From the end of February 2014, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the ousting of Russian-leaning Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, demonstrations by Russian-backed, pro-Russian, and anti-government groups (as well as pro-government demonstrations) took place in Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Odesa. The unrest, which was supported by the Russian military and intelligence services, belongs to the early stages of the Russo-Ukrainian war. During its first phase in February–March 2014, the Ukrainian territory of Crimea was invaded and subsequently annexed by Russia following an internationally unrecognized referendum, with the United Nations General Assembly voting in favor of Ukraine's territorial integrity. Concurrently, protests by anti-Maidan and pro-Russian groups took place across other parts of eastern and southern Ukraine. Local separatists, some directed and financed by the Russian security services, took advantage of the situation and occupied government buildings in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv oblasts in early March 2014. The Ukrainian government was able to quickly quell this unrest and removed the separatists by 10 March. Eventually, Kharkiv, Odesa, and most parts of Donbas, including Mariupol, remained under Ukrainian government control. The Russia-controlled DPR and LPR were formed and took control of Donetsk and Luhansk. In the second phase from April 2014, armed Russian-backed groups seized government buildings across Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, together known as the Donbas, and launched a separatist insurgency in the region. To suppress this insurgency, the Ukrainian government began what it called an "Anti-Terrorist Operation" (ATO), sending in the armed forces to quell the unrest. Although dozens of dominantly pro-Russian protesters were killed, the unrest in Kharkiv and Odesa oblasts did not escalate into a full-scale armed conflict. Order was restored in these regions with the cooperation of the local civil authorities, though pro-Russian disturbances, such as bombings, continued throughout the year.
== Background == After the 2004 Orange Revolution, Russia launched a decade-long effort to restore its political influence in Ukraine by playing on existing domestic fault lines and undermining the central government. Despite a crackdown on political opponents in 2011–12 (including the arrest and imprisonment of two popular pro-European leaders and including a tightening of personal freedoms), the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) agreed in early 2013 to work towards fulfilling the requirements for joining the European Union, including legislative reform, protecting human rights, and releasing political prisoners. In response, Russia started pressuring Ukraine in August 2013 by applying customs regulations on imports from the country, which culminated on 14 August 2013 with the Russian Custom Service halting goods coming from Ukraine. This prompted politicians and others to view the move as the start of a trade war against Ukraine to prevent Ukraine from signing a trade agreement with the European Union. When president Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union on 21 November 2013, a protest movement dubbed Euromaidan soon developed into the largest democratic mass movement in Europe since 1989, culminating in the Revolution of Dignity, which removed Yanukovych from power following a majority vote in the Verkhovna Rada and led to the dismissal of his government. Some people in largely Russophone Donbas, the traditional base of support for Yanukovych and his Party of the Regions, did not approve of the revolution, expressing their support for Russia instead. Historian William Jay Risch notes the spread of rumors aimed against the new Ukrainian government spread on TV and social media by local elites and Russian state media in Donbas. Russia actively supported the separatism in Ukraine, including using its high-level actors, such as Kremlin advisers Vladislav Surkov and Sergey Glazyev, who organized some of the pro-Russian protests. The attendees of pro-Russian protests included Russian citizens from across the border who came to support the efforts of pro-Russian activists in Ukraine. Donetsk Oblast governor Serhiy Taruta said that rallies in Donetsk included ex-convicts and others who traveled from Crimea. Ukraine's police and border guards denied entry to more than 8,200 Russians between 4 and 25 March 2014. On 27 March 2014, National Security and Defence Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy said that between 500 and 700 Russians were being denied entry daily.
Public opinion in Ukraine
A poll conducted by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from 8–18 February 2014 assessed support for union with Russia throughout Ukraine. It found that, overall, 12% of those polled preferred unification with Russia. 68.0% said that Ukraine should remain independent and maintain friendly relations with Russia. Support for a union between Russia and Ukraine was found to be much higher in certain oblasts: 41.0% in Crimea; 33.2% in Donetsk Oblast; 24.1% in Luhansk Oblast; 24.0% in Odesa Oblast; 16.7% in Zaporizhzhia Oblast; 15.1% in Kharkiv Oblast; and 13.8% in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Another Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll the following April, of all of the oblasts of southern and eastern Ukraine except Crimea (which had already been annexed by Russia by that point), found majority opposition to secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia in all of these oblasts—albeit only a slight majority in opposition to this in the Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts). Opposition to secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia (the combined percentage for the people opting for the options of "Rather, no" and "Certainly, no, I don't") had these percentages in various southern and eastern Ukrainian oblasts: 51.9% in Luhansk Oblast; 52.2% in Donetsk Oblast; 65.6% in Kharkiv Oblast; 78.8% in Odesa Oblast; 81.5% in Zaporizhzhia Oblast; 84.1% in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast; 84.6% in Kherson Oblast; 85.4% Mykolaiv Oblast.
