Conflict Status: Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC) – Potentially “Internationalized”
Conflict Start: 2014
Parties:
- Armed forced of the Government of Ukraine.
- Armed forces of the self-declared Donetsk Peoples Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic
- Pro-Russian or Russian-aligned irregular armed forces
- Pro-Ukrainian irregular armed forces
Background:
The War in Donbass is an non international armed conflict in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, commonly collectively called the “Donbass” region of Ukraine. The conflict began in March 2014 after protests by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place The protests came as a result of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution which toppled the government of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych.
In the wake of the unrest, and after a disputed referendum, Russia officially annexed the Crimea. This action occurred in the midst of other and concurrent pro-Russian protests across southern and eastern Ukraine. Additional local referendums led to the unilateral declaration of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR respectively) in May of 2014.
Soon thereafter, hoping to thwart any further annexations by the Russian federation, separatist forces of the self-declared People’s republics in the Donbass and the Ukrainian government erupted into armed conflict. In August 2014, Russian armaments (including artillery) and personnel, crossed the border into Ukrainian territory without the permission of the Ukrainian government claiming it to be a “humanitarian convoy”. Ukraine asserted this amounted to a Russian invasion of its territory and called on allies and NATO to assist in the fighting. Soon thereafter shelling of Ukrainian positions from the Russian side of the border began in earnest. The Russian federation claims to have no active forces in any official capacity, though it has confirmed the presence of “military specialists”, to assist the mostly-Russian speaking forces in the Donbass region.
While military aid and supplies flowed to both sides, by August of 2014 DPR and LPR insurgents regained much of the territory they had lost during the Ukrainian government’s preceding military offensive. By September 2014 the first ceasfire, the so-called Minsk Protocl, was sign by Ukraine, Russia, the DPR and the LPR. Almost immediately, reports that both sides had violated the terms of protocol began flowing form the Donbass. By January 2015, the ceasefire completely collapsed, and fighting resumed across the conflict zone, mostly notably around the Donetsk International Airport and at Debaltseve.
In February 2015, the Minsk II ceasefire agreement was signed by the parties but was quickly violated, when separatist forces launched an offensive on Debaltseve, forcing Ukrainian forces to withdraw. The lines then solidified, and no new terrority was captured by either side and the conflict settled into a stalemate. Yet, casualties, both civilan and armed forces continued to mount. Indeed, dozens of soldiers and civilians were killed each month. and as the fighting continued into 2017, on average one Ukrainian soldier died in combat every three days. Forces on both sides grew in number as Ukraine sent more troops into the fray and estimates of the number of Russian and separatist troops remaining ranged from 10,000 to 50,000. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) which had established an observatory mission in the region counted around 30,000 individuals in military-style dress crossing from Russia to Donbass just at two border checkpoints it was allowed to monitor.
As the front lines remained stagnant, shelling in the region became constant, and countless civilians have been killed. In a new development, on November 25, 2018, Russian ships attacked and boarded three Ukrainian vessels in Crimean port of Azov near the Black Sea, ostensibly for violating Russian territorial waters despite a 2003 to guarantee free passage through the strait. Afterwards, both sides have been harassing each other’s ships in the area. in response critics at a United Nations Security Council meeting called the attack a violation of international law. In response, and at the request of Ukraine, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization increased its military presence in the area.
Since the start of the conflict there have been more than twenty ceasefires, each intended to remain in force indefinitely, but none of them stopped the violence. The most successful attempt to halt the fighting was in 2016, when a ceasefire held for six consecutive weeks. The latest ceasefire came into force on December 29, 2018, and failed the same day. The fighting continues in basically the same lines that were established in 2017.
Recent updates:
UN Security Council Documents
Reports on the human rights situation in Ukraine – OHCHR
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 November 2018 to 15 February 2019
English | Russian | Ukrainian
Civic space and fundamental freedoms ahead of the presidential, parliamentary and local elections in Ukraine in 2019-2020
English | Russian | Ukrainian
12 March 2019
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 August to 15 November 2018
English | Russian | Ukrainian
Press release: English | Russian | Ukrainian
17 December 2018
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
19 September 2018
Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
10 September 2018
Human rights violations and abuses and international humanitarian law violations committed in the context of the Ilovaisk events in August 2014
English | Russian | Ukrainian
9 August 2018
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
20 June 2018
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
19 March 2018
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
12 December 2017
Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine).
English | Russian | Ukrainian
25 September 2017
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
12 September 2017
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
13 June 2017
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
15 March 2017
Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
16 February 2017
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
8 December 2016
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
15 September 2016
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
3 June 2016
Accountability for killings in Ukraine from January 2014 to May 2016
English | Russian | Ukrainian
25 May 2016
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
English | Russian | Ukrainian
3 March 2016
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
9 December 2015
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
15 August 2015
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
1 June 2015
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
15 February 2015
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
15 December 2014
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
8 October 2014
Report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine
19 September 2014
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
29 August 2014
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
15 July 2014
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
15 June 2014
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
15 May 2014
Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine
Annex to the Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine – Concept note
15 April 2014
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