Prologue: The Conflict in Ukraine's East

12 January 2015 14:21

In July, Hromadske journalists were supposed to travel with the Donbas volunteer battalion to the front lines. However, the battalion's movement got delayed and the journalists set out for Kharkiv to meet up with volunteers carrying humanitarian aid to Sloviansk. Along the way, they spoke with locals, Ukrainian National Guard serviceman and visit numerous checkpoints.

The situation in eastern Ukraine escalated into an armed conflict between the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DNR and LNR) and the Ukrainian government after numerous demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions took place. In July, Hromadske journalists were supposed to travel with the Donbas volunteer battalion to the front lines. However, the battalion's movement got delayed and the journalists set out for Kharkiv to meet up with volunteers carrying humanitarian aid to Sloviansk. Along the way, they spoke with locals, Ukrainian National Guard serviceman and visit numerous checkpoints.