Do People in Donbas Want to Be ‘Liberated’ by Russia?
This post originally appeared as "Do people in Donbas want to be ‘liberated’ by Russia?" in The Monkey Cage at The Washington Post on April 15, 2022.
The war in Ukraine is officially in its second month. But Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s territory began in 2014. That’s when Russia unilaterally annexed Crimea and intervened to prop up separatists who sought to create Russian proxy states in part of what’s called “the Donbas,” Ukraine’s two easternmost regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, which border Russia. Ukraine has been fighting against these proxy states since. Russian President Vladimir Putin provocatively escalated that conflict right before the latest invasion, declaring in February that Russia would recognize these entities — the Donetsk Peoples Republic (DNR) and the Luhansk Peoples Republic (LNR) — as independent states, including supporting their claim to all the territory of the Donbas.
The Russian military has announced a new war strategy, focusing “on the main goal, the liberation of the Donbas.” But do ordinary people living in the Donbas actually want what “liberation” probably means: violent conquest, followed by independence or annexation to Russia?
Our research just before the February invasion suggests some answers.
The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors. Map by Goran_tek-en shared under a Creative Commons license.
.svg){kind=link}