Biden's Gives Ukraine Green Light

[The Barber]

The Curious Reign of the New Queen Victoria (Nuland)

https://www.fairobserver.com/devils-dictionary/the-curious-reign-of-the-new-queen-victoria-nuland/

What may seem more surprising is the trust Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama’s Secretary of State, placed in Nuland when she appointed a symbol of neo-con ideology her State Department Spokesperson. Was Clinton’s intention to show the world that, on her watch, despite President Barack Obama’s image as a peacemaker, foreign policy would not deviate from the outrageous belligerence of the Bush era? Clinton’s successor, John Kerry, in 2013 appointed Nuland Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. He promptly sent her to Ukraine to prod on a movement that, under her guidance, would produce a spectacular coup d’état.

The US coup provoked a revolt in the eastern Donbas region that began to take the form of a nascent civil war. France and Germany, in the name of EU interests, launched a process that led to the drafting of the Minsk agreements that ultimately aimed at permitting the autonomy of the Russian-speaking eastern regions. In her interview this year with David Ignatius, Nuland gave this account of her actions:

 

 

[The Barber]

On 11/19/2024 at 9:20 AM, RSF said:

A lot of nutjobs work at universities.

 

 

 

Or so I've been told.

Haha

You have that right!

[CoachKenFTW]

On 11/19/2024 at 9:10 AM, retrofade said:

Yeah, I'm not putting stock in that dude's opinion. He also believes that Michael Flynn was framed by the FBI. 

The thing is, there's no opinion to dismiss. The article is a timeline of our war mongering with Russia.

The author did fail to mention two of the most relevant chicken hawks: John McCain and Lindsey Graham. I won't say I'm glad McCain is dead. But I'm glad he's no longer in politics.

[RSF]

Here’s something you might not know about U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: She’s an advisor to a Charles Koch-funded foreign policy think tank based at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

One of the reasons that’s a surprise is because it’s nowhere to be found on her latest financial disclosure form.

The revelation comes in a new report from Sludge, an investigative news site that tracks money in politics, that highlights the Koch connection to the university’s Center for the Study of Statesmanship. The center was founded in 2017 through a $2.35 million grant from the billionaire’s foundation.

 

https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/03/tulsi-gabbards-financial-disclosures-leave-out-ties-to-koch-funded-think-tank/

[The Barber]

On 11/19/2024 at 9:19 AM, retrofade said:

That doesn't mean he knows much about Eastern Europe. He's approaching it as "neocons are bad and want war and they force Russia into this" or some such nonsense. 

Timothy Snyder is an expert on Eastern Europe and Ukraine in particular. Here's an essay he wrote just before Russia invaded in 2022.

https://snyder.substack.com/p/how-to-think-about-war-in-ukraine

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/30/how-timothy-snyder-became-the-leading-interpreter-of-our-dark-times-putin-trump-ukraine

Snyder’s mainstream breakthrough, in 2017, was On Tyranny, a bestselling little book that helped make him the house intellectual of the centre-left anti-Trump movement sometimes known as #resistance liberalism. The book earned him regular invitations to appear on television. (“Whether or not you talked to your friends about it, everybody you know has been reading and re-reading On Tyranny,” Rachel Maddow said on her show.) The news Snyder brought his audience was almost unremittingly bleak, yet it also offered a strange kind of reassurance. You are not wrong to feel that the situation is grievous, Snyder told them. Take it from an expert in political barbarism: things are exactly as bad as they seem.

Over the past year, Snyder has been one of the most eloquent interpreters of the war in Ukraine. He writes and speaks frequently about the conflict – including, in mid-March, to the UN security council. He has established a project to document the war, and more controversially, has raised more than $1.2m for an anti-drone defence system. A course on Ukrainian history that he taught at Yale last autumn has had hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, and he has become one of the most famous western intellectuals within Ukraine itself. “He used to be a celebrity in historical circles and among intellectuals,” his friend, the Ukrainian rock star Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, told me recently, “but now even ordinary people know a lot about him.”

