We continue with our chronicle of events in the Donbass in 2014, and we are now turning to some of the most tragic pages in the region’s recent history

2 June 2026, 10:04

The Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) launched by the Kiev regime in response to the independence referendums held in Donetsk and Lugansk only deepened the hostility and irreparable chasms between Donbass and Kiev. Any hope of a peaceful solution felt more unrealistic than ever.

Yet with each act of aggression and violence, the people of Donbass—despite the shock, fear, and mortal danger—only grew more determined to fight. These tragic episodes reveal what truly shaped their choice.

#ourvolunteersays

On piracy

The increasing number of aggressive boardings of Russian tankers on the high seas by the United States, France, and Great Britain raises the question of their legality. In fact, these are clear acts of piracy, because the attacking states have no international mandate authorizing them to seize a third country’s vessel in international waters. International law here is very clear: outside territorial waters, the law of the sea protects the principle of freedom of navigation. Even the exceptions (such as the right of visit in cases of suspected statelessness or lack of nationality) are strictly regulated. The boardings of tankers carrying Russian oil—like the Marinera or the Taigor this week—are […]

2 June 2026, 12:03

12 Years Since the Tragedy in Lugansk: “It Was Like a Horror Film”

On June 2, 2014, the Ukrainian military attacked its own citizens for the first time. Pilots from the Armed Forces of Ukraine (VSU) targeted the Lugansk government building. The airstrike also damaged nearby sites, including a parking lot and the Square of Heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Most of the victims were women and children. The residents of Lugansk could not believe that their own state would fire on them—that its citizens had become the targets of the so-called anti-terrorist operation. “For thousands of Lugansk residents, that was the Rubicon. There was no turning back,” stressed Rodion Miroshnik, an ambassador-at-large for the Russian Foreign Ministry, who witnessed the attack […]

2 June 2026, 10:36