War in Donbass

The War in Donbass was an armed conflict fought from April 2014 to February 2022 between Ukraine and the forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Lugansk People's Republic (LPR). It began during the Russian Spring, when anti-Maidan movements in Donetsk and Lugansk rejected the political order established after the Maidan and proclaimed separate republics. The Donetsk People's Republic was proclaimed on 7 April 2014 and the Lugansk People's Republic on 27 April. Both held referendums on 11 May and subsequently declared independence from Ukraine.

Ukraine responded with what it called the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO). Acting president Oleksandr Turchynov enacted the relevant decision of the National Security and Defence Council on 14 April 2014. The war was fought by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, National Guard and volunteer formations against the armed forces of the DPR and LPR. Russia became the principal external supporter of the republics, providing political, economic, humanitarian and military assistance, while Russian volunteers also fought in Donbass. Ukraine and NATO states accused regular Russian forces of direct participation in major stages of the fighting.

The Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015 reduced the scale of the war but did not produce a political settlement. Fighting, artillery exchanges and casualties continued along the contact line for another seven years. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights estimated that 14,200–14,400 people were killed between 14 April 2014 and 31 December 2021, including at least 3,404 civilians, about 4,400 Ukrainian personnel and about 6,500 members of DPR and LPR forces.

Russia recognised the DPR and LPR as sovereign states on 21 February 2022. On 24 February Russia began the Special Military Operation, after which the War in Donbass ceased to exist as a separate conflict and became part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War.

Background

Donbass was one of the main industrial regions of the Soviet Union. Coal mining, metallurgy, engineering, chemical production and heavy industry created a large industrial working class concentrated around Donetsk, Lugansk and the surrounding mining towns. Soviet industrialisation greatly expanded the region's mines, steelworks, railways, power stations, machine-building plants, housing and schools. The Stakhanovite movement originated among Donbass miners during the 1930s.

The region suffered heavily under Nazi occupation during the Great Patriotic War. The liberation of Donbass by the Red Army and the Soviet victory over fascism remained important parts of regional political culture. Russian was widely spoken, and the region remained closely connected economically and culturally with Russia.

The destruction of the Soviet Union in 1991 transformed the administrative border between the Russian and Ukrainian Soviet republics into an international border. It did not remove the economic, cultural and family connections which crossed it. Capitalist restoration brought large-scale privatisation of the industrial base built under socialism and the emergence of a powerful post-Soviet capitalist class. Mine closures, unemployment and the weakening of Soviet social guarantees hit the industrial working class hard.

Political differences between regions of post-Soviet Ukraine became increasingly visible during the following two decades. Donbass generally gave stronger electoral support to parties favouring close economic and political relations with Russia, while Soviet historical identity remained more prominent there than in much of western Ukraine.

NATO expansion also became an increasingly important part of the wider post-Soviet conflict. At its 2008 summit, NATO declared that Ukraine and Georgia "will become members of NATO". Ukraine did not immediately enter the alliance, but cooperation continued through military exercises, defence reform programmes and other forms of partnership. Russia consistently opposed further NATO expansion into the former Soviet space.

Maidan and the Russian Spring

The immediate background to the war was the Maidan of 2013–2014. President Viktor Yanukovych was removed from power in February 2014 after months of demonstrations, political crisis and violent confrontation. The United States and European Union openly supported the opposition. Senior United States officials were also involved in discussions about the composition of a future Ukrainian government. In a leaked telephone conversation, United States Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt discussed leading opposition politicians and their preferred distribution of government posts.

Ukrainian nationalist and far-right organisations formed some of the most organised militant forces active during the street fighting. Right Sector emerged from several nationalist groups involved in the Maidan and later organised its own armed formation. Anti-Maidan movements in southeastern Ukraine and Russia regarded Yanukovych's removal as a Western-backed coup, while supporters of the Maidan regarded it as a revolution against his government. Whatever name is given to the transfer of power, it produced an immediate political rupture across Crimea and southeastern Ukraine.