 

Never heard of Snyder, but it seems he is a favorite center-left historian of the "Anti-Trump movement" and is a favorite pundit of Rachel Maddow.

So, here we are...  He has strong credentials, though.

Pick your historian, I guess.

 

[CoachKenFTW]

On 11/19/2024 at 9:24 AM, RSF said:

Here’s something you might not know about U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: She’s an advisor to a Charles Koch-funded foreign policy think tank based at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

One of the reasons that’s a surprise is because it’s nowhere to be found on her latest financial disclosure form.

The revelation comes in a new report from Sludge, an investigative news site that tracks money in politics, that highlights the Koch connection to the university’s Center for the Study of Statesmanship. The center was founded in 2017 through a $2.35 million grant from the billionaire’s foundation.

 

https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/03/tulsi-gabbards-financial-disclosures-leave-out-ties-to-koch-funded-think-tank/

Stop reaching. Nothing changes the timeline as posted in the article.

Fuck Russia. Fuck Ukraine. And fuck the Euros too. They wanted this war, let them fight it. And let them pay for it.

 

[RSF]

On 11/19/2024 at 11:53 AM, CoachKenFTW said:

Stop reaching. Nothing changes the timeline as posted in the article.

Fuck Russia. Fuck Ukraine. And fuck the Euros too. They wanted this war, let them fight it. And let them pay for it.

 

I didnt mention the timeline, Mr Wizard.  Flawed though it may be.

 

 

You tell 'em, tough guy....

[CoachKenFTW]

On 11/19/2024 at 4:15 AM, happycamper said:

Russia invaded 7 years before Ukraine declared its intention to pursue Nato membership lmao

I mean to make your analogy more accurate, what would happen if we invaded and annexed the entire Yucatan and created two client states in Sonora and Chihuahua, with out of uniform American soldiers, that we called "Federated Freedom Republics" and that only we recognized that who we granted American passports to, which were constantly in trench warfare with Mexico proper? 

I imagine that Mexico would probably be asking China, Russia, India... anyone for weaponry to fight us. And that any subsequent invasion on our part wouldn't be "to protect ourselves". We would already be the aggressors. Ukraine's appeal to NATO wasn't a result of NATO encroachment, it was Ukraine's response to Russian expansionism that was already happening. 

Kudos to you for having a perspective beyond just living in the emotions of the moment.

But your analogy is completely haywire. Since were taking a long term pespective, the best analogy from a North American perspective would be the proxy war we fought in Nicaragua.

The best current day analogy would be what China is doing in West Coast politics. If you know, you know. If you don't,  you don't.

[CoachKenFTW]

On 11/19/2024 at 9:57 AM, RSF said:

I didnt mention the timeline, Mr Wizard.  Flawed though it may be.

 

 

You tell 'em, tough guy....

Nah. I think I'll lay low,  now that the vast conspiracy the Catholic University was plotting has been exposed.

[RSF]

On 11/19/2024 at 12:59 PM, CoachKenFTW said:

Nah. I think I'll lay low,  now that the vast conspiracy the Catholic University was plotting has been exposed.

Probably a wise move, Karen.

[halfmanhalfbronco]

Not sure the juice is worth the squeeze on this one.

Fuck Russia, yes.

But it's not going to give Ukraine enough men to recapture the lost territory let alone hold it.

On the one side, attacking military assets in Russia that are used to support the death of Ukrainians in Russia's illegal war is a good thing.  Yes.

On the other it greatly increases the chance of a tactical nuke being used.  And does nothing to further Ukrainians stated primary military objectives that still can't be met.

I believe, as do many experts, that more Ukrainian lives would be saved now and in future generations if the war were to end tomorrow and Ukraine could build an infrastructure capable of supporting a military properly trained in NATOs more advanced weapons and weapons platofroms.

