Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 **Media Thread** NO DISCUSSION #2

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 6 hrs ago
WP: US considers providing more advanced weapons to Ukraine. The U.S. is working with the European allies to expedite “more sophisticated” air defense systems and other weapons, the Washington Post reports.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 5 hrs ago
Russia threatens to target foreign military aid convoys to Ukraine. Russian Deputy FM Sergey Ryabkov said that Moscow had warned the U.S. that convoys of foreign weapons would be “legitimate targets for the Russian Armed Forces,” as cited by Russian media RIA Novosti.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg had earlier said that a Russian attack on the supply lines of allied nations supporting Ukraine would be “a dangerous escalation of the war.”

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Belarus says it will rotate troops on Ukraine's border. Belarus Defense Ministry said it was sending 5 battalion tactical groups to replace 5 others that had been on the border to prevent “nationalist formations, illegal weapons and explosives” from getting into Belarus.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
Ukraine’s military: Russian occupiers seize eastern outskirts of Mariupol. According to Ukraine’s armed forces, the Russian forces are attempting to seize the cities of Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, and Severodenetsk, Luhansk Oblast.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
NPR: Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant veered near disaster. According to NPR’s footage analysis, Russian forces fired in the direction of the massive reactor buildings, housing nuclear fuel, and turned away firefighters despite the fire raging out of control.

 

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The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
Israeli prime minister denies proposing surrender to Zelensky. Previously Jerusalem Post and Haaretz wrote that Prime Minister Bennett urged Zelensky to accept Russia’s conditions. Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Zelensky’s chief of staff, has also denied this claim.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
Zelensky: This is the biggest blow to the Russian army in decades. In the recent address, Zelensky said that Russia hasn't lost more troops in 17 days in decades. He added that the Russian military are being taken prisoners en masse, while many are trying to flee Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Zelensky: To seize Kyiv, they will have to destroy it. “If there are hundreds of thousands of people, who are now being mobilized by Russia, and they come with hundreds or thousands of tanks, they will take Kyiv. We understand that,” said Zelensky.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Zelensky proposes meeting Putin in Jerusalem. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he asked Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to act as an intermediary.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 45 min ago
Scholz, Macron urge Putin to call immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron made the proposal during a call with Vladimir Putin on March 12.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 19 min ago
Russia keeps throwing more military power west and east of Kyiv in a bid to possibly surround and penetrate the city. The map shows the approximate Russian (red) and Ukrainian (blue) positions and axes of attack in the Battle of Kyiv as of March 12, 2022.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 16 min ago
Zelensky: 500-600 Russian soldiers are captured by Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he can’t give an exact number of Russian prisoners of war due to the rapidly changing numbers.

 

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“The Syrian port city of Tartus is home to Russia’s sole naval base outside the former Soviet Union. It provides Moscow with a critical beachhead in the Mediterranean and strategic outpost on Nato’s southern flank.”
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russia-syria-defence-minister-arrives-naval-drills

“The first Syrian fighters are expected to arrive in Ukraine at any moment. Russia's military command in Syria is recruiting soldiers from local militias who have worked with Russian mercenary companies, as well as some regime forces that have partnered with the Russian military.”
Ruslan Trad on Twitter

Ruslan Trad on Twitter
"The US is behind the war in Ukraine!"

The US on Ukraine:
- no Patriot missiles
- no no-fly-zone
- no providing jets
- have comms channels directly with Moscow
- negotiating with Moscow on Iran's nuclear deal

 

[PommyMommy]

Putin's bodyguards: The men protecting Russia's bossman amid death threats I Ukraine invasion

Moment mayor of Melitopol is kidnapped by Russian troops as hundreds of Ukrainians demand release

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 12, 2022
Russia concentrates military power for Kyiv assault (kyivindependent.com)
[...]

New indications suggest Russia is getting ready to relaunch a massive offensive in the region, the war’s main goal.