In an opinion poll conducted from 14 to 26 March by the International Republican Institute, 26–27% of those polled in southern and eastern Ukraine viewed the Euromaidan protests as a coup d'état. Only 5% of respondents in eastern Ukraine felt that Russian-speakers were 'definitely' under pressure or threat. 13% of respondents in southern Ukraine and 22% in eastern Ukraine viewed Russia's actions in Crimea as protecting Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine, with 37% and 30% viewing them as invasion and occupation, respectively. In the poll, 22% of those in southern Ukraine and 26% of those in eastern Ukraine supported the idea of federalization for the country; 69% of southerners and 53% of easterners supported Ukraine remaining as a unitary state; and only 2% of southerners and 4% of easterners supported separatism. 59% of those polled in eastern Ukraine would have liked to join the Russian-led customs union, while only 22% were in favour of joining the European Union. 37% of southerners preferred to join this customs union, while 29% were in favour of joining the EU. 90% of those polled in western Ukraine wanted to enter an economic union with the EU, while only 4% favoured the customs union led by Russia. Among all the Ukrainians polled overall, 34% favoured joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, while 44% were against joining it. In eastern Ukraine and southern Ukraine, only 14% and 11% of the respondents, respectively, favour joining NATO, while 67% and 52% oppose joining it. 72% of people polled in eastern Ukraine thought that the country was going in the wrong direction, compared with only 36% in western Ukraine. A poll conducted by the Donetsk Institute of Social Research and Policy Analysis analysed the identities of Donetsk inhabitants. While support for separatism was low, just over a third of polled Donetsk inhabitants identified themselves as "citizens of Ukraine". More preferred were "Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine" or "residents of Donbas". The same poll determined that 66% of Donetsk residents that were polled supported remaining in a unified Ukraine, while 18.2% supported joining Russia, and 4.7% supported independence. A second poll conducted from 26 to 29 March showed that 77% of residents condemned the takeover of administrative buildings, while 16% supported such actions. Furthermore, 40.8% of Donetsk citizens supported rallies for Ukraine's unity, while 26.5% supported pro-Russian rallies. In another research poll conducted 8–16 April by KIIS, a vast majority disapproved of the seizure of administrative buildings by protesters. 45% of those polled in the south and east of Ukraine considered acting President Oleksandr Turchynov to be legitimate, while over 50% not. Most of those polled in the south and east of Ukraine believed that the disarmament and disbandment of illegal radical groups is crucial to preserving national unity. 19.1% of those polled in the south and east of Ukraine believed that Ukraine should be an independent state; 45.2% were for an independent state but with decentralization of the power to the regions, but most felt Russia and Ukraine should share open borders without visa restrictions; 8.4% were in favour of Ukraine and Russia uniting into a single state. 15.4% said they favoured secession of their region to join the Russian Federation, and 24.8% favoured Ukraine becoming a federation. Most of those polled said they found nothing attractive about Russia, but those who did did so for economic, and not cultural reasons. Those polled in southern and eastern Ukraine were generally split on the legitimacy of the present government and parliament, but a majority in all regions agreed that deposed president Viktor Yanukovych was not the legal president of the country. In all regions but the Donbas, pro-Euromaidan oligarch Petro Poroshenko dominated preliminary election polls.
A comprehensive poll released on 8 May by the Pew Research Centre surveyed opinions in Ukraine on the subject of the unrest. The poll was taken after the annexation of Crimea, but prior to the clashes in Odesa on 2 May. 93% of Westerners and 70% of Easterners polled said that they wanted Ukraine to remain united. Despite international criticism of the 16 March referendum on Crimean status, 91% of the Crimeans polled thought that the vote was free and fair, and 88% said that the Ukrainian government should accept the results.
Anti-Maidan
During the Euromaidan Revolution, there were widespread reports that pro-Yanukovych and pro-Russian anti-Maidan protesters were paid for their support. Oleksiy Haran, a political scientist at Kyiv Mohyla Academy in Kyiv, stated that people at anti-Maidan are only interested in money. The government uses these hirelings to provoke resistance. They won't be sacrificing anything." Russian leader of the extremist Eurasian Youth Union Oleg Bakhtiyarov was arrested for, in part, recruiting rioters for US$500 each to assist in the storming of government buildings. On 13 April, the Internal Affairs Ministry stated that recruiters were found to be paying $500 to take part in the attacks and 500 UAH (roughly $40) to occupy buildings. Reports of paid protesters were supported by Party of Regions member Volodymyr Landik and the First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Yarema.