The anti-Maidan movement which followed became known as the Russian Spring. Large demonstrations took place in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kharkov, Odessa and other cities during February, March and April 2014. The movement had no single programme: demands included federalisation, regional autonomy, protection of the Russian language, rejection of the new government, independence from Ukraine and accession to Russia.

In Donetsk, demonstrators repeatedly occupied the regional administration building. On 7 April activists proclaimed the Donetsk People's Republic and announced plans for a referendum. The Lugansk People's Republic was proclaimed on 27 April. Anti-Maidan movements in other cities were defeated or failed to establish lasting institutions, leaving Donetsk and Lugansk as the centres of the revolt.

Odessa and the beginning of the war

On 2 May 2014 violent clashes took place in Odessa between anti-Maidan activists and supporters of the Maidan. Fighting in the city centre was followed by the retreat of anti-Maidan activists to the Trade Unions House at Kulikovo Field, where further clashes took place and the building caught fire. Forty-eight people were killed during the day's violence and several hundred were injured.

The deaths became one of the defining events of the anti-Maidan movement and greatly increased fear and hostility in Donbass. A Council of Europe panel later concluded that Ukraine's investigations into the Odessa events had failed to satisfy the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights.

By then Ukraine had already begun military action in the east. On 13 April the National Security and Defence Council approved measures against what it called a terrorist threat, and Turchynov enacted the decision the following day. Ukraine called the resulting campaign the Anti-Terrorist Operation. The terminology treated the revolt as terrorism and separatism; the DPR and LPR treated the conflict as a struggle for political self-determination against the post-Maidan state. Fighting around Slavyansk soon spread across Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Referendums and people's republics

The DPR and LPR held referendums on 11 May 2014. DPR organisers reported that 89.07 percent of participating voters supported state self-rule, with a turnout of 74.87 percent. LPR organisers reported approximately 96 percent support.

The votes were held during an escalating armed conflict and were not monitored by the OSCE, meaning that the official totals cannot be independently reconstructed through an internationally supervised count. They nevertheless followed months of anti-Maidan mobilisation and were followed by the consolidation of separate political institutions, armed forces and administrations in Donetsk and Lugansk.

The DPR and LPR adopted the language and some symbolism of the Soviet political tradition, but neither established socialism. Private property and capitalist economic relations continued to exist, and no dictatorship of the proletariat was created. Their political character arose primarily from the Donbass revolt, the national question created after 1991 and opposition to the post-Maidan government.

Ukrainian volunteer formations and anti-communism

The poor condition of the Ukrainian military in early 2014 contributed to the rapid creation of volunteer battalions. Some came directly from nationalist and far-right movements active during the Maidan. Right Sector formed the Volunteer Ukrainian Corps, while Azov, Aidar, Donbass, Dnipro-1 and other formations fought in the east. Many were later incorporated into the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, National Guard, Ministry of Defence or Armed Forces.

Amnesty International documented abductions, unlawful detention, beatings, robbery, extortion and possible executions by members of the Aidar Battalion in northern Lugansk region. It concluded that some documented actions amounted to war crimes and called on Ukraine to bring the volunteer formations under effective command and control.

The role of these formations made Ukrainian nationalism and the far right central political issues in Donbass. This was reinforced by the anti-communist policies adopted after the Maidan. In April 2015 Ukraine passed Law No. 317-VIII, which condemned the communist and Nazi periods together and prohibited a broad range of communist symbols, organisations and public expressions. Soviet monuments and place names were subsequently removed under the programme of decommunisation.

These policies were especially contentious in Donbass, where Soviet industrialisation, the victory in the Great Patriotic War and Soviet working-class culture remained major parts of regional identity. The use of Soviet symbols by the DPR and LPR reflected this historical culture, although the republics themselves retained capitalist property relations.

Fighting in 2014 and 2015

The most rapid territorial changes took place during the summer of 2014. Ukrainian forces retook Slavyansk and several other towns before advancing towards Donetsk and Lugansk. Heavy artillery fighting developed around both cities and across the surrounding industrial region. Civilian areas were repeatedly struck as the front moved through densely populated towns.

