Seize the City, Undo the State: The Inception of Russia’s War on Ukraine

After the 2014 Maidan Revolution in Ukraine and the escape of its Russian-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych, a separatist movement gained momentum in the eastern province of Donbas. Beginning that year and through 2019, Kudelia, a political scientist, made more than a dozen trips to the region to interview both secessionists and loyalists. Initially, Moscow opted to provide covert assistance to the rebels in the form of advice and financial support, but its involvement grew steadily more militarized. Most of the local population either supported or was ambivalent toward the separatist cause, yet unwilling to engage in armed violence. Kudelia’s forensic town-by-town analysis focuses on the decision-­making of local elites, such as mayors and entrepreneurs. Many chose to collaborate with the militants, some mayors fled their towns, and a few resisted by emphasizing their attachment to Ukraine. In late August 2014, when it became evident that the separatists could not capture the region on their own, the Kremlin commenced a military intervention, dispatching troops and armored vehicles—a prelude to the full-scale invasion of 2022.