Region controlled by proRussian separatists since 2014 is latest focus of war with Ukraine; The Kremlin wants to save and protect the population until May 9th, the anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis by the Soviet army in 1945.
REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
ProRussian soldiers load ammunition into an armored vehicle during clashes
After the failure of the first offensive launched on February 24, Russian forces reduced the siege Kyiv and Chernihiv and began to focus mainly on the Donbass region, home to the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk which they recognized as independent Wladimir Putin on February 21 and has been controlled by proRussian leaders since 2014. The location is a strategic point for the Russian leader’s objectives as it allows him to take control of the east of the country. President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, does not give up its territory and has already said that it will not recognize the independence of the region. On Monday, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandre Motuzianik warned that Russian preparations for their offensive in the east were complete and that “the attack will take place very soon”. The Donbass talks are one of the most complicated points in the peace talks between the two countries. But what makes Donbass so important for Putin?
According to experts, there are two crucial points: culture and economy. ESPM Professor of International Relations Roberto Uebel explains that “Donbass is part of a buffer zone” between Russia and Russia Ukraine. “I see it as one of the most important political disputes. Russia has established positions in these regions,” he adds. Kai Enno Lehmann, associate professor at the University of São Paulo’s Institute of International Relations (USP), says the region has more Russian influence than Ukraine’s. “A significant part of the population is of Russian origin and feels closer to Russia,” he explains. It was not for nothing that the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions wanted Putin to recognize their independence. On March 27, Luhansk leader Leonid Pasechnik told reporters that “in the near future a referendum will be held on the territory of the republic, in which the people will exercise their absolute constitutional right and express their opinion on their desire of the Russian Federation to join. For some reason, I’m sure that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
Political scientist Leandro Consentino says that besides the linguistic and cultural identity in the region, there is another important point that makes Putin want to control the Donbass region, namely the fact that it is “fully industrialized and intensely steel and coal is. That is why Putin wants to appropriate this space in order to keep this control over an important economic region of Ukraine”. After a month of conflict, Russia says it already controls 93% of Luhansk and 54% of Donetsk, and the Kremlin aims to complete the operation in the regions by May 9, the anniversary of the Soviet army’s defeat of the Nazis in 1945. Kai Enno says that in economic terms it is very important for the Russian leader to dominate space. The professor also reminds that the conflict in Donbass lasted eight years and that the idea of saving and protecting the Russian population in the east was one of Putin’s declarations to start the war against Ukraine, which lasted more than one Year lasted month, so “at some point he has to show some kind of victory, say that something was worthwhile in the war he started,” says Kai Enno. To the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Russia’s control of the Donbass region means the creation of a land point that would connect the country to Crimea. On Tuesday the 13th, Russian troops said they were in control of the port city of Mariupol a key territory for the realization of this Putinidealized alliance after the Ukrainian military capitulated. However, Ukraine does not confirm the information and says it is in control.
