Publication

This paper looks at the political, economic and security situation in what the Russia-backed separatist call the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ and the ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, one year after the outbreak of conflict. The author contends that these republics exist mainly to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and to put pressure on the government in Kiev. They do this by integrating war activities into all their actions and striving for a high level of militarization instead of reconstructing the region's economy, factors which have led to a mass exodus of the local population.