The Donbas region had been the site of protracted fighting between Russia-backed separatists from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics and the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Between 2014 and late 2021, the War in Donbas had taken the lives of more than 10,000 separatist, Russian, and Ukrainian combatants, as well as 3,095 civilians.[29]