On 23 February , pro-Russian demonstrations Social_event were held Hold in the Crimean city of Sevastopol .

On 27 February , masked Wearing Russian troops without insignia took over Conquering the Supreme Council ( parliament ) of Crimea , and captured Conquering strategic sites across Crimea , which led to Causation the installation Change_of_leadership of the pro-Russian Aksyonov government in Crimea , the conducting Action of the Crimean status referendum and the declaration Expressing_publicly of Crimea 's independence Change_of_leadership on 16 March 2014 .

From the beginning Process_start of March 2014 , protests by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place Process_start in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine , commonly collectively called Name_conferral the `` Donbass '' , in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution Change_of_leadership and the Euromaidan movement .

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 .

Crossings Motion_directional occurred Coming_to_be both in areas under the control Control of pro-Russian forces and in areas that were not under their control Control , such as the south-eastern part of Donetsk Oblast , near Novoazovsk .

During the initial campaign , Russian military and pro-Russian Chechen paramilitary forces faced Chechen separatists in open combat , and seized Hold the Chechen capital Grozny after a winter siege that lasted from late 1999 until February 2000 .

In mid-2000 , the Russian government transferred Military_operation certain military operations to pro-Russian Chechen forces .

The fighting Hostile_encounter in Sloviansk marked Recording the first major military engagement between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces , in the first runoff of battles of 2014 .

These men , who claimed Statement to be pro-Russian fighters under the banner of the Donetsk People 's Republic , subsequently gained Getting control Control of the rest of Sloviansk and began Process_start to fortify Cause_change_of_strength it .

The main intention Aiming was to show Publishing commitment Commitment for process of Future enlargement of the European Union , little progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia in that process and relations of Serbia with Russia in the light of International sanctions during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest Hostile_encounter in Ukraine .

They had not reckoned with Aleksander Wielopolski , the pro-Russian arch-conservative head of the civil administration in the Russian partition , who got Getting wind of the plans Arranging .

From the end of February 2014 , demonstrations Participation by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place Process_start in major cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine , in the aftermath of the Euromaidan movement Participation and the 2014 Ukrainian revolution Change_of_leadership .

Protests Protest in Donetsk and Luhansk regions ( oblasts ) escalated Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale into an armed pro-Russian separatist insurgency .

The shoot-down occurred Coming_to_be in the War Hostile_encounter in Donbass , during the Battle Hostile_encounter of Shakhtarsk , in an area controlled Control by pro-Russian rebels .

The responsibility for investigation Criminal_investigation was delegated to the Dutch Safety Board ( DSB ) and the Dutch-led joint Collaboration investigation Criminal_investigation team ( JIT ) , who concluded Coming_to_believe that the airliner was downed Motion by a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine .

In 2014 , American intelligence had also said Telling that Russia had supplied Supply the Buk missile to pro-Russian insurgents , and that the insurgents most plausibly shot down Use_firearm MH17 in error , after misidentifying it as a military aircraft .

Artillery attacks Attack by pro-Russian separatists broke Causation a 1992 ceasefire agreement .

The ultimate goal for the Russian government was to topple Change_of_leadership the anti-Russian shah , and to replace Change_of_leadership him with a half-brother of Agha Muhammad Khan , namely Morteza Qoli Khan , who had defected to Russia , and was therefore pro-Russian .

Events in Kiev were soon followed by the Crimean crisis and pro-Russian unrest Hostile_encounter in Eastern Ukraine .