Following weeks of protests as part of the Euromaidan movement (2013–2014), pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the leaders of the Ukrainian parliamentary opposition on 21 February 2014 signed a settlement agreement that called for an early election. The following day, Yanukovych fled from Kyiv ahead of an impeachment vote that stripped him of his powers as president.[6][7][8] Leaders of the Russian-speaking eastern regions of Ukraine declared continuing loyalty to Yanukovych,[9] causing the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.[10] The unrest was followed by the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014 and the War in Donbas, which started in April 2014 with the creation of the Russia-backed quasi-states of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.[11][12]