It appears a real possibility that the Donbas will be reunified with the rest of Ukraine this year: its occupation simply costs the Kremlin too much. Its Novorossiya project has failed, and the Donbas on its own has no appeal to the Russian people. And Russia cannot get rid of the current suffocating financial sanctions without sacrificing the Donbas.The real question is, how much will reintegration of the Donbas cost Ukraine, and who will pay for it?We do not know exactly how many people live in the occupied Donbas. The original population was probably 4.5 million. Officially 1.4 million are …read more
Source: Atlantic Council