he War in Donbass (also called the War in Ukraine or War in Eastern Ukraine) is an armed

conflict in the Donbassregion of Ukraine. From the beginning of March 2014, demonstrations
by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of
Ukraine, together commonly called the "Donbass", in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian
revolution and the Euromaidan movement. These demonstrations, which followed the annexation
of Crimea by the Russian Federation, and which were part of a wider group of concurrent proRussian protests across southern and eastern Ukraine, escalated into an armed conflict between
the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and
LPR respectively), and the Ukrainian government.[104][105] Prior to a change of the top leadership in
August,[106] the separatists were largely led by Russian citizens.[6] During the summer of 2014,
Russian paramilitaries were reported to make up between 15% and 80% of the combatants. [6][107]
[108][109][110]

Between 22 and 25 August, Russian artillery, personnel, and what Russia called a "humanitarian
convoy" were reported to have crossed the border into Ukrainian territory without the permission
of the Ukrainian government. Crossings were reported to have occurred both in areas under the
control of pro-Russian forces and areas that were not under their control, such as the southeastern part of Donetsk Oblast, near Novoazovsk. These events followed the reported shelling of
Ukrainian positions from the Russian side of the border over the course of the preceding month.
[21][23][111][112][113]

Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Valentyn Nalyvaichenko said that the events

of 22 August were a "direct invasion by Russia of Ukraine". [4] Western and Ukrainian officials
described these events as a "stealth invasion" of Ukraine by Russia. [113] As a result of this, DPR
and LPR insurgents regained much of the territory they had lost during the preceding
government military offensive. A deal to establish a ceasefire, called the Minsk Protocol, was
signed on 5 September 2014.[114] Violations of the ceasefire on both sides were common. Amidst
the solidification of the line between insurgent and government-controlled territory during the
ceasefire, warlords took control of swathes of land on the insurgent side, leading to further
destabilisation.[115] The ceasefire completely collapsed in January 2015, with renewed heavy
fighting across the conflict zone, including at Donetsk International Airport and Debaltseve. A new
ceasefire, called Minsk II, was agreed to on 12 February 2015.