What is the Donbas region?

War has been raging in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded the country on February 24th. Understanding the conflict requires knowledge of the territory under attack, including specific regions like the Donbas, which you’ll have heard mentioned over and over again recently. It’s a 6500-square-mile region in eastern Ukraine, which shares a border with Russia to the east. Donbas’ three major cities are Mariupol, Donetsk and Lugansk, with the latter two being capitals of their respective provinces. Donbas is an abbreviation of Donets Coal basin, with the Donets being a river that crosses Ukraine and Russia; Donbas has not only the country’s major coal basin, but also its largest coal reserves and wheat fields. It was in the Donbas region that fighting first began back in 2014.

So you’re saying there was already a war in Ukraine? How did the Donbas conflict evolve from then onwards? What consequences did the Donbas war have on the region? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:

What is the Swift Network?

Who is Volodymyr Zelensky?

What is a 419 scam?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices