The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has been going on for some time now, and then either the involvement of the West has led to the expansion of the war, or the successful negotiation of the withdrawal of Russian troops, and there are also voices that the conflict will last. Whatever the outcome, however, it seems that the fuse of this event was ignited: Donetsk and Luhansk, which were already further detached from Ukraine. Russia also announced on February 21 that it recognized the "Donetsk People's Republic" and the "Luhansk People's Republic".
What is Donbass?
Donetsk and Luhansk are often collectively referred to as the "Donbass Region", hence the name because the largest Donbas coalfield spans Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Rostov in Russia.
It is not only a coal-rich area, but also a gathering place for Ukraine's industry and military industry, which has continued from the Soviet era to the present day. For Ukraine, whose per capita GDP has been at the bottom of Europe in recent years, and the loss of Donbass in the east, the future days can be imagined.
Conflict has a long history
In fact, Donetsk and Luhansk declared their independence as early as 2014, and the armed forces of the two places clashed with the Ukrainian authorities, and although they were not recognized, they had entered a state of de facto independence.
It should be noted that the "Donetsk People's Republic" does not include the entire Donetsk Oblast, but only controls about one-third of the local area (including the capital city of the state).
Why?
Why is this happening in Ukraine? Before there was Crimea, then there was Donetsk and Luhansk? This has both historical origins and practical contradictions.
Historically, Ukraine and Russia are of the same lineage, both Slavs, both originating from Kievan Rus' and Russia. And Ukraine is a very new country, how new is it? The country's first true independence was in 1991, before it had either belonged to Poland or had been annexed by Russia. Even when it joined the Soviet Union, it was when Eastern Ukraine was the first to join the Soviet Union, and Western Ukraine was still under Polish jurisdiction.
The Donbass Coal Mine was the largest coal mining industrial base in the Soviet Union, and later, like Crimea, it was assigned to Ukraine by the Soviet Union, and Ukraine's territory was suddenly the second largest in Europe, second only to Russia, and larger than France. When a family is divided into administrative blocks, it can be done, but once the family is dissolved, this is the matter.
The reality of the contradiction is that Ukraine has long been in a state of "bulk", with Western Ukraine pro-Western and Eastern Ukraine pro-Russian. The Donbass region includes Kharkiv, where ethnic Ukrainians are slightly predominant, but linguistically, the Russian-speaking population is overwhelming. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, mutual hatred was completely white-hot.
Donetsk
The total population reached 4.2 million, ninety percent lived in cities, and the huge urban population and area made the city of Donetsk only after Kiev, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk.
56.9% of the population is Ethnic Ukrainian and 38.2% is Ethnic Russian, but 74.9% of the population is a native Speaker of Russian. There are many ethnic minorities, except for the two major ethnic groups, there are more than a hundred other ethnic groups.
The city once had the second highest level of greenery in Europe.
The industrial and economic center city, the first special economic zone established in Ukraine in 1998, is in the Donetsk Oblast.
With heavy industry as the main industry, many coal, steel, and machinery manufacturing enterprises have lost their glory, and their output has fallen sharply due to economic recession and war conflicts.
There are also certain advantages in agriculture, the soil is fertile black soil, and large areas of grassland landforms are reclaimed.
In the south, along the Sea of Azov, there are ports, railways, and aviation infrastructure as a whole.
Luhansk
Luhansk was also called "Voroshilovgrad", named after Marshal Voroshilov of the Soviet Union.
Luhansk borders Russia on three sides and has a border of 746 km.
With a total population of 2.46 million, ethnic Ukrainians account for 54%, Ethnic Russians 42%, and nearly 70% communicate in Russian on a daily basis.
The capital city of Luhansk started with the manufacture of locomotives, and the largest diesel locomotive manufacturing center in Ukraine is located here.