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Analysis

Why’s Donetsk Significant for Putin?

Monday 20 October 2025
Why’s Donetsk Significant for Putin?

Alwaght- Donbas region, especially its Donetsk oblast, has become the flash point of the Russia-Ukraine war. It is not only a battle about control of a territory but also about strategic, economic, and identity values.

Recently, remarks by the US President Donald Trump and reports about a phone conversation of him with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have called the attention about possible plans to end the war and the crucial place of Donetsk in these negotiations. This report sheds light on various aspects of this confrontation, including the stances of the two sides, the values of the region and the likely future scenarios.

Trump declared on Sunday that the warring parties in Ukraine must cease fighting and postpone discussions on territorial "details" for future talks.

Acknowledging the difficulty of discussing a final settlement, he stated: "My message is that they should stop now at the current battle lines, let everyone go home, stop killing people, and end this war."

In similar remarks, Trump noted that he believes roughly 78 percent of this territory has been seized by Russia. "Let the current situation stand. They can negotiate over everything later." 

This proposal would effectively allow Moscow to retain control over vast swathes of Ukrainian territory, particularly the Donetsk region.

The US president's comments follow a Washington Post report from October 18, which cited two senior US officials claiming that Putin, in a call with Trump last week, demanded Ukraine cede complete control of the Donetsk region to Russia as a condition for ending the war.

According to the unverified report, the Russian leader offered to relinquish parts of the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in exchange for full control of Donetsk.

Some White House officials have characterized Putin's offer as a "development," signaling a shift from his stance in April, when he reportedly rejected an American proposal for a ceasefire along the current lines. At that time, American media reported that Putin insisted any peace deal must recognize Russia's full control of Crimea and four other entire regions.

Putin and Trump are expected to continue their discussions at a planned summit in Hungary in the coming weeks.

Donbas, the beating heart of the war

Ahead of the Hungary negotiations and the preliminary, behind-the-scenes efforts to set the agenda for this meeting regarding the possibility of ending the war, attention is increasingly focusing on a specific part of Ukraine: Donbas. This industrial region in eastern Ukraine has been the main battlefield of the current war.

Since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine in 2022, the country has managed to gain control of a significant portion, but not all, of the Donbas.

Just before the war began, Putin formally recognized the full independence of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts from Ukraine.

After consolidating control over eastern Ukrainian areas, Russia annexed four regions of Ukraine by holding referendums. Two of these four regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, collectively form the Donbas. Currently, Russia has full control of Luhansk and a large part of Donetsk. Ukraine has maintained control over parts of Donetsk around the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. The other regions annexed by Russia were Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Russia controls about 75 percent of.

Putin wants any agreement to end the war to include granting Russia full control of the Donbas.

Why is Donbas important for Russia?

A set of factors have moved Russia to seize Donbas:

Economic assets

Primarily, the region possesses significant economic assets. Donbas is located along Ukraine's eastern border and is considered the country's industrial heartland.

"Donbas was highly industrialized in the mid-20th century, though it became a kind of 'rust belt' after the Cold War," says Mark F. Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. According to Cancian, the region also holds valuable mineral resources and agricultural land, which is "among the best farmland in the world."

The highly industrialized economy of the Donbas relies on metallurgy and coal mining, hosting one of Ukraine's largest coal reserves. According to the Kyiv Post, Ukrainian coal companies experienced a 22.4 percent drop in raw coal production after the conflict began in 2014. This statistic underscores the country's heavy reliance on the Donbas as an energy powerhouse.

Strategic value

The second factor is the region's strategic value. Erik Herron, a political science professor at West Virginia University, notes that the port of Mariupol provides access to the Black Sea and, as the "longest-running theater of battle in this war," is a point neither side is willing to concede.

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, if Russia seizes full control of Donetsk, it will gain command of nearly the entire Donbas. Furthermore, holding Donetsk would create a strategic land corridor for Russia, connecting the Crimean Peninsula to Luhansk and beyond, solidifying Moscow's dominance over the eastern front and vital sections of the Black Sea coastline.

Russia had previously, through the capture of Mariupol, secured a land bridge from Crimea to the Russian border, while also gaining control over the water supply to Crimea and Europe's largest power plant.

Symbolic and ideological significance

Another reason for Donetsk's importance can be found in Russia's domestic propaganda to legitimize the war. In fact, experts believe the value of the Donbas for Russia may be more symbolic than tangible. Symbolically, the Donbas plays a central role in Russia's narrative justifying the war.

Perhaps the most critical factor for Russia is the large population of Russian speakers living in the region, many of whom migrated there during the Soviet era.

"Donbas played a major role in Soviet socialist mythology," explains Alexander J. Motyl, a political science professor at Rutgers University, Newark, known as the home of the ideal archetype of the "Soviet Man."

Matthew Schmidt, an associate professor of political science at the University of New Haven, notes: "Donbas is critical for fulfilling Putin's vision of a Russkiy Mir, or Russian World, that he is seeking to build."

Will Ukraine cede Donbas? 

So far, Ukraine has been rejecting the idea of land for peace and insisted on retaking full territories from Russia, a stance having won substantial public support. 

Zelensky in mid-August said: "We will not leave Donbas. We can not do this." 

However, Ukraine's potential acceptance of the current military realities on the battlefield could create room for diplomatic maneuvering.

Ukraine president's call for a ceasefire under specific conditions implies a de facto acceptance of continued Russian control over the parts of Donbas it currently holds, even if Ukraine does not formally relinquish its sovereignty claims over these territories.

Experts believe that given the decreasing US military and economic aid to Ukraine under Trump, the Ukrainians may, under pressure, agree to a deal under in which they will not relinquish their legal sovereignty over Donetsk, but recognize the status quo in return for security guarantee from NATO. 

Tags :

Russia Ukraine Donetsk War Donbas Trump NATO

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Commemorating the 36th anniversary of the passing of Imam Khomeini (RA), the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Commemorating the 36th anniversary of the passing of Imam Khomeini (RA), the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.