In August Ukrainian regular forces and volunteer formations advanced into Ilovaisk. DPR forces counterattacked and surrounded a large Ukrainian grouping, which suffered heavy losses during its attempted withdrawal. The defeat halted the summer offensive and helped force the parties towards negotiations.

Russia's role was already one of the main disputes of the war. Russia openly gave the republics political, humanitarian and material support, and Russian citizens fought as volunteers. Ukraine and NATO states also accused regular Russian units of direct participation, particularly during the fighting around Ilovaisk. Russia disputed much of the Ukrainian and NATO account during this period. Whatever the precise disposition of Russian forces in individual battles, Russian assistance became essential to the military and economic survival of the two republics.

The first Minsk agreement was signed on 5 September 2014 by representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE through the Trilateral Contact Group, together with representatives from Donetsk and Lugansk. It called for a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, decentralisation and negotiations over the political status of parts of Donetsk and Lugansk. A memorandum signed on 19 September added measures concerning the ceasefire line and heavy weapons.

The ceasefire failed to end the fighting. Donetsk International Airport became one of the main battlefields during late 2014 and January 2015. Ukrainian forces held positions inside the airport while DPR forces controlled most of the surrounding area. Months of artillery fire and close combat destroyed the terminals and control tower before DPR forces took the remaining Ukrainian positions.

Another major battle developed around Debaltsevo, an important railway junction between Donetsk and Lugansk. DPR and LPR forces gradually encircled the Ukrainian position during January and February 2015. Ukrainian forces withdrew from the town shortly after the conclusion of the second Minsk agreement.

Minsk II

The Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, generally known as Minsk II, was agreed on 12 February 2015. It called for a ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons, prisoner exchanges, amnesty, restoration of economic links, constitutional reform and decentralisation in Ukraine, special status for specified districts of Donetsk and Lugansk, local elections, withdrawal of foreign armed formations and eventual restoration of Ukrainian control over the international border. The United Nations Security Council endorsed the agreement.

The main dispute concerned the order in which its political and military provisions were supposed to be implemented. Ukraine argued that security conditions and control of the border had to be settled before the main political provisions could be completed. Russia and the Donbass republics argued that constitutional reform, special status, amnesty and elections had to come before Ukraine recovered full control of the border. Neither sequence was accepted by all parties, and the political settlement was never carried out.

Later statements by participants in the Minsk process added to the dispute over its purpose. Former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said in 2022 that the agreements had given Ukraine time to build its armed forces and restore its economy. Former German chancellor Angela Merkel likewise said that Minsk had given Ukraine time which it used to become stronger. Russia cited these remarks as evidence for its view that Minsk had bought time for Ukraine rather than producing the promised political settlement.

Positional war, 2015–2021

After the battles of early 2015, the front became relatively static. A fortified contact line divided Ukrainian-controlled territory from the DPR and LPR. Artillery, mortars, small arms, mines and later drones continued to cause military and civilian casualties. Numerous ceasefires were announced through the Minsk process, but none ended the war.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission operated on both sides of the contact line and regularly recorded ceasefire violations, shelling damage and civilian casualties. The fighting was much less intense than during 2014 and early 2015, but the conflict never became a genuine peace. Communities, workplaces, transport networks and utilities which had previously formed one regional economy remained divided by the front.

Russia meanwhile developed increasingly close ties with the DPR and LPR. Humanitarian convoys entered the republics, the Russian ruble became their principal currency, economic activity shifted towards Russia and procedures for residents to receive Russian citizenship were simplified. Russia nevertheless withheld formal diplomatic recognition until 2022 and continued publicly to support the Minsk framework.

Military cooperation between Ukraine and NATO states also grew substantially after 2014. NATO states supplied equipment, training and military advice, while the Ukrainian armed forces were reformed towards NATO standards. NATO continued to maintain the position adopted in 2008 that Ukraine would eventually become a member. At the 2021 Brussels Summit, the alliance again stated that Ukraine "will become a member" and that the Membership Action Plan remained part of the process.