Wanna know why the F-16s have been a dud?  No runways.  Just one example.

And the Ukrainian soldiers still don't want to fight anymore.

[happycamper]

On 11/19/2024 at 1:51 PM, CoachKenFTW said:

Kudos to you for having a perspective beyond just living in the emotions of the moment.

But your analogy is completely haywire. Since were taking a long term pespective, the best analogy from a North American perspective would be the proxy war we fought in Nicaragua.

What long term perspective? That's the war! My analogy is entirely apt; the actions of Russia are indeed haywire. 

On 11/19/2024 at 1:51 PM, CoachKenFTW said:

The best current day analogy would be what China is doing in West Coast politics. If you know, you know. If you don't,  you don't.

It isn't even remotely close. China hasn't invaded any states. China hasn't annexed any US territory. China isn't sponsoring breakaway states. You're spouting unfounded bullshit based entirely on personal biases here. 

[happycamper]

On 11/19/2024 at 12:06 PM, The Barber said:

 

Actually, you are wrong and have the timeline mixed up.

A civil war broke out in the Donbass, after the US-backed coup.   The Obama Administration - Victoria Nuland - orchestrated the coup, undoing the election.

https://css.cua.edu/ideas_and_commentary/the-american-mess-in-the-ukraine/

In early 2014, civil war broke out in the Donbass after a US-backed coup d’état had ousted the Russian-leaning government in Kiev. The coup was clearly orchestrated by Nuland, who was then assistant secretary of state for European affairs; she probably had the CIA’s assistance. Someone, likely the Russians, intercepted and leaked Nuland’s phone call to the then-US ambassador Jeffrey Pyatt. Their discussion was to decide who was to be the next prime minister of Ukraine. Nuland’s choice was Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a rabidly anti-Russian politician. Nuland famously said: ‘I think Yats is the guy.’ When Pyatt warned Nuland that the Europeans might not support Yatsenyuk, Nuland diplomatically replied: ‘Fuck the EU.’ Yats ended up as prime minister.

What are you talking about? Ukraine had a revolution because their Kremlin-backed President didn't implement an already passed agreement with Europe. 

Calling the 2014 events a "civil war" is just blatant Russian propaganda. The war in the Donbass and the annexation of Crimea were spearheaded by Russian soldiers. This is an established fact that you agree with later in your copy and paste frankenstein post. You should probably read those to make sure each part agrees with other parts lol

On 11/19/2024 at 12:06 PM, The Barber said:

 

You seem confused by the Neocon created timeline.

 

Neoconservative revisionist historians like to point to Russia’s invasion of Crimea as the origin of the recent Ukrainian crisis. This account of history is, quite frankly, ludicrous. Nuland’s meddling in the internal politics of Russia’s neighbor is the equivalent of Putin orchestrating a coup in Canada to install a pro-Russian prime minister. American diplomats should not be arrogantly choosing the prime ministers of countries in the backyards of other great powers. The US’s blockheaded diplomats instigated the crisis.

So, uh, Russia's invasion of Crimea and the Donbass were not part of the current war? lol. It was little green men. 

On 11/19/2024 at 12:06 PM, The Barber said:

Not surprisingly, within a month of the American coup in Kiev, Putin took Crimea, the most heavily pro-Russian part of Ukraine with deep historic, religious and cultural ties to Russia. During that same month of March, ‘little green men’ — armed soldiers not wearing insignia — began appearing in eastern Ukraine. The green men were Russian special forces sent to stir up an insurgency, which they did. Large sections of the Donbass fell under Russian control.

"Not surprisingly"?

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Ukraine changing its leaders necessitates Russia invading Ukraine? What kind of insane bootlicking logic is that? Since Trump won, should Canada "not surprisingly" invade Alaska and Washington? Should China "not surprisingly" invade Hawaii? Based on your logic, those would be completely justified. For that matter, Mexico would be "completely justified" in invading and annexing everything up to the Arkansas. 

