Editing Donbas (section)

==== War in Donbas ====
{{main|War in Donbas (2014–2022)}}
[[File:Donbas (2015–2022).svg|thumb|400px|A map of the region during the frozen conflict phase of the Donbas war, from the conclusion of the [[Battle of Debaltseve]] in 2015 until the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]]
From the beginning of March 2014, demonstrations by [[Russophilia|pro-Russian]] and anti-government groups took place in the Donbas, as part of the aftermath of the [[Revolution of Dignity]] and the [[Euromaidan]] movement. These demonstrations, which followed the [[annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation]], and which were part of a wider group of [[2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine|concurrent pro-Russian protests across southern and eastern Ukraine]], escalated in April 2014 into [[War in Donbas (2014–2022)|a war]] between the Russian-backed [[Separatism|separatist forces]] of the self-declared [[Donetsk People's Republic|Donetsk]] and [[Luhansk People's Republic|Luhansk]] People's Republics (DPR and LPR respectively), and the [[Government of Ukraine|Ukrainian government]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/armed-pro-russian-insurgents-in-luhansk-say-they-are-ready-for-police-raid-343167.html |title=Armed pro-Russian insurgents in Luhansk say they are ready for police raid |work=Kyiv Post |date=12 April 2014 |last=Grytsenko |first=Oksana}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ukraine-special-forces-sent-eastern-city-retake-buildings-082049113.html |title=Ukraine to deploy troops to quash pro-Russian insurgency in the east |work=Yahoo News Canada |date=14 April 2014 |agency=Associated Press |last=Leonard |first=Peter |access-date=26 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414125950/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ukraine-special-forces-sent-eastern-city-retake-buildings-082049113.html |archive-date=14 April 2014 }}</ref>

Amid that conflict, the self-proclaimed republics held [[2014 Donbas status referendums|referendums]] on the status of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts on 11 May 2014. In the referendums, viewed as illegal by Ukraine and undemocratic by the international community, about 90% voted for the independence of the DPR and LPR.<ref name="wirearticle18599173">{{cite news | url=http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/05/referendum-on-self-rule-in-ukraine-passes-with-over-90-of-the-vote/362062/ | title=Referendum on Self-Rule in Ukraine 'Passes' with Over 90% of the Vote | work=The Wire | date=11 May 2014 | access-date=12 May 2014 | author=Wiener-Bronner, Daniel | archive-date=4 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070829/http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/05/referendum-on-self-rule-in-ukraine-passes-with-over-90-of-the-vote/362062/ | url-status=dead }}<br />{{cite news | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/controversial-independence-votes-add-to-ukrainian-instability/article18599173/ | title=Ukraine denounces pro-Russian referendums | work=The Globe and Mail | date=11 May 2014 | access-date=12 May 2014 }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|The Russian word used, ''самостоятельность'', (''samostoyatel'nost'') (literally "standing by oneself"), can be translated as either full independence or broad autonomy, which left voters confused about what their ballot actually meant.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/10/donetsk-referendum-ukraine-civil-war East Ukraine goes to the polls for independence referendum | The Observer]. ''The Guardian''. 10 May 2014.</ref><ref name="wirearticle18599173"/>}}

The initial protests in the Donbas were largely native expressions of discontent with the new Ukrainian government.<ref name="de">{{Cite report |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1400/RR1498/RAND_RR1498.pdf |title=Lessons from Russia's Operations in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine |last1=Kofman |first1=Michael |last2=Migacheva |first2=Katya |publisher=Rand Corporation |location=Santa Monica |pages=33–34 |last3=Nichiporuk |first3=Brian |last4=Radin |first4=Andrew |last5=Tkacheva |first5=Olesya |last6=Oberholtzer |first6=Jenny |year=2017}}</ref> Russian involvement at this stage was limited to its voicing of support for the demonstrations. The emergence of the separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk began as a small fringe group of the protesters, independent of Russian control.<ref name="de" /><ref name="wil234">{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=Andrew |date=20 April 2016 |title=The Donbas in 2014: Explaining Civil Conflict Perhaps, but not Civil War |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |language=en |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=631–652 |doi=10.1080/09668136.2016.1176994 |issn=0966-8136 |s2cid=148334453}}</ref> This unrest, however, only evolved into an armed conflict because of Russian military backing for what had been a marginal group as part of the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]]. The conflict was thus, in the words of historian Hiroaki Kuromiya, "secretly engineered and cleverly camouflaged by outsiders".<ref name=sdsd238>{{cite web |last=Kuromiya |first=Hiroaki |title=The Enigma of the Donbas: How to Understand Its Past and Future |url=https://www.historians.in.ua/index.php/en/dyskusiya/1597-hiroaki-kuromiya-the-enigma-of-the-donbas-how-to-understand-its-past-and-future |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=historians.in.ua}}</ref>

