2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine

From the end of February 2014, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the ousting of Russian-leaning Ukrainian presidentViktor Yanukovych, demonstrations by Russian-backed, pro-Russian, and anti-government groups (as well as pro-government demonstrations) took place in Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Odesa. The unrest, which was supported by the Russian military and intelligence services, belongs to the early stages of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

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

Eventually, Kharkiv, Odesa, and most parts of Donbas, including Mariupol, remained under Ukrainian government control. The Russia-controlled DPR and LPR were formed and took control of Donetsk and Luhansk. 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. Although dozens of dominantly pro-Russian protesters were killed, the unrest in Kharkiv and Odesa oblasts did not escalate into a full-scale armed conflict. Order was restored in these regions with the cooperation of the local civil authorities, though pro-Russian disturbances, such as bombings, continued throughout the year.