ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors trace the evolution of the gradual de-fragmentation of the territory that now forms the DPR and LPR, beginning from late spring 2014 and the patchwork of highly localised power centres without any over-arching framework of control to the more systematic and focused state-building efforts undertaken by Russia from the summer of 2014 onwards. Consequently, Russian destabilisation tactics escalated from nomadic to creeping occupation in order to consolidate territorial control in Donbas by rebel forces that were under the direct control of Moscow. The direct impact of the armed conflict on business, of course, goes beyond Ukraine’s isolation policy. The physical destruction of infrastructure in the course of hostilities was very significant. With several ‘alternatives’ to uncertainty thus unavailable, at least for the foreseeable future, the question of local citizenship is critically important for the consolidation of the self-declared republics and the strengthening of their internal and external legitimacy.