Despite a very complicated situation with many of its main axes of attack throughout Ukraine, Russia keeps throwing more military power west and east of Kyiv, in a bid to possibly surround and penetrate the city.

[...]

“Russia is likely seeking to reset and re-posture its forces for renewed offensive activity in the coming days,” as the British Defense Ministry said in its March 11 intelligence update.

“This will probably include operations against the capital, Kyiv.”

As the expert community believes, Kyiv should brace itself for a hard defense within short notice, potentially for Russian attempts to impose a full blockade and trigger a humanitarian disaster to force the Ukrainian leadership into a deal.

[...]

On March 8, the Institute For the Study of War (ISW), a Washington D.C.-based think tank, said Russian forces were concentrating on a possible assault against the capital in the coming 24 to 96 hours.

Nonetheless, amid extremely slow progress due to logistical issues and a strong Ukrainian defense, Russia has probably decided to take a breathing spell in operations and agreed on civilian evacuation from Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, and Borodyanka, the cities that have been largely ruined.

As the Ukrainian military suggests, Russian forces in many ways used this lull to try and re-array west of Kyiv and possibly get its logistics issues resolved for an effective onslaught.

[...]

And the problem for Russia is that it has so far failed to seize or effectively block two key cities on its way to Kyiv, namely Chernihiv and Sumy, both of which continue offering fierce resistance since day one of the invasion and inflicting severe enemy casualties.

Without the stiff control of either of the two cities, along with ensuring safe communications along the highways, gaining ground east of Kyiv is also extremely problematic.

[...]

“The Kyiv axis is among their top priorities,” says Ruslan Leviev of the Conflict Intelligence Team, an online investigation group checking Russia’s military activity.

“As we believe, Russians may acknowledge the fact that at some point they will have to seek talks and offer a deal. So they need the strongest leverage they can get for the talks, which is the siege of Kyiv and a humanitarian disaster in the city.”

According to the group’s estimates, Russia may be trying to concentrate a total of nearly 21-22 battalion tactical groups against Kyiv, including nearly 15 coming from the northwest.

[...]

It is much more likely that Russians will try and establish a blockade amid relentless shelling and airstrikes. Such tactics of forcing cities into surrendering via total terror have so far barely worked against Mariupol, Sumy, and especially Kharkiv, which carry on with their fierce resistance despite massive destruction and loss of life.

Kyiv, being a very large and well-fortified city, is an incomparably more difficult target for a Russian blockade, let alone an all-out assault, as experts believe.

“Assaulting Kyiv in this situation would a stupid thing to do,” says Zagorodnyuk.

“But we have already seen them doing stupid things — so we should not rule this out.”

 

[PommyMommy]

In Melitopol' Russian occupation forces kidnapped Ukrainian activist Olha Haysumova Melitopol',Zaporizhia Oblast - Ukraine Interactive map - Ukraine Latest news on live map - liveuamap.com

Ukraine Interactive map - Ukraine Latest news on live map - liveuamap.com

 

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NEXTA on Twitter - 5 hrs ago
Saboteurs who were planning to blow up military and civilian facilities in #Kharkiv were detained. Weapons and explosives was found.

NEXTA on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
The Ministry of Energy of #Azerbaijan has stated that the country has enough gas reserves for supplies to #Europe and if necessary, can increase gas supplies to neighboring countries.

NEXTA on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
A private jet was detained at #London Luton Airport. It is being investigated for possible links with #Russia.

NEXTA on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
The occupiers are destroying the town of #Makarov in the #Kyiv region

 

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NEXTA on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
20 buses from #Bucha arrived in #Belogorodka. People are given first aid and food is distributed.

NEXTA on Twitter
#Ukrainian Defense Ministry reports that the #Russian military has been given carte blanche for looting.

Trey Yingst on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
Moscow will treat western arms shipments to Ukraine as legitimate military targets, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov

NEXTA on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
Andrei Panov, the deputy head of Aeroflot, resigned from the company and left #Russia In his Facebook, he wrote the following: "Left Russia. Left Aeroflot. The old life is over."

