More than 10,000 people have died in fighting since Russia-backed rebels took control of parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions in April 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. Areas that were part of the Second Polish Republic between the world wars, including Galicia and the Czech and Hungarian regions of Carpathian Ruthenia, were incorporated into The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic after 1945.This reality has been acknowledged by Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the Donetsk People's Republic who today announced the intent of Donetsk to lead a restoration of Malorossiya as part of a drive to reincorporate historic Russian territories into a close relationship with The Russian Federation.Zakharchenko stated Donetsk People's Republic Income and Charges Minister Alexander Timofeev added the following,He further stated that Malorossiya would develop a constitution based on discussions throughout the regions including in the new/revived area and would ultimately require approval via a democratic referendum.Timofeev continued When discussing the model of Belarus in respect of its relations with Moscow, Timofeev is alluding to the Union-State between Belarus and Russia which was created in 1996. These areas were de-facto Russian ever since the Treaty of Pereyaslav, signed in 1654 as an alliance between local Cossacks and the government in Moscow.The restoration of Russian lands was affirmed in the 1686 Treaty of Perpetual Peace.These regions became known as Malorossiya (Little Russian) and formed the triumvirate of the Three Russias under a single sovereign (Great Russia, Little Russia and White Russia). Local news website Luhansk Information Center quoted rebel representative Vladimir Degtyarenko as saying they had not been informed of the plans and have “great doubts about the expediency of such a step.”

Throughout the conflict, the rebel-controlled areas have been ruled by self-proclaimed authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk who call themselves the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. “You should understand that Zakharchenko and (rebel leader) Plotnitsky are not political actors,” he said, dismissing them as “puppets” whose only job is to voice “the messages they receive from Russia.”

Poroshenko said Ukraine is committed to the peace accords and pledged to restore control over eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko announced that the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) would form a new state called Malorossiya (Little Russia) as an official successor to what he called the "failed state" of Ukraine, with Donetsk replacing Kiev as the country's capital. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and LPR leader Igor Plotnitsky denounced the plans.