Media portrayal
Russian and Ukrainian sources differed greatly in the way they portrayed the pro-Russian demonstrators. Militants who took over government buildings in the Donetsk Oblast were consistently labeled as "separatists" and "terrorists" by the Ukrainian government and the Western media, whilst Russian media and officials referred to the protesters as "supporters of federalization". Russian media and the militants themselves referred to the Ukrainian transitional government in Kyiv as "nationalist" and as "fascist". Russian news broadcasts also featured claims of foreign involvement on the side of the Ukrainian government. In the Ukrainian media, the derogatory term "Colorado beetle" was used for the pro-Russian demonstrators and militants, in reference to the Ribbon of St. George they wore. Starting in the Russian media, the wave of unrest came to be referred to in Russia and Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine as the "Russian Spring", a reference to both the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Arab Spring of 2010–2011.
Timeline
Unrest by region
Crimea
Following the removal of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych on 22 February 2014, various protests and counter-protests were held in Crimea, including by anti-Maidan Russian nationalists who sought the peninsula's annexation by Russia and by Crimean Tatars who supported Ukrainian unity. Beginning on 26 February, unidentified militants, subsequently confirmed to be Russian troops by Vladimir Putin, began to gradually take control of the Crimean Peninsula. During this time, the question of joining the Russian Federation was put to a referendum, which had an official turnout of 83 per cent and resulted in a 96% affirmative vote but has been condemned by European Union, American, Ukrainian, and Crimean Tatar officials and by the United Nations General Assembly as a violation of the Ukrainian constitution and international law. On 17 March, the Crimean Parliament declared independence from Ukraine and asked to join the Russian Federation. On 18 March, Russia and Crimea signed a treaty of accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol into the Russian Federation. On 21 March, the accession treaty was ratified, and the establishment of two new constituent entities in the Russian Federation was marked by a 30-gun salute under an executive order of the Russian President. The U.N. General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution by 100 to 11 votes declaring that the referendum was invalid and that the incorporation of Crimea into Russia was illegal. Around 3,000 people had fled Crimea by 1 April, and 80% of them were Crimean Tatars. Teams from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) assisted internally displaced persons who had resettled from Crimea in western Ukraine in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and the Chernivtsi Oblast. The number of refugees, primarily Crimean Tatars, continued to rise, and by 20 May the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that about 10,000 people had been displaced.
Donetsk Oblast
Pro-Russian protesters occupied the Donetsk regional state administration (RSA) building from 1 to 6 March, before being removed by the Security Service of Ukraine.
The 13th of March was marked by violent clashes between pro-Maidan and anti-Maidan protesters in Donetsk. A large group of anti-Maidan protesters broke through a police cordon and began to attack a smaller pro-Maidan demonstration. In interviews with OSCE monitors, bystanders described how a group of around thirty pro-Maidan protesters "were forced to seek shelter in a police bus that was surrounded by attackers." The windows of the bus "were smashed, and irritant gas was dispersed inside, forcing the group to exit the bus, where they were then subjected to beatings and verbal abuse." A pro-Ukrainian protester was stabbed to death during the violence. A report by the OSCE said that "police forces" failed "to take adequate measures to protect the pro-Maidan assembly" and "could be observed treating the anti-Maidan protesters in a favourable manner." After this day of violence, interviewees told the OSCE that residents of Donetsk had decided not to organize more peaceful pro-Maidan demonstrations, "out of fear for their safety." On Sunday, 6 April, pro-Russian protesters held a rally in Donetsk pushing for a referendum on independence. A group of 1,000 protestors broke away from the crowd and stormed the RSA building, with the police offering little resistance. They then occupied the building and raised the Russian flag over it while the people outside chanted, "Russia, Russia". 100 people proceeded to barricade themselves in the building. The separatists declared that if officials refused to hold an extraordinary session, announcing a referendum to join Russia, they would declare unilateral control by forming a "People's Mandate" at noon on 7 April, and dismiss all elected council members and MPs. The people who voted within the RSA were not elected to the positions they assumed. According to the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, the declaration was voted on by some regional legislators, however other reports say that neither the Donetsk city administration nor local district councils in city neighbourhoods delegated any representatives to the session. According to the Ukrainian government, the seizure of RSA buildings by pro-Russian forces was part of "a script" that was "written in the Russian Federation" to destabilize Ukraine, carried out by "about 1,500 radicals in each region who spoke with clear Russian accents". On 6 April, the leaders of the separatist group Donetsk Republic announced that a referendum on whether Donetsk Oblast should "join the Russian Federation" would take place "no later than May 11." Additionally, the group's leaders have appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to send Russian peacekeeping forces to the region. The group has been banned in Ukraine since 2007. The group's leader, Andrei Purgin, had been arrested weeks prior on charges of separatism. The political leader of the state was the self-declared People's Governor Pavel Gubarev, a former member of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, who was also under arrest on charges of separatism. In response to these actions, acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov vowed to launch a major counter-terrorism operation against separatist movements in the country's eastern regions. Later that day, the SBU office in Donetsk was retaken by SBU Alpha Group. The Ukrainian special forces unit led by the Ukrainian vice prime minister for law enforcement, Vitaliy Yarema, that was supposed to restore control over the Donetsk RSA building, however, refused to storm it and remove the separatists. Turchynov offered amnesty to the separatists if they laid down their arms and surrendered, and also offered concessions that included devolution of power to regions, and the protection of the Russian language in law. Many in Donetsk expressed disapproval toward the actions of the separatists.
