[[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 then declared their independence from [[Kyiv]] and became known as the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, collectively known as the Donbas. A truce known as the Minsk agreements between the separatist republics and the Kyiv government was negotiated in 2015 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 those 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 then declared their independence from [[Kyiv]] and became known as the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, collectively known as the Donbas. A truce known as the Minsk agreements between the separatist republics and the Kyiv government was negotiated in 2015 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 those two provinces while remaining part of Ukraine. |