Changes

The '''Donbas war''' began with the 2014 [[Obama administration]]-backed [[Maidan coup]] which overthrew the [[democracy|democratically]] elected president of [[Ukraine]].<ref>https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/06/03/how-why-us-government-perpetrated-2014-coup-ukraine/</ref>  [[President Viktor Yanukovych]]'s election had been certified by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).  He was the first democratically elected official overthrown in a violent revolution in recent memory.  The U.S.-backed [[coup]] was accomplished with the aid of anti-Russian [[neo-Nazi]]s. It was an unconstitutional [[regime change]].

The '''Donbas war''' began in 2014 when the [[Obama administration]]-backed [[Maidan coup]] overthrew the [[democracy|democratically]] elected president of [[Ukraine]].<ref>https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/06/03/how-why-us-government-perpetrated-2014-coup-ukraine/</ref>  [[President Viktor Yanukovych]]'s election had been certified by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).  He was the first democratically elected official overthrown in a violent revolution in recent memory.  The U.S.-backed [[coup]] was accomplished with the aid of anti-Russian [[neo-Nazi]]s. It was an unconstitutional [[regime change]].

[[Crimea]] held a referendum and rejoined Russia rather than live under an illegal government.  However, Russia did not accept the results of the [[Donetsk]] and [[Lugansk]] referendums. Donetsk and Luhansk, in the Don River Basin collectively known as Donbas, then declared their independence from [[Kyiv]] and became known as the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.  A truce was negotiated in 2015 between the separatist republics and the Kyiv government in the [[Belarus]]ian capital of [[Minsk]] and known as the Minsk Agreements.  The Agreements were negotiated with help of [[France]] and [[Germany]].  [[Moscow]] backed the Minsk Agreements which Kyiv also agreed to, and the [[United Nations Security Council]] endorsed. The Minsk Agreements would give autonomy to the two provinces while remaining part of Ukraine.

[[Crimea]] held a referendum and rejoined Russia rather than live under an illegal government.  However, Russia did not accept the results of the [[Donetsk]] and [[Lugansk]] referendums. Donetsk and Luhansk, in the Don River Basin collectively known as Donbas, then declared their independence from [[Kyiv]] and became known as the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.  A truce was negotiated in 2015 between the separatist republics and the Kyiv government in the [[Belarus]]ian capital of [[Minsk]] and known as the Minsk Agreements.  The Agreements were negotiated with help of [[France]] and [[Germany]].  [[Moscow]] backed the Minsk Agreements which Kyiv also agreed to, and the [[United Nations Security Council]] endorsed. The Minsk Agreements would give autonomy to the two provinces while remaining part of Ukraine.