Government building seizures
As political scientist Taras Kuzio writes, "Russia transformed protestors in the Donbas into armed insurgents; this was never an organic process." On 12 April, a group of masked militants, formed in Crimea and led by former officer of Russian security services Igor Girkin, captured the executive committee building, the police department, and SBU office in Sloviansk, a city in the northern part of the Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov labelled the gunmen "terrorists" and swore to use the Ukrainian special forces to retake the building. Seizures of police stations and other government buildings by armed separatist groups also occurred in other cities in Donetsk Oblast, including Donetsk City proper, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, Horlivka, Mariupol, and Yenakiieve. Ukrainian transitional president Oleksandr Turchynov launched a full-scale 'anti-terror' military operation to reclaim the buildings. Vitaly Yarema said that Russian Special Forces units, including the 45th Parachute Guards Regiment usually stationed near Moscow, were operating on Ukrainian territory in the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. On 16 April, the number of Russian special forces troops was said to be 450.
By 16 April, the 'anti-terror' operation being conducted by the Ukrainian government in Donetsk Oblast had hit some stumbling blocks. Protesters seized Ukrainian armoured vehicles in Kramatorsk, and sent soldiers away in Sloviansk. During the night of 16 April, about 300 pro-Russian protesters attacked a Ukrainian military unit in Mariupol, throwing petrol bombs. Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov said that troops were forced to open fire, resulting in the killing of three of the attackers. The Geneva Statement of 17 April did not result in the end of the government building occupations in Donetsk Oblast. Two pro-Russian groups in Mariupol said that they 'felt betrayed' by the action taken in Geneva. A truce declared for Easter Sunday was broken by an attack upon a separatist checkpoint in Sloviansk, further inflaming tensions. The situation remained tense on 23 April, with the occupation of government buildings ongoing throughout the region. OSCE monitors observed that the city administration building, SBU building, and police station in Sloviansk remained heavily fortified by armed groups of men with masks and automatic weapons. The city remained quiet, with no protests occurring. However, the monitors believed that the city remained under heavy surveillance, not only by people in uniforms and masks, but also by many figures in civilian clothing. One resident said that people in Sloviansk were afraid to discuss their opinions of the occupiers.
On 24 April, Ukrainian forces made a series of 'probing attacks' into Sloviansk against the insurgents. The self-proclaimed separatist mayor of the city, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, declared in response that 'We will make Stalingrad out of this town.' The Ukrainian government then stated on 25 April that it would 'fully blockade the city of Sloviansk,' and continue with the 'anti-terror' operation. Amid the increasing tensions, separatists in Sloviansk detained seven international monitors on an OSCE military verification mission in Ukraine, who had been traveling into the city on a bus, along with the bus driver and five accompanying Ukrainian soldiers. The journalists were being held at the occupied SBU building. Access to the city remained unrestricted despite the supposed Ukrainian army blockade, with separatist barricades guarded by fewer people than on previous days. Local residents said that the separatist administration in Sloviansk provided no administrative services to citizens. Leaflets released by the Donetsk People's Republic were distributed on 26 April, notifying citizens of a referendum on the question of whether or not they supported the proclamation of "state sovereignty" by the Republic to be held on 11 May. In the morning on the next day, two members of the OSCE special monitoring mission were held by a group of unarmed men from the Donbas People's Militia in Yenakiieve. They were taken to the occupied city hall, questioned, and then released after a letter sent by the mission's office in Kyiv confirmed the credentials of the monitors. A large pro-government rally in Donetsk city marched in protest against the violence in Donetsk Oblast and the attempted assassination of Kharkiv mayor Hennadiy Kernes on 28 April. The rally was swiftly and violently broken up by separatists armed with baseball bats, iron rods, firecrackers, and shields.
