Luhansk Oblast, also referred to as Luhanshchyna (Луга́нщина), is the easternmost oblast (province) of Ukraine. The oblast's administrative center is Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the name Voroshilovgrad Oblast in honor of Kliment Voroshilov. Its population is estimated as 2,102,921
Krasnodon is a city in Luhansk Oblast (region) of eastern Ukraine. It is incorporated as a city of oblast significance and serves as the administrative center of Krasnodon Raion (district), though it does not belong to the raion. Its population is approximately 42,315 .
Highway M04 was a Ukraine international highway connecting Znamianka to Krasnodon on the border with Russia, where it continued into Russia as the A260.
Shakhtarsk Raion was one of the raions of Donetsk Oblast, located in eastern Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion was the city of Shakhtarsk, which was incorporated separately as a city of oblast significance and was not part of the raion. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Donetsk Oblast to eight. However the raion has not been under control of the Ukrainian government since 2014, and has been part of the Donetsk People's Republic which in 2015 abolished it and subordinated to the city of Shakhtarsk. The last estimate of the raion population, reported by the Ukrainian government, was 18,878 .
From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the success of Euromaidan in ousting then-President Viktor Yanukovych. The unrest, supported by Russia in the early stages of the Russo-Ukrainian War, has been referred to in Russia as the "Russian Spring".
The Donetsk People's Militia and Luhansk People's Militia are pro-Russian paramilitaries in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which have been fighting the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War. During the Donbas War (2014–2023), they were affiliated with the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). They supported the Russian military during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In September 2022, Russia annexed the DPR and LPR, and the paramilitaries are being integrated into the Russian military. They are designated as terrorist groups by the Government of Ukraine.
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; largely from Russia, Crimea, and Eastern Ukraine; 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 an unrecognised republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was created by militarily-armed Russian-backed separatists in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed by Russia in 2022.
The 2nd Battalion of Special Assignment "Donbas" is a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and based in Severodonetsk. Originally created in 2014 as a volunteer unit called the Donbas Battalion by Semen Semenchenko following the Russian occupation of Crimea and possible invasion of continental Ukraine. The formation of the unit started in the spring of 2014 during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The unit was initially formed as an independent force, but has been since fully integrated into the National Guard as the 2nd Special Purpose Battalion "Donbas" within the 15th Regiment of the National Guard.
Semen Ihorovych Semenchenko is a former deputy to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on National Security and Defence and the commander-founder of the volunteer territorial defence battalion "Donbas", based in Donetsk. He was a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada from 2014 to 2019.
Izvaryne is an urban-type settlement located on the E40 highway in Krasnodon Municipality in Dovzhansk Raion of Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is also an important road and railway crossing point on the Ukrainian side of the Russia–Ukraine border. There are facilities at the crossing for motorcars, lorries, and trains. Izvaryne lies across from the Russian town of Donetsk in Rostov Oblast, not to be confused with the Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Population: 1,560 , 1,692 (2013 est.).
The Battle in Shakhtarsk Raion began on 16 July 2014, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine attempted to cut off insurgent supply lines from Russia. Fighting broke out around the towns of Marynivka, Dmytrivka, Stepanivka, Shakhtarsk, as well as the strategic hill of Savur-Mohyla. It later spread to the cities of Snizhne and Torez. While the battle was in progress, a civilian passenger airliner, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, was shot down near Hrabove on 17 July. Amidst a wide counter-offensive by the insurgents and their Russian backers across Donbas, government troops were forced out of Shakhtarsk Raion on 26 August.
During the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War between the Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region of Ukraine that began in April 2014, many international organisations and states noted a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the conflict zone.
The special forces of Ukraine are the special forces units of Ukraine. Like all post-Soviet states, Ukraine inherited its special forces (Spetsnaz) units from the remnants of the Soviet armed forces, GRU and KGB units. Ukraine now maintains its own Spetsnaz structure under the control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and under the Ministry of Defence, while the Security Service of Ukraine maintains its own Spetsnaz force, the Alpha group. In 2016 the Special Operations Forces were created as an independent branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine formed only by special forces units.
Dovzhansky is a land border crossing between Ukraine and Russia on the Ukrainian side, in the town of Dovzhansky, Sverdlovsk city municipality, Luhansk Oblast.
Uralo-Kavkaz is an urban-type settlement in Krasnodon Municipality in the southeastern part of Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine. Population: 2,453 , 2,555 (2013 est.).
The Special Tasks Patrol Police is a Ukrainian volunteer corps of law enforcement units, part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. It was originally created for prevention of criminal encroachment and defence of civil order on 15 April 2014, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During the ongoing war in Donbas, the forces of the Special Tasks Patrol Police have fought against pro-Russian separatists as a paramilitary force.
This is a timeline of the war in Donbas for the year 2014.
Fights on the Ukrainian–Russian border in 2014, also famous as "Operation to restore the state border", "Battle at the border", Battle in sector D , – an episode of the war in eastern Ukraine, the battle of anti-terrorist operation forces against illegal armed groups supported by Russian artillery in the border areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions during summer campaign in Donbass. Fighting broke out in Sector D of the anti-terrorist operation during the "operation to restore the state border" during June–August 2014. The main task of the Anti-Terrorist Operation Forces was to restore control over the section of the state border Izvaryne – Kumachovo and to cut the routes for illegal armed groups.
The combatants of the war in Donbas include foreign and domestic forces.
E40 (Ukraine 
M 04 ) in the Donbas region.