For seven long years, it was Russia who stated that the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics are part of Ukraine and that it's people are Ukrainian (Russian speaking). It was Russia who put forward peaceful dialogue and brought about the Minsk Agreements as a step by step process of de-escalation between Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk Republics. Bare in mind, NATO's presence is already within striking distance from Russia's borders, where NATO has deployed lethal weapons in Baltic States, Poland, Romania and intends to do the same in Ukraine.
Ukraine did not adhere to the Minsk Agreement l & ll. It did not grant Donetsk and Lugansk Republics a special status which exempts the two states from Draconian Ukraine Law. Speaking of which, anyone remembers what law that was? No? Okay I can jog your memory on this .... the Puppet of the West, Kiev Government had announcement the ban on languages other than Ukrainian. In Ukraine, the only other language which is spoken, is Russian. People have little to no knowledge on historical facts, that Russians have been in these lands for centuries.
Russian Federation relentlessly pursued for peaceful settlement for the Donbass Region. People forget that it was the West who started all of this, when Western backed fascist groups infiltrated public rallies and started a civil war like situation in Kiev, during the Maidan Revolt. People forget that this was being done under the supervision of that disgraceful excuse of a diplomat, Victoria Nuland. She is the one arranged $1 billion for the fascist thugs that overthrew a democratically elected government of Viktor Yanukovych and formed a pro-Western puppet administration in Kiev.
So let's keep things in perspective here, Ukraine had a democratically elected government. It was overthrown by Western sponsored "regime change," since the then President Viktor Yanukovych had opted that Ukraine join the Customs Union of Russia and Kazakhstan and not the European Economic Bloc. American officials were directly involved in this regime change. And it's Kievan Puppet government has actively sought to pick a fight with Russia. The Western Puppet Kievan Government has supporters such as the former Ukrainian Prime Minister, Yulia Tomeshenko, advocates for killing the 8 million Russian speaking Ukrainians with nukes.
The West was attempting to play with fire, now it is getting burnt by what it started itself.