The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region on the Russia–Ukraine border, lying predominantly in Ukraine. The vast majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian war, as the Russian Armed Forces controlled about 90% of the region as of October 2025. At the last census in 2001, the population of the Donbas region of Ukraine was about 58% ethnic Ukrainian and 38% ethnic Russian.
There are several definitions of the region's extent. In modern geopolitics, the Donbas usually refers to Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast in Ukraine. The Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine defines the "small Donbas" as the northern part of Donetsk and the southern part of Luhansk oblasts in Ukraine, and the attached part of Rostov Oblast in Russia. The historical coal mining region excluded parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, but included areas in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Southern Russia. The Euroregion of Donbas is composed of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in Ukraine and Rostov Oblast in Russia.
The Donbas formed the historical border between the Zaporozhian Sich and the Don Cossack Host. It has been an important coal mining area since the late 19th century, when it became a heavily industrialised territory. The word Donbas is a portmanteau formed from "Donets Basin", an abbreviation of "Donets Coal Basin" (; ). The name of the coal basin is a reference to the Donets river and the Donets Ridge. The city of Donetsk (the fifth largest city in Ukraine) is considered the unofficial capital of the Donbas. Other large cities (over 100,000 inhabitants) include Mariupol, Luhansk, Makiivka, Horlivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Alchevsk, Sievierodonetsk, and Lysychansk.
In March 2014, following the Euromaidan protest movement and the resulting Revolution of Dignity, large swaths of the Donbas became gripped by pro-Russian and anti-government unrest. This unrest later grew into a war between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists affiliated with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk "People's Republics", who were supported by Russia as part of the broader Russo-Ukrainian war. The conflict split the Donbas into Ukrainian-held territory, constituting about two-thirds of the region, and separatist-held territory, constituting about one-third. The region remained this way for years until Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. On 30 September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of Donbas together with two other Ukrainian oblasts, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Geography
Donbas is located in the southeastern part of Ukraine, between the middle and lower flow of the river Donets in the north and Azov Upland and Lowland in the south. Total area of the region is approximately 23,000 sq km. It approximately corresponds to the territory of Donets Ridge, where coal layers emerge from the earth surface. This central area of Donbas proper is also known as "Old Donbas". To the west, north, east and southeast from the "Old Donbas", coal deposits are located at a depth of 500-600 meters and more; those regions, known as "New Donbas", emerged as coal producing regions only after World War II. In the west, the area of coal production extends up to the city of Samar in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and is known as Western Donbas. In the north, coal layers extend towards Kharkiv, and in the east towards Volgograd, covering parts of Russia. The total territory of "Old" and "New Donbas" comprises around 50,000 sq km.
The area of Donbas is located on a steppe upland reaching the height of 367 meters above sea level and divided by numerous valleys with depths up to 100 meters. The central part of the area formed during the Carboniferous period, but in peripherial regions Permian, Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments are also present. Due to a larger amount of rainfall as compared to surrounding areas, Donbas represents a forest steppe ecosystem. The landscape of the area has experienced serious changes as a result of human activities: already during ancient times, the steppe was covered with numerous graves (kurgans), and in modern days the region is characterized with numerous factories, coal mines, slag heaps, settlements, high voltage lines, railways, highways and tram lines. Many rivers have dams and canals built on them, and subsidence as a result of mining has led to the emergence of new water bodies. Most of the area outside of cities is cultivated, with most of the original forests being replaced with artificial windbreaks and parks.
History Ancient, medieval and early modern period
The Kurgan hypothesis places the Pontic steppes of Ukraine and southern Russia as the linguistic homeland of the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The Yamnaya culture is identified with the late Proto-Indo-Europeans.
The region has been inhabited for centuries by various nomadic tribes, such as Scythians, Alans, Huns, Bulgars, Pechenegs, Kipchaks, Turco-Mongols, Tatars and Nogais. During the Rus' period, lands along the Donets river in the northern part of modern Donbas fell under the influence of the Principality of Pereyaslav. The region now known as the Donbas was largely unpopulated until the second half of the 17th century, when Don Cossacks established the first permanent settlements in the region.
The first town in the region was founded in 1676, called Solanoye (now Soledar), which was built for the profitable business of exploiting newly discovered rock-salt reserves. Known for being a Cossack land, the "Wild Fields" (, ), the area that is now called the Donbas was largely under the control of the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate and the Turkic Crimean Khanate until the mid-late 18th century, when the Russian Empire conquered the Hetmanate and annexed the Khanate.
