2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine

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 midst of the Russo-Ukrainian War, has been referred to in Russia as the "Russian Spring" (russian: Русская весна, translit=Russkaya vesna, uk, Російська весна, translit=Rosiiska vesna).

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 in early March 2014. The Ukrainian government was able to quickly quell this unrest, and removed the separatists by 10 March.

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. Unrest in Kharkiv oblasts did not escalate into full-scale armed conflict, although dozens of mostly pro-Russian protestors were killed. Order was restored in these regions with the co-operation of the local civil authorities, though pro-Russian disturbances, such as bombings, continued throughout the year.

Background

After the Orange Revolution in 2004, 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 crack down on political opposition in 2011-12 including arresting and imprisoning two of the most popular pro-Euro leaders, and a tightening of other freedoms the Rada in early 2013 agreed to actively work toward meeting the requirements as stipulated by European Union, including changing its laws, improving human rights, releasing political prisoner etc to join this union at the earliest opportunity. In repsonse in mid-August 2013 Russia started applying pressure customs regulations on imports from UkraineEased Russian customs rules to save Ukraine $1.5 bln in 2014, says minister
Interfax-Ukraine (18 December 2013) such that on 14 August 2013, the Russian Custom Service stopped all goods coming from Ukraine and prompted politicians and sourcesEased Russian customs rules to save Ukraine $1.5 bln in 2014, says minister
Interfax-Ukraine (18 December 2013)
Russia to lift restrictions on Ukrainian pipe imports – Ukrainian ministry
Interfax-Ukraine (18 December 2013)
Russia tightens customs rules to force Ukraine into union
Reuters (15 August 2013)Russia cuts Ukraine gas price by a third
BBC News (17 December 2013) 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.

Ukraine became gripped by unrest when President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union on 21 November 2013. An organized political movement known as 'Euromaidan' demanded closer ties with the European Union, and the ousting of Yanukovych. This movement was ultimately successful, culminating in the February 2014 revolution, which removed Yanukovych and his government. However, some people in largely Russophone eastern and southern Ukraine, the traditional bases of support for Yanukovych and his Party of the Regions, did not approve of the revolution, and began to protest in favour of closer ties with Russia.

The attendees of the 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 travelled from Crimea. Ukraine's police and border guards denied entry to more than 8,200 Russians between 4 and 25 March. On 27 March, National Security and Defence Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy said that between 500 and 700 Russians were being denied entry daily.

Russia suspected that Ukraine's 2014 unrest had American backing because, they said, former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, overturned IMF reforms tabled by the International Monetary Fund and USAID, and the National Endowment for Democracy fomented the anti government opinion.

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 favoured union with Russia. 68.0% of those from the four regions surveyed agreed that Ukraine should remain independent, with friendly relations maintained between Russia and Ukraine.

Support for a union between Russia and Ukraine was found to be much higher in certain areas:
* 41.0% Crimea
* 33.2% Donetsk Oblast
* 24.1% Luhansk Oblast
* 24.0% Odesa Oblast
* 16.7% Zaporizhia Oblast
* 15.1% Kharkiv Oblast
* 13.8% Dnipropetrovsk Oblast

An April 2014 Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll of all of the oblasts of southern and eastern Ukraine other than Crimea (which was already annexed by Russia by that point) found majority opposition to secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia in all of these oblasts–albeit only 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% Luhansk Oblast
* 52.2% Donetsk Oblast
* 65.6% Kharkiv Oblast
* 78.8% Odesa Oblast
* 81.5% Zaporizhia Oblast
* 84.1% Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
* 84.6% Kherson Oblast
* 85.4% Mykolayiv 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. 43% of ethnic Russians ('definitely' or 'rather') supported the decision of the Russian Federation to send its military to protect Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine.

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 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% in eastern Ukraine and 52% in southern Ukraine 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 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 "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. Over 50% of those polled in southern and eastern Ukraine considered acting President Oleksandr Turchynov to be illegitimate. Most of those polled in southern and eastern Ukraine believed that the disarmament and disbandment of illegal radical groups is crucial to preserving national unity. 19.1% of those polled in southern and eastern 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 and Crimea 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 16 March referendum on Crimean status, 91% of those Crimeans polled thought that the vote was free and fair, and 88% said that the Ukrainian government should recognize 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 has stated that: "People at anti-Maidan stand for money only. 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 500 US dollars 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 US dollars to take part in the attacks, and roughly 40 US dollars to occupy buildings.

Reports of paid protesters were supported by Party of Regions member Volodymyr Landik, the First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Yarema, journalist Serhiy Leshchenko, and a report released by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Media portrayal

Russian and Ukrainian sources differed greatly in the way they portrayed the demonstrators. Militants who took over government buildings in Donetsk Oblast were consistently labeled as "separatists" and "terrorists" by the Ukrainian government and the western media, whilst Russian media and officials referred to as "supporters of federalization". Russian media and the militants themselves referred to the Ukrainian transitional government in Kyiv as the " Bandera junta", referencing the Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera, and also as "fascist", and "nationalist". In the Ukrainian media, " Colorado beetle" ( uk, колорадський жук, translit=koloradsʹkyy zhuk) was used as a derogatory word 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 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, leading to a crisis in the region.

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 voteCrimea Applies to Join Russia
. Voice of America. Retrieved 1 May 2014. but has been condemned by European Union, American, Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar officials 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 that declared that the referendum was invalid, and the incorporation of Crimea into Russia was illegal.

Around 3,000 people had fled Crimea by April 1, and 80% of them were Crimean Tatars. Teams from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and Chernivtsi Oblast assisted internally displaced persons who have resettled in western Ukraine from Crimea. Numbers 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.

13 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 became surrounded by anti-Maidan 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 measure 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 an extraordinary session was not held by officials, 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.Donetsk City Council urges leaders of protests held in city to hold talks, lay down arms immediately – statement
Interfax-Ukraine (7 April 2014) According to the Ukrainian government, the seizure of RSA buildings by pro-Russian forces was part of "a script" which 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 11 May 2014." 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.SBU detained the leader of Donetsk Republic
Espreso. 19 March 2014 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

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