Donetsk Clan

Donetsk Clan

Донецький клан
Donetsk clan leaders Rinat Akhmetov and Viktor Yanukovych (left and centre, respectively) with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
Founding location	Donetsk, Ukraine
Years active	1991 – 2014
Territory	Donbas, Ukraine
Ethnicity	Volga Tatars, Ukrainians, Russians
Leader(s)	Akhat Bragin (1991–1994), Rinat Akhmetov, Dmytro Firtash, Viktor Yanukovych
Activities	Corruption, drug trafficking, gambling, human trafficking, profiteering, prostitution, state capture
Allies	Solntsevskaya Bratva[1]
Rivals	Kyiv Seven, Dnipropetrovsk Mafia
Notable members	Mykola Azarov, Borys Kolesnikov, Oleksandr Yefremov

The Donetsk Clan (Ukrainian: Донецький клан, romanized: Donetskyi klan; Russian: Донецкий клан, romanized: Donetsky klan), also called the Donetsk Mafia,^[2] the Donetsk Family,^[3] or simply "The Family",^[3] was a group of Ukrainian oligarchs and members of the Ukrainian mafia active between the late Soviet period and the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, when the clan collapsed. Emerging from the nomenklatura of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, the Donetsk Clan formed one of the three main groupings of oligarchs during the presidency of Leonid Kuchma, alongside Viktor Medvedchuk's Kyiv Seven and Kuchma's own Dnipropetrovsk Mafia. In Kuchma's second term, the clan outplayed the other two groups, leading to the political rise of Viktor Yanukovych. Following Yanukovych's fall from power, the Donetsk Clan dissolved, though its members remained prominent in Ukraine.