NEXTA on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Zelenskyy said that the kidnapped mayor of #Melitopol is alive. The occupiers are torturing him.

 

[PommyMommy]

[URL='https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/mar/12/ukraine-news-russia-war-ceasefire-broken-humanitarian-corridors-kyiv-russian-invasion-live-vladimir-putin-volodymyr-zelenskiy-latest-updates-live']Russia-Ukraine war latest news: Russia will only take Kyiv if city is ‘razed to the ground’, Zelenskiy says, as Moscow threatens western shipments – live | World news | The Guardian[/URL]
1h ago 11:00

Summary
It’s 6pm in Ukraine. Here’s where we stand now:

• Russian forces are advancing towards Kyiv, with the bulk of ground forces now about 25km from the centre of the capital, according to the UK’s latest defence intelligence report. Air raid sirens were sounding in Kyiv in the early hours of Saturday morning.

• Russian forces bombarded cities across the country on Friday and appeared to be regrouping for a possible assault. Two oil depots near Kyiv caught on fire after Russian attacks, one in the town of Vasylkiv which is also home to a large airbase and has become a major Russian target, local media reported.

• More than 2,000 people took part in a protest outside the city hall in the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol after the alleged arrest of its mayor, Ivan Fedorov, by Russian forces, Ukrainian state TV said. Ukrainian authorities have accused Russia of violating international law by abducting the mayor after he was falsely accused of terrorism.

• Belarus has denied plans to join the Russian invasion. The country’s armed forces’ chief of general staff, Viktor Gulevich, said Belarus had no plans to enter into the war but is sending five battalion tactical groups to its border with Ukraine on rotation to replace forces already there.

• The Russian army has suffered its biggest losses in decades, according to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy said 31 Russian battalion tactical groups have now been rendered incapable of combat and that 500 to 600 Russian troops surrendered on Friday. The Guardian cannot independently verify these figures.

• Speaking at a news briefing today, Zelenskiy insisted any negotiations with Russia must begin with a ceasefire, but that he was open to discussions with Putin. The Ukrainian leader added that he had discussed the possibility of negotiations being held in Jerusalem with the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett.

• The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, spoke to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. They echoed Zelenskiy’s call for a ceasefire as a condition for structured negotiations, but a French presidency official said Putin did not appear ready to end the war.

• Russian forces are reportedly planning to conduct a “pseudo referendum” in Kherson, the Ukrainian city under Russian occupation. The deputy head of the local council in Kherson told Reuters that it wants to create a new breakaway republic.https://www.facebook.com/dialog/sha...08ec6557dfbfb7#block-622ca02e8f08ec6557dfbfb7

• Italian authorities seized a €530m (£444m) superyacht owned by Russian businessman Andrey Melnichenko as part of EU sanctions. Sy A – short for Sailing Yacht A – was seized on Friday evening in the port of Trieste after being identified by Italian police as belonging to the billionaire owner of EuroChem Group, a major fertiliser producer, and the coal company SUEK.

 

[PommyMommy]

NEXTA on Twitter
Evacuation has begun in #Sumy. Also evacuations will be carried out today in populated centers of the #Kyiv region, such as #Vorzel, #Gostomel, #Bucha, #Borodyanka, etc.

Video at link.

 

[PommyMommy]

March 12, 2022 11:18AM
Human trafficking risks high for Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russian invasion; rape reported near Poland's refugee camps - ABC7 San Francisco (abc7news.com)
''SIRET, Romania -- One man was detained in Poland suspected of raping a 19-year-old refugee he'd lured with offers of shelter after she fled war-torn Ukraine. Another was overheard promising work and a room to a 16-year-old girl before authorities intervened.

Another case inside a refugee camp at Poland's Medyka border, raised suspicions when a man was offering help only to women and children. When questioned by police, he changed his story.''.

"You have to worry about any potential risks for trafficking - but also exploitation, and sexual exploitation and abuse. These are the kinds of situations that people like traffickers ... look to take advantage of," she said.''