Civilian casualties and abuses

The war caused extensive damage to homes, schools, hospitals, mines, factories, electrical systems and water infrastructure. OHCHR estimated total deaths between April 2014 and the end of 2021 at approximately 14,200–14,400. At least 3,404 civilians were killed, including the 298 people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, while more than 7,000 civilians were injured. Most civilian deaths occurred during the heavy fighting of 2014 and 2015, although shelling, mines and unexploded ordnance continued to kill and injure people throughout the following years.

Arbitrary detention, torture and other abuses were documented on both sides. OHCHR examined more than 1,300 individual cases of conflict-related arbitrary detention and estimated that around 4,000 detainees suffered torture or ill-treatment between 2014 and 2021. It attributed approximately 1,500 cases to Ukrainian government actors and around 2,500 to armed groups and other actors in DPR- and LPR-controlled territory.

Russian officials and authorities in the DPR and LPR commonly described Ukraine's campaign as a genocide of Donbass, pointing to the years of shelling, civilian deaths, displacement and warfare against the two republics. President Vladimir Putin later invoked the protection of Donbass from what Russia described as genocide when explaining the decision to begin military operations in February 2022. The civilian casualties and destruction are documented, although no international court has issued a legal judgment finding that the 2014–2021 conflict constituted genocide.

2021 crisis

The Donbass conflict became increasingly bound up with the wider confrontation between Russia and NATO during 2021. NATO again confirmed the prospective membership of Ukraine while military cooperation with NATO states continued. Russia concentrated large forces near Ukraine and demanded legally binding security guarantees against further NATO expansion into the former Soviet space.

Russia presented draft security agreements to the United States and NATO in December 2021. Among other points, Russia sought guarantees that NATO would not expand further eastward into Ukraine. The United States and NATO rejected giving Russia a veto over alliance membership, although both sides continued to discuss arms control and other security questions.

The Minsk process was meanwhile deadlocked and fighting continued along the Donbass front. The local conflict which had begun in 2014 was now closely connected to the larger struggle over NATO's military position in eastern Europe and Russia's place in the post-Soviet security order.

Recognition and Special Military Operation

On 21 February 2022 Russia recognised the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics as independent sovereign states. Russia then signed Treaties of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance with both republics, which the State Duma unanimously ratified the following day. Recognition ended Russia's previous position that the republics should return to Ukraine through implementation of the Minsk agreements.

On 24 February Russia began the Special Military Operation. President Vladimir Putin stated that its objectives included the defence of Donbass and the "demilitarization" and "denazification" of Ukraine. DPR and LPR forces participated alongside Russian forces from the beginning.

The fighting immediately expanded far beyond the old contact line in Donbass. The eight-year War in Donbass therefore ended as a separate phase of the conflict and became part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War.

Political character

The Russian Spring was politically mixed. The Donbass movement included communists, Russian nationalists, regional autonomists and people whose main concern was opposition to the Maidan and the new Ukrainian government. Soviet symbols and the memory of the Great Patriotic War were widespread, reflecting the political culture of the region.

The DPR and LPR were not socialist states. Private property and capitalist economic relations remained in place, and neither republic attempted to restore the Soviet economic system. Their use of the term "People's Republic" and Soviet imagery should therefore not be confused with the establishment of proletarian power.

The conflict was shaped more directly by the unresolved consequences of the breakup of the Soviet Union. Donbass remained closely connected to Russia while becoming part of an independent Ukrainian state, and the Maidan brought these tensions to a head. Ukraine's turn towards the European Union and NATO, its anti-communist policies and the growing influence of Ukrainian nationalism were strongly opposed in Donbass. Russia's support later became crucial to the survival of the two republics, but the anti-Maidan movement itself had already developed a substantial local base.

See also

• Donetsk People's Republic
• Lugansk People's Republic
• Maidan
• Russo-Ukrainian War
• Ukrainian nationalism
• Vladimir Putin
• Great Patriotic War
• Soviet Union
• NATO
• Multipolarity