Second counter-offensive
A new counteroffensive by government forces on Sloviansk during the early morning of 2 May resulted in the downing of two government helicopters and casualties on both sides. As a result, Ukrainian forces gained control of all separatist checkpoints and of half the city. President Oleksandr Turchynov said that "many insurgents" were "dead, wounded and arrested." In the early morning on the next day, the counteroffensive then targeted to Kramatorsk and Andriivka in Donetsk Oblast. Serious fighting resulted in the recapture of the occupied buildings in Kramatorsk by government forces, and at least ten separatists were said to have been killed in Andriivka. All of the international military monitors who had been held in Sloviansk were released by Vyacheslav Ponomaryov on 3 May. On the same day, protesters in the city of Donetsk stormed and occupied the chairman of the regional government's private business office and the SBU building, smashing windows and ransacking files as an act of revenge for the clashes in Odesa. Kramatorsk was reoccupied by militants on 4 May, and Sloviansk saw renewed fighting on 5 May, resulting in the deaths of four Ukrainian soldiers. Fierce fighting took place in Mariupol starting 5 May. Posters plastered on the occupied city administration building read "OSCE get out" or "OSCE you cheat". As part of the counteroffensive, government forces recaptured the building on 7 May, but then left it, allowing the separatists to quickly re-occupy it. Occupied buildings in Donetsk had been heavily fortified by 6 May, and Donetsk International Airport was closed to all traffic. The regional television broadcasting centre remained occupied by about thirty camouflaged insurgents with AK-47s. A BTR-70 was parked outside the building, along with barricades made of sandbags and tyres. A similar presence was observed at the RSA building. On 7 May, Russian president Vladimir Putin asked the separatists to delay the planned 11 May referendum on the status of Donetsk. Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, refused. In response, Ukrainian transitional prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk referred to Putin's words as "hot air" and vowed that the counter-offensive in Donetsk would continue. A large skirmish erupted in Mariupol on 9 May, when government troops launched an attack on a police station in the city, resulting in the killing of at least twenty people. These were described by the Ukrainian government as "militants" and "terrorists", though some local residents said that they were unarmed protestors.
Referendum
The disputed referendum on the status of Donetsk Oblast was held on 11 May. According to representatives of the Donetsk People's Republic, 89% voted in favour of self-rule, and 10% voted against. Turnout was said to be 75%. OSCE monitors did not observe the referendum, as the situation in Donetsk after the skirmish in Mariupol was said to be "volatile", forcing them to restrict their operations in the region. After the results were announced, leader of the Republic Denis Pushilin said that "all Ukrainian military troops in the region would be considered occupying forces". In response to the perceived weakness of the Ukrainian army, some Ukrainians who opposed the insurgents formed the "Donbas Volunteer Battalion", modeled on the Ukrainian partisan groups that fought against both the German Reich and the Soviet Union during the Second World War.
Steelworkers and security guards from Metinvest, along with local police, began joint patrols in the city of Mariupol on 15 May. These groups forced the insurgents out of the buildings that they had been occupying. A representative of Mariupol supporters of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Kuzmenko, was party to a deal that led to this vacation of buildings by the insurgents, but a local commander of those insurgents who had been occupying the building said that "someone is trying to sow discord among us; someone has signed something, but we will continue our fight" and that "everyone ran away". Steelworkers could be seen removing barricades from the city centre and also cleaning up the burnt city administration building. By the morning of 16 May, Associated Press journalists could find no trace of the insurgents in Mariupol city centre. On 16 May, however, it seemed that separatists were not banished from the city, as reporters from The Washington Post said that about a hundred pro-Russian activists gathered on the steps of the city administration building and that the separatist flag continued to fly over it. Rinat Akhmetov, oligarch and owner of Metinvest, called for non-violent protests against the separatists in Donbas on 19 May. In response to this call, cars gathered in front of the Donetsk RSA building and continually honked their horns. OSCE monitors said that some elderly people threw stones and water bottles at the cars as they passed by the RSA. Another group of thirty people outside the RSA chanted the slogan "Akhmetov is an enemy of the people" while holding banners that said "Akhmetov is a thief and is a supporter of fascism" and "Are you a slave to Akhmetov?" The confederal state of Novorossiya was proclaimed by Pavel Gubarev on 22 May, incorporating both the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic. "New Russia" (Russian: Novorossiya) hearkens back to a term used by the Russian Empire to refer to modern eastern and southern Ukraine. A few days later, on 26 May, a heated battle broke out between separatist insurgents that had been in control of Donetsk International Airport, and Ukrainian government forces. Around fifty insurgents were killed in the fighting, which resulted in their losing control of the airport. Chechen paramilitaries, along with others from Russia, fought Ukrainian forces during the battle. According to Artur Gasparian, a member of the insurgent unit that had been holding the airport, the majority of the separatists' losses were due to friendly fire. Members of the Vostok battalion, the pro-Russian insurgent group that fought Ukrainian forces at the airport, took control over the Donetsk RSA building on 28 May and removed the leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic. Participants in the action said that it was an "emergency measure" to halt "a sharp rise in looting and crime, as well as disorder within leadership." They were seen removing barricades and rubbish that was left by those previously in control of the building.