''Police in Berlin warned women and children in a post on social media in Ukrainian and Russian against accepting offers of overnight stays, and urged them to report anything suspicious.''

"When you've suddenly got a huge cohort of really vulnerable people who need money and assistance immediately," she said, "it's sort of a breeding ground for exploitative situations and sexual exploitation. When I saw all these volunteers offering their houses ... that flagged a worry in my head."

''Security officials in Romania and Poland told The Associated Press that plain-clothed intelligence officers were on the lookout for criminal elements. In the Romanian border town of Siret, authorities said men offering free rides to women have been sent away.''

"This morning we found three men who were trying to get a bunch of women into a van," said one of the former legionnaires, a South African who gave only his first name, Mornay. "I can't 100% say they were trying to recruit them for sex trafficking, but when we started talking to them and approached them - they got nervous and just left immediately."

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine refugees in Berlin: Tegel takes in the first 500 refugees – warming trains at the main train station - Berlin - Tagesspiegel


Once an airport, then a vaccination centre, now an emergency shelter: the former Berlin-Tegel Airport. PHOTO: IMAGO/STEFAN ZEITZ

2600 Ukrainian war refugees alone spent the night from Friday to Saturday at the main train station. They had been accommodated there in warming trains and in the two tents ...

"For safety reasons, we have to rectify the situation of the many arrivals there. That's why the processes are changed so that there is something to eat on the hand, and then it goes on as quickly as possible to the accommodations," said Kipping. The state has commissioned Messe Berlin's catering company to pack 10,000 packed lunches a day and provide soup.

Refugees have been staying in the exhibition halls since Thursday night. 900 to 1000 beds are set up there for short-term accommodation. On Saturday, a third and fourth hall will also go into operation. They are intended for refugees who arrive late in the evening or at night.

For the first time, according to Kipping, 500 war refugees are to spend the night from Saturday to Sunday at the former Tegel Airport. The capacity of the emergency shelter there is 3000 places. In addition to the arrival centre in Reinickendorf, up to 10,000 refugees from Ukraine are to be registered in Tegel and distributed to other federal states. However, the planned opening of this second arrival centre on Sunday or Monday will be delayed.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

NEXTA on Twitter - 3 min ago, Video
Two #Russian helicopters were shot down in the #Kherson region. One pilot survived and was taken to hospital.

 

[PommyMommy]

WARNING: Graphic images

War Stories: Evacuees risk their lives as they flee to Kyiv (kyivindependent.com)

While Ukrainian forces have, so far, successfully held off the Russian troops from taking Kyiv, the towns around the capital have become some of the most intense battlegrounds of the ongoing war.

Russia seized the outlying suburban towns with vehicles and infantry, setting up checkpoints and, in many cases, cutting off access to utilities, phone and internet access, and food.

The local civilians bore the brunt of the damage. Many remained trapped, in most cases for over a week, either because Russian forces wouldn’t let them leave or they were afraid of being cut down by Russian fire if they tried to flee to the safety of Kyiv.

[...]

The Kyiv Independent has gathered stories from people who fled the various towns and villages towards the safety of Kyiv.

[...]

Demydiv

“We saw a lot of tanks coming from Belarus,” she told the Kyiv Independent by phone after successfully escaping into Kyiv with her husband and dog. “Then battles began in our village. The center was destroyed, houses were demolished. We didn’t have a phone connection, food or water all this time.”

[...]

When they got to the river, they saw it wasn’t going to be easy. Ukrainian forces had blown a nearby dam and pumping station connecting the river to the reservoir, causing the water level to rise. To cross, the evacuees, including children and the elderly, would have to plunge into waist-high water, while the temperature outside was three degrees below freezing, or 26 degrees Fahrenheit.

[...]

“And then they started to shoot at us from the helicopters,” she told the Kyiv Independent, beginning to cry. “At the children, at us, right where we were crossing… I saw the ‘splash splash splash’ of bullets on the water.”

