The Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna, is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous oblast, with around 4.1 million residents. Its administrative centre is Donetsk; however, its Regional State Administration has been temporarily relocated to Kramatorsk because of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. Historically, the region has been an important part of the Donbas region. Until November 1961, it bore the name Stalino Oblast as Donetsk was then named "Stalino", in honour of Joseph Stalin. As part of the de-Stalinization process, it was renamed as its administrative centre after Siversky Donets, the main artery of Eastern Ukraine. Its population is estimated as 4,100,280
Luhansk Oblast is the de jure easternmost oblast (province) of Ukraine. Since 3 July 2022, the entire oblast has been under the control of the self-proclaimed, Russian-backed Luhansk People's Republic, whose claimed territory overlaps exactly with the oblast. The oblast's administrative center was Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the name Voroshilovgrad Oblast in honor of Kliment Voroshilov. Its population is estimated as 2,121,322
The Donbas or Donbass is a historical, cultural, and economic region in southeastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War: the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic. The word Donbas is a portmanteau formed from "Donets Basin", an abbreviation of "Donets Coal Basin". The name of the coal basin is a reference to the Donets Ridge; the latter is associated with the Donets river.
Kramatorsk is a city and the administrative centre of Kramatorsk Raion in the northern portion of Donetsk Oblast, in eastern Ukraine. Prior to 2020, Kramatorsk was a city of oblast significance. Since October 11, 2014 Kramatorsk has been the provisional seat of Donetsk Oblast, following the events surrounding the war in Donbas. Sievierodonetsk has a similar status for Luhansk Oblast. Their previous cities are still de jure administrative centres. Population: 150,084
Kirovske or Kirovskoye is a city of regional significance in the de facto Donetsk People's Republic; de jure Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Its population is approximately 27,441
The Donetsk People's Republic is a breakaway puppet quasi-state located in Ukraine, formed on 7 April 2014 by pro-Russian separatists following the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity. It is one of two breakaway states in Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the other being the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). Since 2014, DPR forces have been fighting against the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donbas War, and have received political and military backing from Russia. The capital city and largest city within the DPR is Donetsk. Denis Pushilin has served as the DPR head of state since 2018.
Russian separatist forces in Donets Basin are militias and armed volunteer groups affiliated with the Russian-recognized pro-Russian breakaway regions in the Donbas region of Ukraine: the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). The main groups are the Donetsk People's Militia and Luhansk People's Militia, which have been fighting the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War. They are designated as terrorist groups by the Government of Ukraine.
Denis Vladimirovich Pushilin is a politician from the Donetsk region who has served as Head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) since 2018. Prior to his involvement in politics he ran a pyramid scheme.
The war in Donbas was an armed conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine, part of the broader Russo-Ukrainian War. In March 2014, immediately following the Euromaidan protest movement and subsequent Revolution of Dignity, protests by pro-Russian, anti-government separatist groups arose in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, collectively called the Donbas. These demonstrations began around the same time as Russia's annexation of Crimea, and were part of wider pro-Russian protests across southern and eastern Ukraine. Declaring the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, armed Russian-backed separatist groups seized government buildings throughout the Donbas, leading to armed conflict with Ukrainian government forces.
The Luhansk People's Republic, or Lugansk People's Republic, is a breakaway puppet quasi-state located in Ukraine, formed by pro-Russian separatists in April 2014, which claims and controls the entirety of Luhansk Oblast within the historical Donbas region. Luhansk is the territory's largest city and serves as its capital. The population of the republic is approximately 2.1 million people.
Novorossiya, Novorosiia, Novorussia, or New Russia, also referred to as the Union of People's Republics, was a proposed confederation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in Eastern Ukraine, both of which are under the control of pro-Russian separatists. The term "Novorossiya" comes from the historic Novorossiya, a former colonial Russian territory conquered from the Cossacks and the Ottomans in which Russian settlers were encouraged to settle.
The Battle of Horlivka began when Ukrainian government forces attempted to recapture the city of Horlivka, in Donetsk Oblast, from separatist insurgents affiliated with the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on 21 July 2014.
The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements which sought to end the war in the Donbas region of Ukraine. The first, known as the Minsk Protocol, was drafted in 2014 by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, consisting of Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), with mediation by the leaders of France and Germany in the so-called Normandy Format. After extensive talks in Minsk, Belarus, the agreement was signed on 5 September 2014 by representatives of the Trilateral Contact Group and, without recognition of their status, by the then-leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). This agreement followed multiple previous attempts to stop the fighting in the region and aimed to implement an immediate ceasefire.
The Head of the Donetsk People's Republic is the highest elected official of the Donetsk People's Republic, a partially recognised state backed by Russia, located on the territory of Donetsk Oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. According to the Constitution, the Head of the people's republic is the head of state and has executive power.
Donetsk People's Republic–South Ossetia relations are foreign relations between the Donetsk People's Republic and South Ossetia. Both of them are unrecognized states and disputed territories, where the Donetsk People's Republic is considered Ukrainian territory and South Ossetia is considered as Georgia's territory.
Elections were held on 11 November 2018 by the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. As a result of a war that started in April 2014, these internationally unrecognised entities control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in eastern Ukraine, which are together called the Donbas region. They previously held elections in 2014. Voters were asked to elect the Head of the Donetsk People's Republic and Head of the Luhansk People's Republic as well as the deputies for two parliaments: the People's Council of the Donetsk People's Republic with 100 seats, and the People's Council of the Luhansk People's Republic with 50 seats.
The Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) are two largely-unrecognized quasi-states located in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Internationally, the territory they occupy is recognized as part of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, respectively. They proclaimed their independence after the Ukrainian Euromaidan of 2014 and the subsequent war in Donbas, later on merging as the short-lived confederation of Novorossiya, only to be dissolved in 2015. Today, they are only officially recognized by Abkhazia, Russia, South Ossetia and Syria. Neither entity has embassies in any other state.
The eastern Ukraine offensive is an ongoing theatre of operation in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine in the three provinces (oblasts) of eastern Ukraine: Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast and Kharkiv Oblast. The invasion is an escalation or intensification of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which had been waged between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
The battle of Volnovakha was a military engagement which lasted from 25 February 2022 until 12 March 2022, as part of the Eastern Ukraine offensive during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian and DPR forces engaged Ukrainian forces at the small city of Volnovakha in Donetsk Oblast, which is located close to the Ukrainian-DPR border.
The battle of Avdiivka is an ongoing military engagement between the Russian Armed Forces and Donbas Separatist Forces on one side and the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the other. It is being fought over the town of Avdiivka, located in the Donbas region. Fighting started when violence erupted again in the Donbas on 21 February, when Russian president Vladimir Putin recognized the Donetsk People's Republic. Days later, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Avdiivka was among the first places to be attacked.
Donetsk People's Republic 