Continued fighting
Fighting continued through the month of June. As part of Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko's fifteen-point peace plan, a frequently broken ceasefire spanned from 20 June until the 30th. A renewed government offensive after the ceasefire broke down resulted in heavy losses for the separatists, forcing them to withdraw from northern Donetsk Oblast, including many cities that had been under their control since April, such as Sloviansk, Druzhkivka, Kostyantynivka, and Kramatorsk. Heavy fighting continued in the following months until the signing of the Minsk Protocol in early September, which established a ceasefire.
==== Attacks on journalists ==== Separatists of the Donetsk region undertook numerous attacks on press members. On 10 April, protesters outside the Donetsk RSA attacked Belarusian journalists for speaking the Belarusian language, and not Russian; Ukrainian journalists were forced to speak Russian to avoid angering pro-Russian protesters. According to Kyiv Post, they also attacked reporters from Russia Today, but RT did not carry the story. Days later on 12 April, a group of 150 people supported armed militants outside the police station in Sloviansk who were hostile to journalists, telling them to "go back to Kyiv". An unknown man set the car of the editor-in-chief of the News of Donbas ablaze. The editor had been receiving anonymous threats from the separatists. On 19 April, the offices of local newspaper Pro Gorod in Torez, 80 kilometres (50 mi) southeast of Donetsk, were set on fire. Separatists torched the offices of the newspaper Provintsia in Kostiantynivka on 23 April, after previously harassing newspaper staff and labeling them members of the 'Right Sector movement.' Stepan Chirich, a Belarusian reporter with the Russian NTV channel, disappeared in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Another journalist, Evgenii Gapich, a photographer for the Reporter newspaper from Ivano-Frankivsk, disappeared in Horlivka; his whereabouts are unknown, but allegedly he has been held in detention by separatist forces in Sloviansk. Furthermore, Simon Ostrovsky, a journalist with Vice News, was captured by unidentified people in uniform in Sloviansk and released after four days. British journalist Graham Phillips was taken captive by both the separatists and the Ukrainian army. A report by Human Rights Watch criticized the Ukrainian government for "the serial arrests of Russian journalists in Ukraine."
Luhansk Oblast
In protest against the proposed cancelling of the regional language law, the regional administration of Luhansk Oblast voted to demand that the Russian language be given official language status. They also demanded the stopping of the persecution of former Berkut officers, the disarming of Maidan self-defence units, and the banning of a number of far-right political organizations, like Svoboda and UNA-UNSO. In the event that the authorities failed to comply with the demands, the Oblast administration reserved the "right to ask for help from the brotherly people of the Russian Federation". Government buildings in Luhansk have been occupied multiple times. A peaceful pro-Maidan demonstration on Heroes Square, outside the Luhansk city administration building, was attacked by anti-Maidan counter-demonstrators on 9 March. The attackers then stormed the building and occupied it but were swiftly removed by government forces. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) local headquarters was occupied on 6 April, along with the SBU's armoury of over 300 machine guns. Pro-Russian activists discussed plans for a "Luhansk Parliamentary Republic" on 8 April 2014. 1,500 were involved in the building's occupation. The occupiers referred to themselves as the Army of the South-East (Russian: Армия Юго-Востока). According to The Guardian, the personnel include former members of the Berkut special police. The mood remained tense in Luhansk on 14 April. During the morning, up to 300 persons were observed at the entrance of the SBU building. There has been no indication that pro-Russian demonstrators in Luhansk would enact the terms of the Geneva Statement on Ukraine, and demonstrations have continued. Those occupying the SBU building told OSCE monitors on 20 April that they would demobilize once occupied buildings in Kyiv were vacated by Euromaidan supporters. The monitors also encountered a roadblock near the village of Rayhorodka, in Novoaidar Raion. It was guarded by about ten people in civilian clothes, including the local Orthodox priest. They stated that they set up the roadblock on 14 April to protect their village from any separatist incursions. A commander of the Ukrainian army indicated that no incidents had occurred at the roadblock so far, but that unknown armed individuals had been seen approaching it in the night. A rally outside the SBU building to elect a 'people's government' in Luhansk occurred on 21 April. At the rally, protesters called for an 11 May referendum on the status of Luhansk Oblast with three options: be part of a Ukrainian federation, join the Russian Federation, or remain part of a unitary Ukraine. Around 1,500 participants were observed at the peak of the rally. The leaders of the rally said that they were not separatists and sought a peaceful solution that would allow Luhansk to remain within Ukraine. The OSCE monitoring mission reported that the situation in Luhansk on 23 April was 'stable' and that the area around the occupied SBU building was 'quiet'. The monitors met with representatives of a non-governmental organization that said they had been held captive for six hours within the building on 21 April and that about 100 men in unmarked uniforms with machine guns were present inside it at the time.
