War in Donbas

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

War in Donbas
Part of the Russo-Ukrainian War
Top row: Pro-Russian paramilitaries in Donbas.
Middle: Aftermath of the Battle of Donetsk Airport; damaged buildings in Spartak.
Bottom: Ukrainian T-64BV tank during the Battle of Debaltseve; Donbas Battalion soldiers on a BTR-60 in the Donbas, August 2014.
Date12 April 2014 (2014-04-12)[4][5][6][7] – 24 February 2022 (2022-02-24)[b][dubious – discuss]
(7 years, 10 months, 2 weeks and 4 days)
Location
Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, Ukraine
Status Major combat operations phase ended on 20 February 2015.
Subsumed by Russian invasion of Ukraine
Territorial
changes		 Russian-controlled separatists established two widely unrecognized republics in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Belligerents
 Ukraine
Commanders and leaders
Units involved

Ukraine Ukraine (details)
Ukrainian Armed Forces

Security Service

Internal Affairs Ministry

Ukrainian volunteer battalions[8]

Russia Russia (details)

Donetsk People's RepublicLuhansk People's Republic Pro-Russian separatists (details)
DPR Armed Forces

LPR People's Militia
Strength
64,000 troops[9]
  • 40,000–45,000 fighters[10]
  • 9,000–12,000 Russian soldiers[11][12]
Casualties and losses
  • 6,500 killed[*][17]
  • 15,800–16,200 wounded[17]
  • 3,404 civilians killed (365 in 2016–2021)[17]
  • 14,200–14,400 killed; 51,000–54,000 wounded overall[17]
  • 1.6 million Ukrainians internally displaced; over 1 million fled abroad as of March 2016[18]
* Includes 400–500 Russian servicemen (per the United States Department of State, March 2015)[19]

The war in Donbas,[c] also known as the 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][6][22] The Ukrainian military launched an operation against them.[23][5] The war continued until subsumed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[24]

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.[25] Russia covertly supported the separatists with troops and weaponry. It only admitted sending "military specialists",[26][27] but later acknowledged the separatists as Russian combat veterans.[28] In April 2014, Ukraine launched a counter-offensive, called the "Anti-Terrorist Operation"[29] (ATO), later renamed the "Joint Forces Operation" (JFO).[30][31] By August 2014, Ukraine had re-taken most separatist-held territory and nearly regained control of the Russia–Ukraine border.[32] In response, Russia covertly sent troops, tanks and artillery into the Donbas.[33][34][35] The Russian incursion helped pro-Russian forces regain much of the territory they had lost.[30][36][37]

Ukraine, Russia, the DPR and LPR signed a ceasefire agreement, the Minsk Protocol, in September 2014.[38] Ceasefire breaches became rife, 29 in all,[39] 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.[40] 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.[41][42] Stalemate led to the war being called a "frozen conflict",[43] but Donbas remained a war zone, with dozens killed monthly.[44] In 2017, on average a Ukrainian soldier died every three days,[45] with an estimated 40,000 separatist and 6,000 Russian troops in the region.[46][47] 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,[48] and documented military convoys crossing from Russia covertly.[49] All sides agreed to a roadmap for ending the war in October 2019,[50] but it remained unresolved.[51][52] During 2021, Ukrainian fatalities rose sharply and Russian forces massed around Ukraine's borders.[53] 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]

