section_path: Background/Russian invasion in Crimea and Donbas
section_name: Russian invasion in Crimea and Donbas
paragraph_text: Russian invasion in Crimea and Donbas
  
  On 27 February 2014, Russian soldiers with no insignia began to invade the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, and fully controlled the peninsula by late March. At first, Russia denied the soldiers were theirs, but Putin later admitted they were Russian special forces. Russia annexed Crimea in March, after a widely condemned and disputed referendum held under occupation. Historians liken the annexation to Nazi Germany's Anschluss of Austria.
  
  Pro-Russian protests followed in the Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. Separatists proclaimed the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). The War in Donbas began in April 2014 when armed Russian paramilitaries led by Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin seized Sloviansk and other settlements, and the Ukrainian military began an operation against them. Russia covertly supported the separatists with troops, tanks and artillery. The International Criminal Court judged that the war was a national and international armed conflict involving Russia, and the European Court of Human Rights judged that Russia controlled the DPR and LPR from 2014 onward. Ukraine's parliament declared the Donbas region to be occupied by Russia.
  
  The annexation of Crimea and Donbas war sparked a wave of Russian nationalism. Analyst Vladimir Socor called Putin's 2014 speech following the annexation a "manifesto of Greater-Russia irredentism ". Putin began referring to " Novorossiya " (New Russia), a former Russian imperial territory that covered much of southern Ukraine. Russian-backed forces were influenced by Russian neo-imperialism and sought to create a new Novorossiya. Putin cited the Kosovo independence precedent and NATO bombing of Yugoslavia as a justification for military intervention.
  
  When the conflict began in 2014, Ukraine was officially a neutral country and said it was not seeking NATO membership. Because of Russia's occupation of Crimea and its invasion of the Donbas, Ukraine's parliament voted in December 2014 to revoke the country's neutral status and seek membership of NATO.
  
  The Minsk agreements, signed in September 2014 and February 2015, aimed to resolve the conflict, but ceasefires and further negotiations failed. The West 's weak response to Russia's attack led Russia to believe the West would not react strongly to the 2022 invasion. Several political scientists said this encouraged further Russian aggression.