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War in Donbas

The war in Donbas,[c] or Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the Donbas region of Ukraine. The war began in April 2014, when a commando unit headed by Russian citizen Igor Girkin seized Sloviansk in Donetsk oblast.[20][21][22][23] The Ukrainian military launched an operation against them.[24][25] The war continued until subsumed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[26]

For other uses, see Battle of Donbas (disambiguation).

In March 2014, following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, anti-revolution and pro-Russian protests began in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, collectively 'the Donbas'. These began as Russia invaded Crimea. Armed Russian-backed separatists seized Ukrainian government buildings and declared the Donetsk and Luhansk republics (DPR and LPR) as independent states, leading to conflict with Ukrainian forces.[27] Russia covertly supported the separatists with troops and weaponry. It only admitted sending "military specialists",[28][29] but later acknowledged the separatists as Russian combat veterans.[30] In April 2014, Ukraine launched a counter-offensive, called the "Anti-Terrorist Operation"[31] (ATO), later renamed the "Joint Forces Operation" (JFO).[32][33] By August 2014, Ukraine had re-taken most separatist-held territory and nearly regained control of the Russia–Ukraine border.[34] In response, Russia covertly sent troops, tanks and artillery into the Donbas.[35][36][37] The Russian incursion helped pro-Russian forces regain much of the territory they had lost.[32][38][39]


Ukraine, Russia, the DPR and LPR signed a ceasefire agreement, the Minsk Protocol, in September 2014.[40] Ceasefire breaches became rife, 29 in all,[41] and heavy fighting resumed in January 2015, during which the separatists captured Donetsk Airport. A new ceasefire, Minsk II, was agreed on 12 February 2015. Immediately after, separatists renewed their offensive on Debaltseve and forced Ukraine's military to withdraw.[42] Skirmishes continued but the front line did not change. Both sides fortified their position by building networks of trenches, bunkers and tunnels, resulting in static trench warfare.[43][44] Stalemate led to the war being called a "frozen conflict",[45] but Donbas remained a war zone, with dozens killed monthly.[46] In 2017, on average a Ukrainian soldier died every three days,[47] with an estimated 40,000 separatist and 6,000 Russian troops in the region.[48][49] By the end of 2017, OSCE observers had counted around 30,000 people in military gear crossing from Russia at the two border checkpoints it was allowed to monitor,[50] and documented military convoys crossing from Russia covertly.[51] All sides agreed to a roadmap for ending the war in October 2019,[52] but it remained unresolved.[53][54] During 2021, Ukrainian fatalities rose sharply and Russian forces massed around Ukraine's borders.[55] Russia recognized the DPR and LPR as independent states on 21 February 2022 and deployed troops to those territories. On 24 February, Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, subsuming the war in Donbas into it.


About 14,000 people were killed in the war: 6,500 Russian and Russian proxy forces, 4,400 Ukrainian forces, and 3,400 civilians on both sides.[17] Most civilian casualties were in the first year.[17]

Control gas shipments to Ukraine (in the past few years, it had twice turned off the flow of gas to the country to force the hands of Ukrainian leaders);

Manipulate the price of gas to Ukraine's fiscal disadvantage;

Arbitrarily impose trade restrictions on Ukrainian exports;

Flood Ukraine with television propaganda highlighting alleged Western interference in Ukraine's internal affairs;

Infiltrate Ukrainian security forces to stage provocations that would discredit the opposition;

Stir up secessionist sentiment in Russian-speaking areas such as Crimea and Donetsk.

Reactions

Ukrainian public opinion

A national survey held in March-April 2014 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 31% of respondents in the Donbas wanted the region to separate from Ukraine, while 58% wanted autonomy within Ukraine.[66] A September 2014 International Republican Institute poll of the Ukrainian public (excluding those in Russian-annexed Crimea) had 89% of respondents opposing Russian intervention in Ukraine.[644] As broken down by region, 78% of those polled from Eastern Ukraine (including Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) opposed the intervention, along with 89% in Southern Ukraine, 93% in Central Ukraine, and 99% in Western Ukraine.[644] As broken down by native language, 79% of Russian speakers and 95% of Ukrainian speakers opposed the intervention. 80% of those polled said that Ukraine should remain a unitary country.[644]


56% of those polled said that Russia should pay for the reconstruction of the Donbas, whereas 32% said Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts should pay. 59% of those polled said that they supported the government military operation in the Donbas, whereas 33% said that they opposed it. 73% of respondents said that the war in the Donbas was one of the three most important issues facing Ukraine.[644]


A poll conducted by the same institute in 2017 showed that 80% of Ukrainians nationally and 73% of people from the Ukrainian-controlled areas of Donbas believed the separatist republics should remain as part of Ukraine. Around 60% of the people polled did not believe Ukraine was doing enough to regain the lost territories because of the Minsk agreements.[645]


A joint poll done by Levada and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology from September to October 2020 found that in the breakaway regions controlled by the DPR/LPR, over half of the respondents wanted to join Russia (either with or without some autonomous status) while less than one-tenth wanted independence and 12% wanted reintegration into Ukraine. It contrasted with respondents in Kyiv-controlled Donbas, where a vast majority felt the separatist regions should be returned to Ukraine.[646] According to results from Levada in January 2022, roughly 70% of those in the breakaway regions said their territories should become part of Russia.[647]

Outline of the Russo-Ukrainian War

December 2015 Ukraine power grid cyberattack

2017 cyberattacks on Ukraine

Little green men (Russo-Ukrainian War)

Military history of the Russian Federation

Bowen, Andrew (2017). "Coercive Diplomacy and the Donbas: Explaining Russian Strategy in Eastern Ukraine". Journal of Strategic Studies. 42 (3–4): 312–343. :10.1080/01402390.2017.1413550. S2CID 158522112.

doi

Ivanov, O. (2016). Social Background of the Military Conflict in Ukraine: Regional cleavages and geopolitical orientations. Social, Health, And Communication Studies Journal, 2(1), 52–73. Retrieved 26 June 2017.

by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

12 May 2014 report on human rights and minority rights situation in Ukraine

by the OHCHR

15 July 2014 Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine

in Donbas by Human Rights Watch

28 August 2014 report on claims of war crimes by the insurgents

by the OHCHR

15 November 2014 Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine

by the OHCHR

1 December 2014 to 15 February 2015 Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine