On 20 January 2015 the Minister of Justice of the self-proclaimed Luhansk Peoples Republic issued an order banning the registration of independent trade unions. The first union to feel the effect of the ban was the Independent Miners Union, which applied on 16 January to register at the Barakov Coal Mine, but was denied registration under the terms of the new order.
The territory under the control of the Russian para-military forces of the Donetsk Peoples Republic and the Luhansk Peoples Republic has an appalling trade union rights record. Both the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine and the Confederation of Free Trade Unions have recorded extensive human rights violations against their unions. Miners’ wages and holidays have been cut, where wages are actually being paid. While existing trade unions are being banned, a number of yellow unions have been set up.