Escalation
Several hundred protesters that had gathered outside the occupied SBU building proclaimed the "Luhansk People's Republic" on 27 April. They demanded that the Ukrainian government provide amnesty for all protesters, enshrine Russian as an official language, and hold a referendum on the status of the region. They issued an ultimatum that stated that if Kyiv did not meet their demands by 14:00 on 29 April, they would launch an insurgency in tandem with that of the Donetsk People's Republic. As these demands were not met, 2,000 to 3,000 protestors stormed the Luhansk RSA building on 29 April. Previously, only the SBU building had been targeted. The building was unprotected on the exterior, but a group of riot police confronted the protesters in an inner courtyard of the building. A brief standoff resulted, but the police did nothing to stop the protesters. A Russian flag was raised over the building. Several other buildings, including a police station and the local prosecutor's office, were later seized. Twenty separatist gunmen fired machine guns at the police station to force the officers within to surrender. President Oleksander Turchynov responded to the loss of the buildings by demanding the immediate resignation of police chiefs in Donetsk and Luhansk. By 2 May, however, pro-Russian protesters occupying the city council and the television centre had left, and the prosecutor's office was freed following negotiations between authorities and separatists. The next day, however, separatist leader and self-proclaimed mayor of Luhansk Valeriy Bolotov announced the formation of a "South-Eastern Army" to march on Kyiv. Bolotov also declared a state of emergency, introduced a curfew, a ban on political parties, and a mandate that local law enforcement officials must take an oath of allegiance to him. In a video statement, he said, "In case of not following this, you will be announced traitors of people of Luhansk, and wartime measures will be taken against you". A GAZ Tigr heavy armoured vehicle emblazoned with the emblem of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia was seen parked outside the RSA building on 8 May, along with men in military gear and assault rifles. Whilst speaking to OSCE monitors, the deputy governor of Luhansk Oblast said that the "security situation in the region is deteriorating due to activities of the separatists and criminal gangs." Members of the OSCE special monitoring mission were later stopped at an 'illegal' checkpoint near the village of Shchastya and held for three hours before being released.
Referendum
The disputed referendum on the status of Luhansk Oblast was held on 11 May. According to RIA Novosti, 96.2% voted in favour of self-rule. Valeriy Bolotov, leader of the Republic, declared "martial law" on 22 May. OSCE monitors said that around 70% of "shops, cafés, and banks" were closed in Luhansk city centre. Shops that remained open were sold out of various necessities, including fuel. Police were entirely absent. The confederal state of Novorossiya was proclaimed by Pavel Gubarev on 22 May, incorporating both the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic. "Novorossiya" hearkens back to a term used by the Russian Empire to refer to modern eastern and southern Ukraine. Explosions struck the RSA building in Luhansk on 2 June, killing eight people and wounding twenty-eight. Russian media reported that the explosions were Ukrainian airstrikes. Officials from Ukraine denied this stating instead that insurgents had fired an anti-aircraft missile at themselves. The next day, the OSCE special monitoring mission said that based on "limited observation", the "strikes were the result of non-guided rockets shot from an aircraft". A CNN investigation found clear evidence that the detonations came from the air, and the pattern of the craters suggested use of standard equipment on the Su-25, a ground-attack fighter, and the Su-27—both combat aircraft operated by Ukraine. RadioLiberty headlined a report "Despite Denials, All Evidence For Deadly Explosion Points To Kyiv". Heavy fighting in the region continued over the following months, until the signing of the Minsk Protocol in early September, which established a ceasefire.
=== Kharkiv Oblast === Protests were also held in Kharkiv Oblast, and the regional state administration building there was occupied multiple times.
