These demonstrations , which followed the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation ( February to March 2014 ) , and which were part of a wider group of concurrent pro-Russian protests across southern and eastern Ukraine , escalated Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale into an armed conflict Hostile_encounter between the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People 's Republics ( DPR and LPR respectively ) , and the Ukrainian government .

As the war progressed Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale , Armenia and Azerbaijan , both former Soviet Republics , entangled Participation themselves in protracted Change_event_time , undeclared mountain warfare Hostile_encounter in the mountainous heights of Karabakh as Azerbaijan attempted to curb Hindering the secessionist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh .

Soviet power was established Creating in the newly independent republics of Armenia , Azerbaijan , Belarus , Georgia and Ukraine which led to Causation their unification into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ) in 1922 .