Do you read the things you copy and paste before you put them up there?

 

On 11/19/2024 at 12:06 PM, The Barber said:

In February 2015, the French president, German chancellor and President Putin of Russia met in Minsk to try to prevent a major regional war. The Minsk accords was the kind of compromise that American diplomats should have pursued earlier. The Minsk agreement envisioned a return of the Donbass to Ukraine but with a measure of autonomy and a recognition of the region’s cultural bond with Russia. The Minsk accords and the subsequent ceasefire are now breaking down.

Ukraine is what Samuel Huntington described as a ‘cleft’ nation, deeply divided internally because ‘large groups belong to different civilizations’. Ukraine, he pointed out, is ‘divided between the Uniate nationalist Ukrainian speaking west and the Orthodox Russian-speaking east’.

Yeah man. The US not escalating the war in the Donbass and providing Ukraine with arms from 2015-2021 REALLY helped to prevent a major regional war. Russia just can't help themselves! They have no responsibility for their own actions!

Yer a stooge

 

[SWspartan]

KYIV, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine fired a volley of British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia on Wednesday, the latest new Western weapon it has been permitted to use on Russian targets a day after it fired U.S. ATACMS missiles.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-fires-uk-storm-shadow-cruise-missiles-into-russia-day-after-using-us-2024-11-20/

[The Barber]

On 11/20/2024 at 5:01 AM, happycamper said:

What are you talking about? Ukraine had a revolution because their Kremlin-backed President didn't implement an already passed agreement with Europe. 

Calling the 2014 events a "civil war" is just blatant Russian propaganda. The war in the Donbass and the annexation of Crimea were spearheaded by Russian soldiers. This is an established fact that you agree with later in your copy and paste frankenstein post. You should probably read those to make sure each part agrees with other parts lol

So, uh, Russia's invasion of Crimea and the Donbass were not part of the current war? lol. It was little green men. 

"Not surprisingly"?

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Ukraine changing its leaders necessitates Russia invading Ukraine? What kind of insane bootlicking logic is that? Since Trump won, should Canada "not surprisingly" invade Alaska and Washington? Should China "not surprisingly" invade Hawaii? Based on your logic, those would be completely justified. For that matter, Mexico would be "completely justified" in invading and annexing everything up to the Arkansas. 

Do you read the things you copy and paste before you put them up there?

 

Yeah man. The US not escalating the war in the Donbass and providing Ukraine with arms from 2015-2021 REALLY helped to prevent a major regional war. Russia just can't help themselves! They have no responsibility for their own actions!

Yer a stooge

 

 

You have a very difficult time ever admitting a mistake.

Calling someone a "Russia stooge" for posting a news article reporting on the situation, from 2015?   And you have the timeline wrong, as demonstrated in the other recent Catholic University Article.

I stand by the reported factual history showing that the Obama Administration (Victoria Nuland) orchestrated a Coup in Ukraine.....which started the War between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian Ukrainian citizen separatists who live in Luhansk and Donetsk.  If you want to pretend that this wasn't a Civil War (despite it being called as much in the Media for nearly a decade), more power to you.

 

2015 News Article from Robert Parry

https://truthout.org/articles/the-ukraine-mess-that-nuland-made/

Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs “Toria” Nuland was the “mastermind” behind the Feb. 22, 2014 “regime change” in Ukraine, plotting the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych while convincing the ever-gullible US mainstream media that the coup wasn’t really a coup but a victory for “democracy.”

Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland, who pushed for the Ukraine coup and helped pick the post-coup leaders.

To sell this latest neocon-driven “regime change” to the American people, the ugliness of the coup-makers had to be systematically airbrushed, particularly the key role of neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists from the Right Sektor. For the US-organized propaganda campaign to work, the coup-makers had to wear white hats, not brown shirts.