In the second half of the 17th century, settlers and fugitives from Hetman's Ukraine and Muscovy settled the lands north of the Donets river. Early settlements established during that period included Tor (modern Sloviansk) and Bakhmut; both served as border fortifications, and their population engaged in salt production. During the mid-18th century, two regiments of Serb colonists were settled along the Donets, establishing the region of Slavo-Serbia. During that period lands of modern-day Donbas were divided between Zaporozhian Sich, Don Host and Sloboda Ukraine. Following the dissolution of the Sich most of the region became part of Yekaterinoslav Governorate, with eastern parts being incorporated by Don Host Oblast.
At the end of the 18th century, many Russians, Ukrainians, Serbs and Greeks migrated to lands along the southern course of the Donets river, into an area previously inhabited by nomadic Nogais, who were nominally subject to the Crimean Khanate. Tsarist Russia named the conquered territories "New Russia" (, ). The new settlers chiefly engaged in animal husbandry, but starting from the 1830s grain cultivation started as well.
Beginning of industrialization As the Industrial Revolution took hold across Europe, the vast coal resources of the region, discovered in 1721, began to be exploited in the mid-late 19th century. Starting from the late 18th century, exploitation of coal deposits started, and several early steel mills were established in Luhansk (1795), near Yenakiieve (1859-1864) and in Lysychansk (1866-1870). It was at this point that the name Donbas came into use, derived from the term "Donets Coal Basin" (; ), referring to the area along the Donets river where most of the coal reserves were found. The rise of the coal industry led to a population boom in the region, largely driven by Russian settlers.
Donetsk, the most important city in the region today, was founded in 1869 by Welsh businessman John Hughes on the site of the old Zaporozhian Cossack town of Oleksandrivka. Hughes built a steel mill and established several collieries in the region. The city was named after him as Yuzivka () or Yuzovka (). With the development of Yuzovka and similar cities, large numbers of landless peasants from peripheral governorates of the Russian Empire came looking for work.
With the construction of first railways, especially the Catherine Railway, which in 1884 connected the area with Kryvbas iron ore deposits, rapid industrial growth started with participation of foreign capital from France, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom and other countries. The factory in Yuzivka was followed by steel mills in Sulin (1872), Druzhkivka (1894), Alchevsk (1896), Petrovske (1897), Kramatorsk (1897), Makiivka (1899) and Kadiivka (1899). Between 1880 and 1900 coal production in Donbas increased from 1,4 to 11 million tons, and the number of coal miners working in the area had reached 68,000. By 1900 Donbas overtook the Urals industrial region by production of pig iron. Despite the rapid industrial growth, local industry greatly suffered from the economic crises of 1873-1875, 1881-1882 and 1900-1902. Rapid growth resumed in the years preceding World War I.
According to the Russian Imperial Census of 1897, Ukrainians ("Little Russians", in the official imperial language) accounted for 52.4% of the population of the region, whilst ethnic Russians constituted 28.7%. Ethnic Greeks, Germans, Jews and Tatars also had a significant presence in the Donbas, particularly in the district of Mariupol, where they constituted 36.7% of the population. Despite this, Russians constituted the majority of the industrial workforce. Ukrainians dominated rural areas, but cities were often inhabited solely by Russians who had come seeking work in the region's heavy industries. Most ethnic Russian migrants to the Donbas stemmed from the Central Black Earth Region. Those Ukrainians who did move to the cities for work were quickly assimilated into the Russian-speaking worker class. As a result, Donbas became the most Russified region of Ukraine.
Russian Revolutions and Civil War
Poor living and working conditions of workers led to regular strike actions, which were suppressed by the Russian police and gendarmerie. A major wave of strikes engulfed the Donbas during the Russian Revolution of 1905. In December 1905 a major workers' uprising took place in Horlivka, leading to a bloody crackdown against its participants. The Ukrainian national movement didn't have a significant influence on the region, although separate members of Ukrainian intelligentsia did attempt to spread national consciousness among the workers, publishing literary works on the topic of working life and establishing Prosvita branches.
Following the February Revolution of 1917, Social Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks established a significant influence on the working classes in Donbas. For a while, the government bodies of the Ukrainian People's Republic operated in the Donbas alongside their Russian Provisional Government equivalents. However, as a major part of the workers belonged to Russian ethnicity, Ukrainian politicians were unable to get significant support. Local Bolsheviks, headed by Fyodor Sergeyev (Artyom), Kliment Voroshilov and Alexander Parkhomenko, succeeded in establishing Soviet power in parts of the Donbas with the help of forces led by Yegorov, which were dispatched from Moscow. Local Red Guards led the fight against Kaledin's Don Cossacks in the east and forces of Central Rada in the west. In December 1917, Donbas Bolsheviks supported the creation of a puppet Soviet government of Ukraine in Kharkiv. Following the beginning of a joint offensive by Ukrainian and German forces in February 1918, the short-lived Donetsk-Krivoi Rog Soviet Republic was proclaimed.