There was limited support for separatism in the Donbas before the outbreak of the war, and little evidence of support for an armed uprising.<ref name="wil9">{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=Andrew |date=20 April 2016 |title=The Donbas in 2014: Explaining Civil Conflict Perhaps, but not Civil War |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |language=en |volume=68 |issue=4 |page=641 |doi=10.1080/09668136.2016.1176994 |issn=0966-8136 |s2cid=148334453}}</ref> Russian claims that Russian speakers in the Donbas were being persecuted or even subjected to "[[genocide]]" by the Ukrainian government, forcing its hand to intervene, were deemed false by [[Voice of America]].<ref name=sdsd238/><ref>{{cite web |title=Defending Ukraine Threat, Putin Regurgitates Misleading 'Genocide' Claim |url=https://www.polygraph.info/a/fact-check-defending-ukraine-threat-putin-regurgitates-misleading-genocide-claim/31710603.html |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=Polygraph.info |date=18 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:OSCE SMM monitoring the movement of heavy weaponry in eastern Ukraine (16544083798).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Ukrainian troops in the Donbas, March 2015]]
Fighting continued through the summer of 2014, and by August 2014, the Ukrainian "Anti-Terrorist Operation" was able to vastly shrink the territory under the control of the pro-Russian forces, and came close to regaining control of the Russo-Ukrainian border.<ref name="de4">{{Cite report |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1400/RR1498/RAND_RR1498.pdf |title=Lessons from Russia's Operations in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine |last1=Kofman |first1=Michael |last2=Migacheva |first2=Katya |publisher=Rand Corporation |location=Santa Monica |pages=44 |last3=Nichiporuk |first3=Brian |last4=Radin |first4=Andrew |last5=Tkacheva |first5=Olesya |last6=Oberholtzer |first6=Jenny |year=2017}}</ref> In response to the deteriorating situation in the Donbas, Russia abandoned what has been called its "[[hybrid war]]" approach, and began [[War in Donbas (2014–2022)#August 2014 invasion by Russian forces|a conventional invasion]] of the region.<ref name=de4/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Snyder |first=Timothy |title=The road to unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America |date=3 April 2018 |isbn=978-0-525-57446-0 |edition=First |location=New York |page=191 |oclc=1029484935}}</ref> As a result of the Russian invasion, DPR and LPR insurgents regained much of the territory they had lost during the Ukrainian government's preceding military offensive.<ref name="Katchanovski2016">{{Cite journal | author=[[Ivan Katchanovski]] |date=1 October 2016 |title=The Separatist War in Donbas: A Violent Break-up of Ukraine? |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299383810 |journal=European Politics and Society |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=473–489 |doi=10.1080/23745118.2016.1154131 |issn=2374-5118 |s2cid=155890093}}</ref>