Unrest first gripped Kharkiv city on 22 February 2014, when Euromaidan protesters occupied the Kharkiv regional state administration (RSA) building. Later that day, several thousand pro-Ukrainian protesters tried to topple a statue of Vladimir Lenin that stood opposite the RSA building in Freedom Square. Several taxi drivers defended the monument, injuring several of the protesters. By the next day, several thousand pro-Russian protesters had gathered in the square to protect the statue. They set up a perimeter fence around it. Then governor of Kharkiv Oblast Mykhailo Dobkin made a speech to the defenders of the statue, saying that the statue was "a symbol of our city... we will leave it here and we will defend it." Local police kept Euromaidan and Anti-Maidan protesters apart until 1 March. On that day, pro-Russian activists stormed the RSA building, assaulted the Euromaidan activists who had been occupying it, and raised the Russian flag over the building. Some of the protesters were Russian citizens who had traveled to Kharkiv from Russia. According to the local media, 2,000 Russians were brought by buses with Russian number plates to Kharkiv to take part in the storming of the RSA building. Russian activist organizations confirmed that they sent Russians to "peacefully protest" in Kharkiv. Police regained control of the building by evening on the same day and replaced the Russian flag with that of Ukraine. Demonstrations by pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists in Kharkiv continued throughout the month of March. These included pro-Russian gatherings of up to 5,000 people. Despite this, the city remained relatively calm until 15 March, when two people were killed in a shootout between Ukrainian nationalists and pro-Russian activists. On the next day, pro-Russian activists broke into a Ukrainian cultural centre in Kharkiv, removed books written in the Ukrainian language, and burned them on the street outside.
Pro-Russian protesters stormed and occupied the RSA building on 6 April. The next day, protesters in the occupied RSA building unilaterally declared independence from Ukraine as the "Kharkiv People's Republic." Doubts arose about the local origin of the protesters after they initially stormed an opera and ballet theatre, believing it was the city hall. By 8 April, the RSA building had been retaken by Ukrainian special forces, and seventy protesters had been arrested. 1,000 pro-Russian protesters returned to the RSA building on 13 April and rallied around it, with some entering. These protesters then holed up inside the building with Kharkiv mayor Hennadiy Kernes. Later in the day, Kernes declared his support for an autonomy referendum and amnesty for the arrested Kharkiv separatists. At least fifty pro-government protesters, who had been holding concurrent demonstrations, were severely beaten in attacks by pro-Russian protesters. Gunshots and grenade explosions were heard. Videos showed three people covered with blood being held on the metro station stairs, and separatists coming up to them, kicking them, and shouting "They are not humans!" According to a report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission on 19 April, no protesters had been seen in front of the RSA building since 13 April. The Kharkiv City Appeals Court ruled on 17 April that 43 of the 65 protesters arrested by authorities following the takeover of the RSA building on 8 and 9 April would remain in custody. Sentences for another 16 were changed to house arrest. Three detainees were released on bail, whereas the three remaining had earlier been sentenced to house arrest. Kharkiv remained calm over the weekend of 19–20 April, though a small, peaceful pro-Russian protest was held on Freedom Square. Demonstrations continued on Freedom Square, with 500 people gathering on 21 April to elect a so-called "people's government." Worsening economic conditions in Ukraine were cited by participants as an impetus for the demonstrations. They called for the resignation of the city mayor and prosecutor as well as the return of Viktor Yanukovych. Vladimir Varshavsky was elected as "people's governor." More peaceful rallies were held in the morning on 23 April, with both anti-government and pro-government demonstrations held in Kharkiv city centre. Each rally was attended by around 400 people. Around 150 anti-government protesters gathered outside the Kharkiv City Council building on Constitution Square concurrently with the rallies. Later that day, over 7,000 residents held a rally in the same spot to support the unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The situation overall in Kharkiv remained calm, though police remained on high alert. A small group of riot police were seen guarding the RSA building on 25 April, though the police presence as a whole in the city appeared to be much reduced. Rival demonstrations by supporters and opponents of a unitary Ukrainian state occurred on 27 April in Kharkiv city. This resulted in clashes between around 400 opponents and 500 to 600 supporters of the Ukrainian government. Police attempts to quell the unrest were not successful.
Shooting of Hennadiy Kernes
The mayor of Kharkiv, Hennadiy Kernes, was shot in the back while cycling on 28 April 2014. He was said to be in "grave, but stable" condition, but later recovered, according to Televiziyna Sluzhba Novyn on 10 May 2014. Kernes was known as a staunch opponent of the Euromaidan. However, he had also stated that he did not support the pro-Russian insurgency, and backed a united Ukraine. Mykhailo Dobkin, a former governor of Kharkiv Oblast and potential Ukrainian presidential candidate, said "You want to know my opinion, they were shooting not at Kernes, but at Kharkiv", and said that the shooting was an attempt to destabilize what was otherwise a relatively calm region.
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