title: Rivalry, Revolution, and Russia’s Intervention
abstract: Abstract This chapter argues that the armed conflict in Donbas can be conceptualized as a foreign-led insurgency campaign that started as a result of external intervention from Russia. It argues that the intervention resulted from Moscow’s longtime hostility to the idea of Ukrainian independence, evident already during the breakup of the Soviet Union. The chapter traces how this hostility increased over time and centered on three key areas: disagreement over borders, Russia’s rejection of Ukrain