And as far as the Russians who populate the Donbas are concerned, well, it looked like Ukraine had ethnic cleansing for them on the schedule, and the west didn’t object.

Source: https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/05/12/beltway-mediocrities-bumble-toward-armageddon/

Andryi Anisimov, 49, who served in Donbas as a sergeant from 2018 to 2021, was also kidnapped by Russian soldiers in the Kharkiv region and branded on his leg.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/02/russians-hunted-down-veterans-of-donbas-conflict-ukraine

Avdiivka has been a front line city since 2014, when Moscow-backed separatists seized a large portion of the Donbas region.

Source: https://krdo.com/news/2023/10/28/claims-russia-executives-own-soldiers-and-offensive-intensifies-heres-what-to-know-about-the-latest-in-ukraine/

But Igor Girkin, a Russian nationalist and former Federal Security Service officer who helped launch the original Donbas war in 2014 and is under U.S. sanctions, has said Prigozhin is careless with the lives of his men.

Source: https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2023/01/15/analysis-russian-mercenary-boss-courts/

But the people of Donbas and Crimea welcomed the Russians as brothers there to help them secure their independence from Ukraine.

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/world/days-after-deadly-missile-strike-on-ukrainian-cafe-grief-and-a-search-for-answers

Donetsk and Luhansk regions make up the Donbas.

Source: https://gazette.com/news/us-world/ukraine-russia-locked-in-brutal-battle-in-bakhmut-casualties-mount/article_7980364d-41c4-5330-aace-9afd9ef09d8d.html

During his set, the funnyman told the audience there are “better looking cities in the Donbas region of Ukraine”.

Source: https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/23440468.five-big-names-coming-colchester-next-year/?ref=rss

Elsewhere across the Donbas, Russian forces are reinforcing their defensive positions in preparation for a major Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Source: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jun/4/kremlin-vladimir-putin-open-peace-talks-end-ukrain/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS

"Even with Western tanks, it would be hard to punch through Russian lines in Donbas because it's a front that has been fortified for almost the last 10 years," says Vautravers.

Source: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230216-we-have-to-take-more-risks-ukrainian-forces-hold-the-line-as-battle-for-donbas-heats-up

Getting chucked out of the Donbas is one thing, Crimea is another.

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/world/russian-forces-in-crimea-brace-for-possible-ukraine-assault

Given that self-described had provided the muscle behind the coup and that the new regime was explicitly anti-Russian – going so far as to ban Russian from public discourse – the persecuted residents of the Donbas had every right to secede.

Source: https://theava.com/archives/216438

In a one-line decree, Zelensky announced the dismissal of Eduard Moskalyov as commander of the joint forces of Ukraine, which are engaged in battles in the Donbas region, Reuters reported.

Source: https://en.mehrnews.com/news/197873/Zelensky-fires-top-Ukrainian-military-cmdr-without-reason

In-flight footage from the Ukrainian military helicopter, on a sortie in the Donbas.

Source: https://news.err.ee/1608915248/err-in-donbas-takes-a-flight-in-ukrainian-combat-helicopter

In the video, Putin is seen speaking in Russian about the special status of certain regions of Donbas under the Minsk agreements, which sought to end the 2014 fought between armed Russian separatist groups and the Ukrainian army.

Source: https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/01/30426814/russian-propagandist-shares-2019-video-of-zelenskyy-smiling-at-putins-speech-in-paris

It’s not for no reason the Russian assault on Avdiivka, a key Ukrainian stronghold in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, seems to be stalling out.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/12/13/ukraine-has-figured-out-a-new-way-of-winning-battles-start-by-grounding-russias-drones/

Kyiv only managed some tactical gains in southern Ukraine and in the Donbas.

Source: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/ukraine-war-2024-military-expert-explained-what-could-happen-next-208248

“Large-scale combat operations involving heavy weapons, artillery, tanks and aircraft haven’t stopped in Donbas since 2014,” Putin said.

Source: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/world-news/2023/01/putin-ukraine-action-aimed-to-end-war-raging-since-2014/

Moscow thinks "capturing the city would be a step towards its major objective of seizing the full territory of the surrounding Donbas region," notes.

Source: https://theweek.com/russo-ukrainian-war/1021556/the-fight-to-hold-bakhmut

Nor when Vladimir Putin, breaking a taboo of the post-Cold War world ‘order’ (now coming with scare quotes), annexed Crimea in 2014 and pushed his proxies into the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

Source: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/02/21/joe-bidens-ukrainian-zelenskyy-00083683

Potential targets include the town of Bakhmut, an area located in the eastern Donbas region which has been at the centre of intense fighting in recent months.

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1732814/fears-putin-ukraine-cities-new-offensive