“My neighbor went underwater and her child on the styrofoam was screaming. She came out again and they survived,” Bilan recalled through her tears. “One paralyzed old woman was being helped by the guys. One guy is a hero, he went a dozen times into the water and pulled us out. After that, his legs were all purple from the cold.”

[...]

Bucha

[...]

Airstrikes had ripped through the town, demolishing and igniting buildings, forcing the family to relocate to the basement, which had a temperature of 5-7 degrees Celsius. Eventually, a Russian tank drove onto their street and fired directly into the second house over from theirs, according to Tkachuk. The tank then struck the cupola of a church just down the street.

[...]

When he saw Russian squads walking around peeking into people’s windows, he realized there was no sense in waiting around any longer. The neighbors joined his family when they saw them leaving. As locals, they knew all the small paths and side streets, letting them avoid the Russian checkpoint.

[...]

... As they moved across the field, numerous rounds came hurtling in, throwing up explosions and demolishing buildings on both sides of the bridge. The family was fleeing with their two grandmothers. On the way to the crossing, one of the grandmothers’ legs gave out, forcing Tkachuk and his sister to carry her, while lugging around a suitcase with his valuables.

“The granny was screaming for us to leave her and run for the bridge,” he wrote. “If that’s not hell, what is?”

[...]

Vorzel

When the war began, Elena Slivinskaya, her husband and two daughters aged 4 and 8 were in Kyiv.

[...]

“The bombing and the shooting was constant,” she said. “We constantly spent time with the children in the basement.”

The earliest explosions terrified the little girls, who started screaming. They constantly wanted to go down to the basement. But staying in the cold, damp basement too long was also dangerous, as one of the girls was sick and running a very high fever.

[...]

Stoyanka

[...]

In early March, two old friends in the village of Stoyanka east of Kyiv went on a supply run.

“They went to pick up some diesel fuel and medicine for civilian use,” said Oleksandr, the nephew of one of the two men. “They had no weapons. When they were returning to Stoyanka, two Russian APCs stood in their way. They ran into a temporary Russian checkpoint.”

[...]

One of the friends was killed outright. But Oleksandr’s uncle, wounded in the arm and side, managed to crawl away and survive. A neighbor picked him up, bound his wounds and took him to Stoyanka-2, a village on the outskirts of Irpin.

[...]

His friend Arkady continued to lie in the road for four days until Oleksandr could pick up his body and drive it towards Kyiv. Along the way, he picked up another slain man and his wife, who had been wounded in the leg and was beside herself with grief.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Sociologist: For Russians, their war in Ukraine is a defensive ‘holy struggle’ | Euromaidan Press
Polls consistently and, the sociologist says, generally accurately, demonstrate this pattern as well as the widespread belief that what Russia is doing in Ukraine is defending itself against a Western attack. Because of this, Russian support for Putin, his government and even his United Russia party has risen since the start of hostilities.

The main dividing line between those who support the war and those who don’t involve television viewing.

Those who watch four hours or more a day back the war; but they do so, Matskevich says, less because of what television tells them than because they self-select themselves to view it rather than the internet.

The sociologist adds that she does not think that the reduction in the standard of living will affect those who support Putin.

 

[PommyMommy]

Putin propagandist news host has British home and citizenship | Russia | The Guardian

Brilev, right, interviewing Vladimir Putin in 2020. Photograph: Russian Look/A

''One of Russia’s most popular television news presenters, who has been accused of being a propagandist for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has British citizenship and a family flat in west London.

Sergei Brilev has been reporting on the war in Ukraine on the state-controlled Rossiya 1, which tightly follows the Kremlin’s messaging. The channel describes the war as a “special military operation” launched to protect Ukrainian citizens from “abuse and genocide”.

British government ministers are coming under pressure to impose sanctions on Brilev. The Labour MP Stephen Kinnock asked in parliament for the Home Office to “take steps to strip [him] of his British citizenship, ban him from the UK and freeze his UK assets”. The Home Office said last week it would not comment on individual cases.''

