Vladimir Petrovich Kononov is a former defence minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, serving from August 15, 2014 after the resignation of Igor Girkin until October 1, 2018.

Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, also known by the alias Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, is a Russian political prisoner, army veteran and former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer who played a key role in the Russian annexation of Crimea, and then in the Donbas War as an organizer of militant groups in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).