  1. ^ "PACE officially recognizes occupied areas in Donbas as 'effectively controlled' by Russia". Unian.info. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Ukraine vs Russia: The ICJ's Court Decision, Examined". en.hromadske.ua. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Ukraine: Breaking Bodies: Torture and Summary Killings in Eastern Ukraine". Amnesty International. 22 May 2015. p. 10. Retrieved 20 May 2018. Sustained fighting erupted in eastern Ukraine that summer, amidst compelling evidence of Russian military involvement.
  4. ^ Galeotti, Mark; Hook, Adam (2019). Windrow, Martin (ed.). Armies of Russia's war in Ukraine. Elite. Oxford New York: Osprey Publishing. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-1-4728-3345-7.
  5. ^ a b Mitrokhin, Nikolay (2021). "Infiltration, Instruction, Invasion: Russia's War in the Donbas". In Hauter, Jakob; Wilson, Andrew (eds.). Civil war? Interstate war? Hybrid war? dimensions and interpretations of the Donbas Conflict in 2014-2020. Soviet and post-Soviet politics and society. Stuttgart: ibidem Verlag. p. 115. ISBN 978-3-8382-7383-9.
  6. ^ a b Arel, Dominique; Driscoll, Jesse, eds. (2023), "Ukraine's Unnamed War", Ukraine's Unnamed War: Before the Russian Invasion of 2022, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. i–ii, ISBN 978-1-316-51149-7, retrieved 23 September 2023
  7. ^ Plokhy, Serhii (16 May 2023). The Russo-Ukrainian War: From the bestselling author of Chernobyl. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-80206-179-6.
  8. ^ * Olena Goncharova (18 October 2015). "Foreign fighters struggle for legal status in Ukraine". Kyiv Post. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. * "Foreign nationals fighting for Ukraine in Donbas demand passports in exchange for their service". Ukraine Today. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015. * Nolan Peterson (4 August 2015). "Why a Russian Is Fighting for Ukraine". Newsweek. Retrieved 26 October 2015. * "They Came to Fight for Ukraine. Now They're Stuck in No Man's Land". Foreign Policy. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015. * Megrelidze, Sophiko (23 January 2015). "Georgians in Ukraine fight shadow war". Associated Press.
  9. ^ "Probability of full-scale Russian invasion remains high – Ukrainian army general". Ukraine Today. 28 July 2015. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Pro-Russian rebels have 40,000-strong army, sufficient for 'mid-sized European state': Ukraine defence minister". ABC AU. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  11. ^ "Kyiv Says 42,500 Rebels, Russian Soldiers Stationed in East Ukraine". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Some 12,000 Russian soldiers in Ukraine supporting rebels: U.S. commander". Reuters. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference memory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference memory1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ "Ukraine soldier dies in shelling attack: Armed forces". Al Arabiya English. 23 February 2022.
  16. ^ "UNIAN: 70 missing soldiers officially reported over years of war in Donbas". Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g "Conflict-related civilian casualties in Ukraine" (PDF). OHCHR. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  18. ^ Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 November 2015 to 15 February 2016 (PDF). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  19. ^ Bellal, Annyssa (2016). The War Report: Armed Conflict in 2014. Oxford University Press. p. 302. ISBN 978-0-19-876606-3. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  20. ^ Galeotti, Mark; Hook, Adam (2019). Windrow, Martin (ed.). Armies of Russia's war in Ukraine. Elite. Oxford New York: Osprey Publishing. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-1-4728-3345-7.
  21. ^ Mitrokhin, Nikolay (2021). "Infiltration, Instruction, Invasion: Russia's War in the Donbas". In Hauter, Jakob; Wilson, Andrew (eds.). Civil war? Interstate war? Hybrid war? dimensions and interpretations of the Donbas Conflict in 2014-2020. Soviet and post-Soviet politics and society. Stuttgart: ibidem Verlag. p. 115. ISBN 978-3-8382-7383-9.
  22. ^ Plokhy, Serhii (16 May 2023). The Russo-Ukrainian War: From the bestselling author of Chernobyl. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-80206-179-6.
  23. ^ Galeotti, Mark; Hook, Adam (2019). Windrow, Martin (ed.). Armies of Russia's war in Ukraine. Elite. Oxford New York, NY: Osprey Publishing. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-1-4728-3345-7.
  24. ^ Foy, Henry; Rathbone, John Paul; Schwartz, Felicia (24 March 2022). "Military briefing: the make-or-break fight for the Donbas". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  25. ^ Grytsenko, Oksana (12 April 2014). "Armed pro-Russian insurgents in Luhansk say they are ready for police raid". Kyiv Post. Archived from the original on 12 April 2014.
  26. ^ The Interpreter quoted what Putin said during a live call-in session on 12 October 2016:
    "When we were forced, I want to stress, forced to defend the Russian-speaking population in the Donbas, forced to respond to the desire of the people living in Crimea to return to being part of the Russian Federation, they instantly began to whip up anti-Russian policies and the imposition of sanctions."
    "Putin Claims Russia Was 'Forced To Defend Russian-Speaking Population in Donbass'". The Interpreter. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  27. ^ Oliphant, Roland (17 December 2015). "Vladimir Putin admits: Russian troops 'were in Ukraine'". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  28. ^ "State Duma passes law giving Wagner mercenaries 'combat veteran' status". Meduza. 20 April 2023.
  29. ^ "Ukraine says Donetsk 'anti-terror operation' under way". BBC News. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  30. ^ a b Ivan Katchanovski (1 October 2016). "The Separatist War in Donbas: A Violent Break-up of Ukraine?". European Politics and Society. 17 (4): 473–489. doi:10.1080/23745118.2016.1154131. ISSN 2374-5118. S2CID 155890093.
  31. ^ "Old war, new rules: what comes next as ATO ends and a new operation starts in Donbas?". Ukraine crisis media centre. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  32. ^ Kofman, Michael; Migacheva, Katya; Nichiporuk, Brian; Radin, Andrew; Tkacheva, Olesya; Oberholtzer, Jenny (2017). Lessons from Russia's Operations in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine (PDF) (Report). Santa Monica: RAND Corporation. p. 44.
  33. ^ Michael R. Gordon (22 August 2014). "Russia Moves Artillery Units into Ukraine, NATO Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  34. ^ Kramer, Andrew E.; Gordon, Michael R. (27 August 2014). "Ukraine Reports Russian Invasion on a New Front". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  35. ^ "Ukraine accuses Russia of invasion after aid convoy crosses border". Reuters. 22 August 2014. Archived from the original on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  36. ^ "Окремі райони Донбасу та Луганської області (ОРДЛО)". 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  37. ^ "Former Ukraine rebel head starts support group for Russian fighters". Yahoo News (AFP). 27 August 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  38. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC2908 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  39. ^ "Four DPR servicemen killed in shellings by Ukrainian troops in past week". Information Telegraph Agency of Russia. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  40. ^ "Rebels claim upper hand in Debaltseve". Deutsche Welle. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  41. ^ "Go Inside the Frozen Trenches of Eastern Ukraine". Time. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  42. ^ Brown, Daniel. "Here's what it's like inside the bunkers Ukrainian troops are living in every day". Business Insider. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  43. ^ Cite error: The named reference REU21JULY2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  44. ^ Whitmore, Brian (26 July 2016). "The Daily Vertical: Ukraine's Forgotten War (Transcript)". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  45. ^ Kurt Volker: The Full Transcript, Politico (27 November 2017)
  46. ^ "Kyiv says there are about 6,000 Russian soldiers, 40,000 separatists in Donbas". Kyiv Post. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  47. ^ Miller, Christopher (30 January 2017). "Anxious Ukraine Risks Escalation In 'Creeping Offensive'". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  48. ^ "Response to Chief Observer of the Observer Mission at the Russian Border Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk | Statement to the PC". 17 November 2016.
  49. ^ "OSCE catches Russia bringing war to Donbas by night". Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  50. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc11oct1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  51. ^ Cite error: The named reference zelenskyy-high-chance was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  52. ^ Cite error: The named reference 7265424Donbass was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  53. ^ Cite error: The named reference 56678665Ukraineconflict was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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