 

[PommyMommy]

Captured Russian soldier claims Moscow has a special force who kill anyone who tries 'to run home' | Daily Mail Online

''A captured Russian soldier tells a press conference that he started to question what he'd been told after seeing his favourite boxers Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko signing up to fight''

''A captured Russian soldier has claimed that Putin's military forces have a special squad set up for killing deserters who don't want to take part in the invasion of Ukraine.

The 22-year-old man said soldiers are threatened with a specialised 'echelon', and that they are kept in the dark until they see the devastation for themselves - at which point the 'only thing we could really do was surrender'.

In a filmed questioning by the Ukrainian Security Service, the POW also said his phone was taken away, so he couldn't read the news on the situation.''

''Captured Russian soldiers speaking on March 2 said the invasion of Ukraine was in 'complete disarray', according to voice recordings obtained by a British intelligence company.

The intercepted radio messages indicated that troops are refusing to obey central command orders to shell Ukrainian towns and are complaining about running out of supplies of food and fuel.

Parts of the Russian military still use analogue 'walkie talkie' two-way radios, making them more vulnerable to interception. ''

 

[PommyMommy]

First drought, now war: Global wheat supplies in peril (nbcnews.com)

Prices soaring are soaring, raising the risk of severe food shortages and hunger in some regions of the globe and threatening to further ratchet up food costs in the United States.

The pandemic already had food prices rising.

Now, Russia’s war in Ukraine — between two top wheat producers and in a region known as Europe’s breadbasket — has sent wheat prices soaring, raising the risk of severe food shortages and hunger in some regions of the globe and threatening to further ratchet up food prices in the United States.

The instability leaves many U.S. farmers, particularly those in the drought-stricken West, scrambling as costs soar for fuel, fertilizer and other key agricultural components...

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 22 min ago
Minister: Germany to stop most Russian oil imports by end of 2022. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck also told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Germany would stop importing Russian coal by fall. Yet, he added that it’s hard to halt imports of Russian gas.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 21 min ago
On 11 March, the Russian troops attacked the evacuees from Peremoha, Kyiv Oblast, moving along the 'green corridor,' killing 7 civilians, including one child, Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence reports.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 20 min ago
The agency says that the exact number of injured is currently unknown. After the shooting, the invaders forced the remnants of the column of evacuees to return to the village of Peremoha and didn't let them out of the village.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 16 min ago
Ukraine's defense ministry: Russian forces shoot at evacuating civilians, kill 7. The attack took place on March 11 as a column of women and children was leaving the village Peremoha in Kyiv Oblast, using the approved corridor. Seven people were killed, including a child.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 14 min ago
Peace talks between Ukraine, Russia continue via video conference. The delegations met in person 3 times, with no conclusive results. The last meeting took place on March 7. Now the sides talk virtually, in sub-groups, according to Ukraine's negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Among the top priorities is expanding and setting up humanitarian corridors, especially for the city of Mariupol.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 11 min ago
At least 80 Russian marines refused to participate in the war against Ukraine after they were landed in Kherson Oblast having realized that they were not going to exercise, according to the media project Graty's sources in law enforcement agencies of occupied Crimea.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 9 min ago
Kharkiv's tram depot after the Russian attacks.
Telegram: Contact @truexanewsua

Felipe Dana on Twitter - Photographer and photo editor, covering news & stories for @AP
Foreign and Ukrainian soldiers cross an improvised path under a destroyed bridge in Irpin, outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

 

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Why Donetsk and Luhansk Matter to Putin and the West

Why Donetsk and Luhansk Matter to Putin and the West

Following Yanukovych’s removal, which Russia saw as a Western-backed coup, Putin sent unbadged troops to annex Crimea, without a shot fired. Opponents of the new pro-Western government in Kyiv tried to emulate that success by taking control in cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. But this time there was resistance. Clashes broke out and an armed conflict developed in the Donbas.

