8 Years of Conflict... 'Ukraine's Powder Keg' Donbas

'530th Explosion' Escalates Clash... Ukraine Steel and Coal Industry Hub
Donetsk and Luhansk, Unannexed, Government Forces and Separatist Rebels Face Off

On the 17th (local time), a kindergarten building in a village in Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine, bordering Russia, was damaged by shelling, with holes in the walls and brick debris scattered on the floor. Ukrainian military authorities stated that the Russia-backed separatists fired first and there were no casualties.
[Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] On the 17th (local time), the Donbas region, where clashes broke out between the Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists, has already been experiencing sporadic armed conflicts for eight years.

The Donbas region generally refers to the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in eastern Ukraine. After Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian former president, was impeached and ousted on February 22, 2014, these two areas declared independence in protest. Based on a referendum held on May 12 of the same year, they requested annexation by Russia. At that time, Russia first annexed the Crimean Peninsula, which had also requested annexation. Crimea is not only a military strategic point but also an important region when considering the legitimacy of the Kievan Rus, the first state established by the East Slavic people.

Donetsk and Luhansk provinces failed to achieve annexation and instead reached agreements in September 2014 and February 2015 through two Minsk accords, allowing extensive autonomy to Donetsk and Luhansk. However, this ambiguous compromise, which was neither independence nor reintegration, became the cause of ongoing conflicts. The recent escalation of armed clashes amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West surrounding Ukraine is also due to this.

On this day, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission, which oversees the ceasefire situation in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, reported about 530 explosions from the evening of the previous day until the afternoon of this day along the frontline between government forces and pro-Russian separatist rebels.

Representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), declared by separatists in the Donbas region, claimed that the Ukrainian government forces attacked villages in the Donetsk and Luhansk areas controlled by the rebels using mortars, grenade launchers, and machine guns. They also stated that the rebels launched counterattacks in response to the government forces' attacks. On the other hand, the Ukrainian government denied the rebel attack, saying, "There was an attack by the rebels, but we did not respond."

The Donbas region was known to be almost uninhabited until the late 17th century. The beginning of its full-scale development was during the Industrial Revolution period in 1721 when vast coal mines were discovered. When the DPR declared independence in 2014, it also unveiled a tricolor flag. The top color was black, symbolizing the Black Sea and coal.

Donbas is also a key area for the steel industry, which accounts for 12% of Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP). Although iron ore, the raw material for steel, is produced in the central region, the iron ore smelting facilities are concentrated in the east. Based on abundant iron ore and coal resources, Ukraine served as the center of the Soviet Union's steel and shipbuilding industries.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine faced an economic crisis the following year. As the economic crisis hit immediately after independence from the Soviet Union, residents of the industrial Donbas region began expressing dissatisfaction with the new Ukrainian central government and started demanding autonomy.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.