Russian-backed breakaway republic proclaimed in the Donbas in May 2014, holding Donetsk city and the south-east third of Donetsk oblast through eight years of trench war along the Minsk-agreement line.
Annexed by Russia on 30 September 2022 together with Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts — an annexation recognized by almost no one; the territory is shown under the Russian occupation overlay from 2022.
How the 2014 Donbas separatist statelets actually arose and ran — the best single account of the DPR/LPR.