The separatist territories are by now mainly of value for the disruption they cause Ukraine, cutting key transport links and supply chains and creating political risks that drive up borrowing costs and deter investors in the rest of the country.

Separatists hold about one third of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, with the remaining two thirds behind a roughly 450 kilometer (280 mile) front line defended by about 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers. The separatist governments, led by Denis Pushilin in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Leonid Pasechnik in the Luhansk People’s Republic, claim the whole Donbas region for their statelets.

Why does the West care?
Putin is demanding a wholesale restructuring of Europe’s security order and has now altered the borders that emerged from the collapse of the former Soviet Union four times -- twice in Georgia and, after Crimea and the Donbas, twice in Ukraine.

Why Donbas is at the heart of the Ukraine crisis

War broke out in 2014 after Russian-backed rebels seized government buildings in towns and cities across eastern Ukraine. Intense fighting left portions of Luhansk and Donetsk, in the Donbas region, in the hands of Russian-backed separatists. The Ukrainian government in Kyiv asserts the two regions are, in effect, Russian-occupied.

More than 14,000 people have died in the conflict in Donbas since 2014. Ukraine says 1.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes, with most staying in the areas of Donbas that remain under Ukrainian control and about 200,000 resettling in the wider Kyiv region.

In recent weeks, Putin has alleged that "genocide" was being committed in Donbas. His allegations aren't new, but the timing is of concern to Western policy-makers, who fear a repeat of a 2008 conflict in Georgia.

By invoking genocide, Putin was echoing Russia's false claim that Georgia committed genocide against civilians in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia in August 2008. During that brief conflict, Russia launched a massive military incursion that pushed deep into Georgian territory.

As it was in 2014, the Donbas region is now the crucible of the conflict between east and west, between Putin's drive to reassert control -- weakening the Ukrainian state -- and the growing aspiration of Ukrainians to join the fold of European democracies.

What are the Ukraine 'separatist' regions at the crux of the Russian invasion

"Those two regions have a lot of people who are not just Russian citizens, but also sympathetic to Russia still, unlike most of the country," said ABC News contributor Steve Ganyard, a retired U.S. Marine colonel and former deputy assistant secretary of state. "So the reason that the Russians were able to sort of maintain puppet governments there is that they had people who are sympathetic to Russia and to their cause."

During the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, which toppled the Russian-friendly regime of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Russia responded by annexing Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and throwing its support behind an insurgency in Donbas.

Russia-backed fighters, led by former Russian intelligence officer Igor Girkin and supported by Russian special forces, seized several administrative buildings in Donbas, setting off the conflict.

"Russia sent operatives in, both military and political, to create the appearance of separatist movements, and then they sort of brought them to life. These movements would take over city halls in the region, and we'd see pictures of Russian special forces with them," Matthew Schmidt, a national security and political science professor at the University of New Haven, told ABC News.

Ukraine used its military to try to regain control of the region, and as the Russian-backed insurgency faltered, Moscow sent its regular forces in to prop them up, covertly sending tank regiments and other units into battle.

Any possibility of solving the conflict was made far more difficult because the Kremlin refused to even acknowledge its troops were in the separatist areas, falsely claiming the conflict was entirely an internal civil war in Ukraine, the experts said.

"So, that's where Putin is starting, and he's saying essentially these people are majority Russian speakers and if you go back to the 19th century they are really part of Russia or should be. And he's used that term New Russia before," Schmidt said.

But the Ukrainian government counters that Donetsk and Luhansk have been legally recognized as part of Ukraine dating back to 1917. During a referendum in 1991, a majority of people in the regions voted in favor of Ukrainian independence.

In the run-up to the current invasion, Russia manufactured a pretext for it by claiming Ukraine was preparing to attack the separatist regions, backing it with a barrage of fake reports and staged videos showing supposed Ukrainian outrages that were quickly debunked by independent researchers.

The separatist authorities also ordered mass evacuations of civilians to create the illusion of a large-scale humanitarian crisis.