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Areas controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics just before the Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. For approximate changes that have happened since, check out our Ukraine control map. (Map by Evan Centanni and Djordje Djukic. Contact us for permission to use this map.)
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Donetsk and Lugansk: Unrecognized "Republics"
Though now overshadowed by the war, an important political geography event took place in the days leading up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, changing some versions of the world's list of countries.
Back in April 2014, the month after Russia-backed separatists in the peninsula of Crimea declared their independence from Ukraine, Russia-backed rebels in Ukraine's eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk also announced that they were forming independent countries: the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Lugansk People's Republic (LPR). ("Luhansk" is the Ukrainian-language spelling of the place name, while "Lugansk" is the Russian-language version.)
But unlike Crimea, which had already been secured by Russia's military, and was quickly absorbed into Russia with the permission of its supposed independent government, Donetsk and Lugansk would remain unrecognized for the next eight years - not officially treated as independent countries by any other country, even Russia.*
