Following after the OSCE engagement in Crimea, described in Chapter 11 , and the Russian seizure of Crimea in early 2014, the OSCE became engaged in two oblasts in the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, both populated by large numbers of Russian-speakers. Stimulated by the Russian occupation of Crimea, pro-Russian forces in these two regions sought to breakaway from Ukraine, and approximately 40% of their territory fell under the control of the separatists. In response, a Trilateral Contact Group was created consisting of Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE as Chair. Under their auspices, two “Minsk Protocols” were negotiated in Minsk, Belarus, calling for a cease-fire and an agreement to maintain Ukrainian sovereignty over these regions in exchange for a new Ukrainian constitutions that would create a federal system of governance with greater authority for all regional units, including Donetsk and Luhansk. In the interim, a cease-fire was agreed upon to be monitored by an OSCE “Special Monitoring Mission” (SMM) stationed throughout Ukraine, but mostly based on both sides of the cease-fire line in Donetsk and Luhansk, including a withdrawal of long-range weapons beyond the line of contact. OSCE working groups in the region focused on implementation of the Minsk Protocol’s provisions on security, humanitarian issues, political arrangements calling for local elections, and economic issues to bridge the divide separating the two zones of each district. Between 2015 and its withdrawal following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the SMM reported more than 1.5 million violations of the cease-fire provisions. However, its limited mandate prevented it from resolving the political differences between the parties prior to the Russian invasion, which forced the withdrawal of the unarmed OSCE monitors.