So, for nearly a year and a half, the West’s mainstream media, especially The New York Times and The Washington Post, twisted their reporting into all kinds of contortions to avoid telling their readers that the new regime in Kiev was permeated by and dependent on neo-Nazi fighters and Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who wanted a pure-blood Ukraine, without ethnic Russians.

Any mention of that sordid reality was deemed “Russian propaganda” and anyone who spoke this inconvenient truth was a “stooge of Moscow.” It wasn’t until July 7 that the Times admitted the importance of the neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists in waging war against ethnic Russian rebels in the east. The Times also reported that these far-right forces had been joined by Islamic militants. Some of those jihadists have been called “brothers” of the hyper-brutal Islamic State.

 

In March 2014, following the Euromaidan protest movement and the resulting Revolution of Dignity (i.e., the Victory Nuland ochestrated Coup), 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. On 30 September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of Donbas together with two other Ukrainian oblasts, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia

[The Barber]

video from 2014

Report: civilians in Ukraine ready for civil war

 

 

 

Ukraine crisis: from protest to civil war - a brief history

 

[CoachKenFTW]

On 11/20/2024 at 4:51 AM, happycamper said:

What long term perspective? That's the war! My analogy is entirely apt; the actions of Russia are indeed haywire. 

It isn't even remotely close. China hasn't invaded any states. China hasn't annexed any US territory. China isn't sponsoring breakaway states. You're spouting unfounded bullshit based entirely on personal biases here. 

You know as much about California politics as you do Eastern Europe. Most of you guys live in the IMW, hence my "if you know you know" comment. Enjoy your Disney political fairy tales.

[happycamper]

On 11/20/2024 at 12:50 PM, CoachKenFTW said:

You know as much about California politics as you do Eastern Europe. Most of you guys live in the IMW, hence my "if you know you know" comment. Enjoy your Disney political fairy tales.

Once again, your comparison and comments have no basis in reality.

I get it that you don't like California. But dude, who cares? That doesn't make your comparison of "invasion, annexation, satellite state creation, active war" in any way comparable to "some political donations and influence". It's ridiculous on its face. I mean Wyoming has been actively courting China economically for coal and beef exports; are you going to compare that to "got invaded and partially annexed"? 

[happycamper]

On 11/20/2024 at 12:42 PM, The Barber said:

 

You have a very difficult time ever admitting a mistake.

Calling someone a "Russia stooge" for posting a news article reporting on the situation, from 2015?   And you have the timeline wrong, as demonstrated in the other recent Catholic University Article.

I stand by the reported factual history showing that the Obama Administration (Victoria Nuland) orchestrated a Coup in Ukraine.....which started the War between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian Ukrainian citizen separatists who live in Luhansk and Donetsk.  If you want to pretend that this wasn't a Civil War (despite it being called as much in the Media for nearly a decade), more power to you.

I mean... yeah dude. You're posting articles that with regards to this conflict are not just hilariously out of date, but have been objectively proven wrong by further Russian action. 

Bud, it wasn't civil war. YOUR SECOND COPY AND PASTE JOB pointed out that the war in the Donbass was between Ukranian government forces and Russian soldiers with identifying marks on their uniforms removed. I am very interested how you reconcile the idea of a civil war between Ukranian government forces and, uh, Russians. Cause the only thing I can think of is "well, you're a Russian stooge if you make that assertion" 

 

On 11/20/2024 at 12:42 PM, The Barber said:

2015 News Article from Robert Parry

https://truthout.org/articles/the-ukraine-mess-that-nuland-made/

Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs “Toria” Nuland was the “mastermind” behind the Feb. 22, 2014 “regime change” in Ukraine, plotting the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych while convincing the ever-gullible US mainstream media that the coup wasn’t really a coup but a victory for “democracy.”

Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland, who pushed for the Ukraine coup and helped pick the post-coup leaders.

