ukraine. The militia was accused by the Ukrainian government and international community of culpability in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on 17 July 2014. The armed wing of the Lugansk People's Republic, the Army of the South-East, was merged into the militia on 16 September 2014, forming the "United Armed Forces of Novorossiya".