Only this Russian intervention prevented an immediate Ukrainian resolution to the conflict.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Freedman |first=Lawrence |date=2 November 2014 |title=Ukraine and the Art of Limited War |journal=Survival |language=en |volume=56 |issue=6 |page=13 |doi=10.1080/00396338.2014.985432 |issn=0039-6338 |s2cid=154981360|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="wil3">{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=Andrew |date=20 April 2016 |title=The Donbas in 2014: Explaining Civil Conflict Perhaps, but not Civil War |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |language=en |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=634, 649 |doi=10.1080/09668136.2016.1176994 |issn=0966-8136 |s2cid=148334453}}</ref><ref name="myk22">{{Cite journal |last=Mykhnenko |first=Vlad |date=15 March 2020 |title=Causes and Consequences of the War in Eastern Ukraine: An Economic Geography Perspective |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=528–560 |doi=10.1080/09668136.2019.1684447 |issn=0966-8136 |doi-access=free|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:88084b93-3b36-47d2-9e09-57bf1ad3c270/files/rhd76s011c }}</ref> This forced the Ukrainian side to seek the signing of a ceasefire agreement.<ref>{{cite web |title=The background to the Minsk agreements |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/05/minsk-conundrum-western-policy-and-russias-war-eastern-ukraine-0/background-minsk |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank |language=en}}</ref> Called the [[Minsk Protocol]], this was signed on 5 September 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Minsk-1 agreement |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/05/minsk-conundrum-western-policy-and-russias-war-eastern-ukraine-0/minsk-1-agreement |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank |language=en}}</ref> As this failed to stop the fighting, another agreement, called [[Minsk II]] was signed on 12 February 2015.<ref name=sdsd46899>{{cite web |title=The Minsk-2 agreement |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/05/minsk-conundrum-western-policy-and-russias-war-eastern-ukraine-0/minsk-2-agreement |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank |language=en}}</ref> This agreement called for the eventual reintegration of the Donbas republics into Ukraine, with a level of autonomy.<ref name=sdsd46899/> The aim of the Russian intervention in the Donbas was to establish pro-Russian governments that, upon reincorporation into Ukraine, would facilitate Russian interference in Ukrainian politics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Conclusions |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/05/minsk-conundrum-western-policy-and-russias-war-eastern-ukraine-0/conclusions |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank |language=en}}</ref> The Minsk agreements were thus highly favourable to the Russian side, as their implementation would accomplish these goals.<ref name="de456">{{Cite report |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1400/RR1498/RAND_RR1498.pdf |title=Lessons from Russia's Operations in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine |last1=Kofman |first1=Michael |last2=Migacheva |first2=Katya |publisher=Rand Corporation |location=Santa Monica |pages=45–46 |last3=Nichiporuk |first3=Brian |last4=Radin |first4=Andrew |last5=Tkacheva |first5=Olesya |last6=Oberholtzer |first6=Jenny |year=2017}}</ref>

The conflict led to a vast exodus from the Donbas: half the region's population were forced to flee their homes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuznetsova |first=Irina |date=2020-03-15 |title=To Help 'Brotherly People'? Russian Policy Towards Ukrainian Refugees |url=http://pure-oai.bham.ac.uk/ws/files/94041001/Kuznetsova_To_help_brotherly_people_Russian_policy_towards_Ukrainian_refugees_.pdf |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=505–527 |doi=10.1080/09668136.2020.1719044 |s2cid=216252795 |issn=0966-8136}}</ref> A [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|UN OHCHR]] report released on 3 March 2016 stated that, since the conflict broke out in 2014, the Ukrainian government registered 1.6 million internally displaced people who had fled the Donbas to other parts of Ukraine.<ref name="OHCHR232">{{Cite book |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_13th_HRMMU_Report_3March2016.pdf |title=Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 November 2015 to 15 February 2016 |date=3 March 2016 |publisher=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |access-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> Over 1 million were said to have fled elsewhere, mostly to Russia. At the time of the report, 2.7 million people were said to continue to live in areas under DPR and LPR control,<ref name="OHCHR232"/> comprising about one-third of the Donbas.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Seddon |first1=Max |last2=Chazan |first2=Guy |last3=Foy |first3=Henry |date=2022-02-22 |title=Putin backs separatist claims to whole Donbas region of Ukraine |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/09fb49b9-c611-4b19-b1ee-3fd2cbdf44fc |access-date=2022-03-04}}</ref>

