War in Donbas

An armed conflict in eastern Ukraine that began in 2014 between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists, with direct Russian military involvement, and preceded Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion.

Donetsk People's Republic: A self-proclaimed separatist entity established in parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast in 2014. Its armed institutions controlled territory and fought Ukrainian forces in the war’s eastern theater.
Euromaidan: A wave of protests in Ukraine from 2013 to 2014 that led to the removal of President Viktor Yanukovych. Its aftermath triggered a struggle over Ukraine’s political direction and helped set the stage for conflict.
Vladimir Putin: The president of Russia who directed the country’s policy toward Ukraine during the Donbas war. His government backed separatist forces and exercised decisive influence over the conflict’s course.
United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine: A United Nations mission that monitors and reports on human rights conditions in Ukraine. Its reporting documented civilian deaths, detention, displacement, and abuses during the Donbas conflict.
Russo-Ukrainian War: The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine that began in 2014 and escalated into a full-scale invasion in 2022. This broader frame includes the Donbas fighting, the seizure of Crimea, and later nationwide warfare.
Luhansk People's Republic: A self-proclaimed separatist entity established in parts of Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast in 2014. Its forces and authorities formed the war’s second principal separatist center.
Revolution of Dignity: The Ukrainian name for the 2013–2014 protest movement and political upheaval known internationally as Euromaidan. The upheaval became a central grievance in separatist and Russian narratives about the new Ukrainian government.
Petro Poroshenko: President of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019, during the first years of the Donbas war. His administration directed Ukraine’s military response and negotiated the Minsk agreements.
Internally displaced persons in Ukraine: People forced to leave their homes but remaining within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders. Fighting and loss of control over territory displaced people from Donetsk and Luhansk.
Russian-Ukrainian War in Donbas: A framing of the Donbas conflict as a war between Russia and Ukraine rather than solely an internal Ukrainian conflict. This description emphasizes direct Russian involvement against accounts that cast the fighting as purely domestic.

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