Why does Russia want the Donbas region so much?
A tank belonging to pro-Russian rebels is seen in separatist-controlled Donetsk, Ukraine on March 11, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The “battle for Donbas” looks to be underway in Ukraine, as Russia concentrates its war machine on the eastern region — a major strategic, political and economic target for the Kremlin.
Having mostly pulled back from northern parts of Ukraine, Russia’s long-anticipated offensive in the east appeared to begin in earnest on Monday, with its military forces unleashing attacks on a number of areas within the Donbas.
“It can now be stated that Russian troops have begun the battle for Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, adding that “a very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive.”
CNBC takes a look at the three main reasons why Russia is now focusing on eastern Ukraine:
1. Russia needs a ‘victory’
A longtime focus for Russia, the Donbas region includes two Russian-backed separatist “republics” in Luhansk and Donetsk. They have been fighting Ukrainian forces for years.
Now, Russia’s apparent refocus on the area comes after few military successes in the rest of Ukraine despite almost two months of fighting.
“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin has given up on his more ambitious goals completely,” former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul commented Tuesday on Twitter, saying it was “very striking how they have changed the name of their war to ‘special military operation in defense of Donbas.'”
Russia’s forces appear to have been underprepared and ill-equipped to deal with the harsh fighting conditions in Ukraine and the strong resistance mounted by the country. Despite causing much destruction, Moscow has achieved relatively little — and it has failed to bring about the swift fall of the capital Kyiv and removal of Zelenskyy’s pro-Western government.
As such, analysts believe this has prompted Russia to refocus its efforts on the complete takeovers of key strategic cities in southern Ukraine and on the Black Sea, for example the port cities of Mykolaiv, Mariupol and Kherson. The latter two are almost completely in Russian control, despite pockets of fierce resistance from Ukrainian fighters.
Russia is also thought to be looking to take over Odesa further up the coast to the west, although that’s seen as a much harder task.
The Kremlin is seen to be striving to declare some kind of victory in Ukraine by May 9 — a day known as “Victory Day” that holds great national importance for Russia as it marks the Soviet Union’s defeat in 1945 of Nazi Germany in World War II.
The Kyiv Independent newspaper reported in March that Russian troops were being told that the war must end by May 9, citing intelligence from the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry was unavailable to immediately comment on this when contacted by CNBC.
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