Despite the Minsk agreements, low-intensity fighting along the line of contact between Ukrainian government and Russian-controlled areas continued until 2022. Since the start of the conflict there have been 29 ceasefires, each intended to remain in force indefinitely, but none of them stopped the violence.<ref name="7265424Donbass">{{Cite web |date=2020-09-07 |title=Найдовше перемир'я на Донбасі. Чи воно існує насправді |trans-title=The longest truce in Donbas. Does it really exist |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2020/09/7/7265424/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=[[Ukrainska Pravda]] |language=uk}}</ref><ref name="tass1038447">[http://tass.com/world/1038447 New Year ceasefire enters into force in Donbass], [[TASS]] (29 December 2018)</ref><ref name="tass.com/world/1027270">{{Cite news |date=23 October 2018 |title=Four DPR servicemen killed in shellings by Ukrainian troops in past week |agency=[[Information Telegraph Agency of Russia]] |url=http://tass.com/world/1027270 |access-date=28 October 2018}}</ref> This led the war to be referred to as a "[[frozen conflict]]".<ref name="REU21JAN22">{{Cite news |date=21 January 2015 |title=Ukraine accuses separatists of abusing Minsk deal with land grab |work=Reuters |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-klimkin-idINKBN0KT1VD20150120 |access-date=22 January 2015 |archive-date=21 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321080308/http://in.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-klimkin-idINKBN0KT1VD20150120 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
On 11 January 2017, the Ukrainian government approved a plan to reintegrate the occupied part of the Donbas and its population into Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://uacrisis.org/51835-reintegration|title=Government's plan for the reintegration of Donbas: the pros, cons and alternatives {{!}} UACRISIS.ORG|date=2017-01-24|newspaper=[:en]Ukraine crisis media center [:ua]Український кризовий медіа-центр <!--[:fr]Ukraine crisis media center [:de]Ukrainisches Krisen-Medienzentrum [:ru]Украинский кризисный медиа-центр [:es]Ukraine crisis media center [:it]Ukraine crisis media center [:pt]Ukraine crisis media center[:]-->|access-date=2017-02-19|language=en-US}}</ref> The plan would give Russian-backed political entities partial control of the electorate and has been described by ''[[Zerkalo Nedeli]]'' as "implanting a cancerous cell into Ukraine's body."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21716632-reintegrating-donbas-starting-look-russian-trap-ukraines-leaders-may-be-giving-up|title=Ukraine's leaders may be giving up on reuniting the country|newspaper=The Economist|date=11 February 2017|access-date=2017-02-19}}</ref> This was never implemented, and was subject to public protest.

A 2018 survey by [[Rating (sociological group)|Sociological Group "Rating"]] of residents of the Ukrainian-controlled parts of the Donbas found that 82% of respondents believed there was no discrimination against Russian-speaking people in Ukraine.<ref name=ratin2>{{Cite report |url=https://texty.org.ua/fragments/64483/Sociologija_ideji_ruskogo_myru_v_neokupovanomu_Donbasi-64483/| title=Соціологія: ідеї руського миру в неокупованому Донбасі скоріше маргінальні |date=13 January 2016 |publisher=Sociological Group "Rating"|lang=Ukrainian}}</ref> Only 11% saw some evidence of discrimination.<ref name=ratin2/> The same survey also found that 71% of respondents did not support Russia's military intervention to "protect" the Russian-speaking population, with only 9% offering support for that action.<ref name=ratin2/> Another survey by Rating, conducted in 2019, found that only 23% of those Ukrainians polled supported granting the Donbas autonomous status,<ref name="sdshjhh5">{{Cite news |date=2 October 2019 |title=ATTITUDES OF UKRAINIANS TOWARDS THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES ISSUE SOLUTION |work=Sociological Group "Rating" |url=https://ratinggroup.ua/en/research/ukraine/otnoshenie_ukraincev_k_resheniyu_voprosa_okkupirovannyh_territoriy.html |access-date=2022-03-03}}</ref> whilst 34% supported a ceasefire and "freezing" the conflict, 23% supported military action to recover the occupied Donbas territories, and 6% supported separating these territories from Ukraine.<ref name="sdshjhh5"/>