To sell this latest neocon-driven “regime change” to the American people, the ugliness of the coup-makers had to be systematically airbrushed, particularly the key role of neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists from the Right Sektor. For the US-organized propaganda campaign to work, the coup-makers had to wear white hats, not brown shirts.

So, for nearly a year and a half, the West’s mainstream media, especially The New York Times and The Washington Post, twisted their reporting into all kinds of contortions to avoid telling their readers that the new regime in Kiev was permeated by and dependent on neo-Nazi fighters and Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who wanted a pure-blood Ukraine, without ethnic Russians.

Any mention of that sordid reality was deemed “Russian propaganda” and anyone who spoke this inconvenient truth was a “stooge of Moscow.” It wasn’t until July 7 that the Times admitted the importance of the neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists in waging war against ethnic Russian rebels in the east. The Times also reported that these far-right forces had been joined by Islamic militants. Some of those jihadists have been called “brothers” of the hyper-brutal Islamic State.

 

In March 2014, following the Euromaidan protest movement and the resulting Revolution of Dignity (i.e., the Victory Nuland ochestrated Coup), 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. On 30 September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of Donbas together with two other Ukrainian oblasts, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia

I mean... this isn't really true. The idea that Yanukovych was "democratically elected" is iffy on its face; the Orange Revolution well earlier showed that. For that matter, if anything, Yanukovitch staying in power was a result of Paul Manafort's meddling. 

Was there unrest in the Donbass? Sure! But did that result in a civil war? No. The war objectively started when "little green men" came in and took over. It was from the start a limited war between Russia and Russian proxies and Ukraine; February 2022 increased the scale and direct Russian involvement of the war. 

[renoskier]

On 11/20/2024 at 9:42 AM, The Barber said:

 

You have a very difficult time ever admitting a mistake.

Calling someone a "Russia stooge" for posting a news article reporting on the situation, from 2015?   And you have the timeline wrong, as demonstrated in the other recent Catholic University Article.

I stand by the reported factual history showing that the Obama Administration (Victoria Nuland) orchestrated a Coup in Ukraine.....which started the War between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian Ukrainian citizen separatists who live in Luhansk and Donetsk.  If you want to pretend that this wasn't a Civil War (despite it being called as much in the Media for nearly a decade), more power to you.

 

2015 News Article from Robert Parry

https://truthout.org/articles/the-ukraine-mess-that-nuland-made/

Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs “Toria” Nuland was the “mastermind” behind the Feb. 22, 2014 “regime change” in Ukraine, plotting the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych while convincing the ever-gullible US mainstream media that the coup wasn’t really a coup but a victory for “democracy.”

Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland, who pushed for the Ukraine coup and helped pick the post-coup leaders.

To sell this latest neocon-driven “regime change” to the American people, the ugliness of the coup-makers had to be systematically airbrushed, particularly the key role of neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists from the Right Sektor. For the US-organized propaganda campaign to work, the coup-makers had to wear white hats, not brown shirts.

So, for nearly a year and a half, the West’s mainstream media, especially The New York Times and The Washington Post, twisted their reporting into all kinds of contortions to avoid telling their readers that the new regime in Kiev was permeated by and dependent on neo-Nazi fighters and Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who wanted a pure-blood Ukraine, without ethnic Russians.

Any mention of that sordid reality was deemed “Russian propaganda” and anyone who spoke this inconvenient truth was a “stooge of Moscow.” It wasn’t until July 7 that the Times admitted the importance of the neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists in waging war against ethnic Russian rebels in the east. The Times also reported that these far-right forces had been joined by Islamic militants. Some of those jihadists have been called “brothers” of the hyper-brutal Islamic State.

 

In March 2014, following the Euromaidan protest movement and the resulting Revolution of Dignity (i.e., the Victory Nuland ochestrated Coup), 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. On 30 September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of Donbas together with two other Ukrainian oblasts, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia

how was it a "coup"?

was it violent or was it a vote?