Ukraine :- A Foreign Report

A detailed country report by Raghav Pathak.

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LUHANSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC

On the 6th of April, 2014, one thousand pro-Russian activists seized and occupied the Security Service of Ukraine building in the city of Luhansk. One of the causes for the skirmish was the fact that only a few weeks earlier separatist leaders had been captured, and the protesters occupied the building demanding that they be released. The protesters attempted to put up barricades to hinder the Ukrainian government. This failed, and on the 12th of April, 2014, the government regained control over the building with the assistance of local police. However, on the 27th of April 2014, outside the RSA, Pro-Russian separatists formed and announced the creation of the Luhansk People’s Republic. The protesters issued a series of demands that included amnesty for said protesters and placing the language of Russian as an official one of Ukraine.

DONETSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC

7th April, 2014, the Eastern City of Donetsk, Ukraine. A somber day thrusts itself around the city square. Screams and other such unholy noises suffocate the ears; the streets are clogged with people propagating a single agenda: Independence. Protesters, far from peaceful, seize the regional government building through sheer force of will, and build barricades around the structure, declaring the creation of the Sovereign Donetsk People’s Republic. In Donetsk, on the 12th of May, 2014, pro- Russian supporters declared themselves independent of Ukraine, and requested the Russian government to supply military troops in an attempt to absorb eastern Ukrainian regions. It then became the self-proclaimed state in the Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine, receiving humanitarian and military aid from Russia, a country looking to annex parts of Ukraine and increase her territories. The Ukrainian government has classified the Republic as a terrorist organisation, and conflicts have been on going between both sides. The DPR was founded by the then “Donetsk Republic Separatist Organisation.”

ECONOMIC FUNDING

Both territories are mainly backed by the Russian government, for both humanitarian and military aid. Russia, as a country, has shown support to these two so called ‘Republics’. An example of this would the continued deployment of the military forces to aid both the rogue states in their rebellion against the Ukrainian government.

THE MH17 INCIDENT

Flight MH17(Malaysia Airlines), on July 17th, 2014 crashed in rebel held Ukrainian territory, specifically, the area of Shaktarsk, whilst on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The investigation into the crash, led by the Dutch Safety Board(DSB), concluded that the airliner was shot down from pro-Russian territory in Ukraine. Similar findings by the American and German intelligence agencies as well as the Ukrainian government only confirmed the reports. The Russian reports differed, initially stating that the aircraft had been followed by a Ukrainian military jet at the time of the shooting, and later on that Ukraine was responsible as the shooting had occurred in its airspace.

TERRORISM?

The Donetsk People’s Republic, and the Luhansk People’s Republic are indeed aptly labelled as terrorist organisations. The methods adopted to prove their point to Ukraine and the rest of the world were extreme, using violence as a means of communication. These methods caused massive damage to surrounding areas, as well as causing a number of Deaths, as conflicts tend to do. The MH17 incident was only one of many events that have occurred in these areas. The war in Donbass (collective name of the Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts, or regions) is another example of the violence caused by these rogue states. The war has become some sort of “frozen conflict” with the latest ceasefire occurring on the 24th of December 2016.

If we take the accepted definition of terrorism as "the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological,” I do believe that the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics not only classify as, but fit the definition of terrorists as precisely as possible.

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Written By Raghav Pathak