17 Facts About Donbas

Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War: the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic.

Donbas formed the historical border between the Zaporizhian Sich and the Don Cossack Host.

In March 2014, following the Euromaidan protest movement and the resulting Revolution of Dignity, large swaths of the Donbas became gripped by pro-Russian and anti-government unrest.

The region now known as the Donbas was largely unpopulated until the second half of the 17th century, when Don Cossacks established the first permanent settlements in the region.

The Donbas fell into crisis, with many accusing the new central government in Kyiv of mismanagement and neglect.

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One strike leader said that Donbas people had voted for independence because they wanted "power to be given to the localities, enterprises, cities", not because they wanted heavily centralised power moved from "Moscow to Kyiv".

Nevertheless, the Donbas strikers gained many economic concessions from Kyiv, allowing for an alleviation of the economic crisis in the region.

President Kuchma gave economic aid to the Donbas, using development money to gain political support in the region.

Power in the Donbas became concentrated in a regional political elite, known as oligarchs, during the early 2000s.

The Donbas is home to a significantly higher number of cities and villages that were named after Communist figures compared to the rest of Ukraine.

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 false.

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.

Donbas economy is dominated by heavy industry, such as coal mining and metallurgy.

Donbas'sll was forced to freeze operations after the outbreak of war in the region in 2014, and officially withdrew from the project in June 2015.

Coal mines of the Donbas are some of the most hazardous in the world because of the deep depths of mines, as well as frequent methane explosions, coal-dust explosions, rock burst dangers, and outdated infrastructure.

Intensive coal-mining and smelting in the Donbas have led to severe damage to the local environment.

Additionally, several chemical waste-disposal sites in the Donbas have not been maintained, and pose a constant threat to the environment.