There are a lot of claims online about Ukraine, Donbas, and language policy that mix accurate history with oversimplifications, so it helps to separate what’s well supported from what is more debated or misleading.
First, Ukraine’s borders. It is true that Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union until it collapsed in 1991. When independence happened, Ukraine did not “draw new borders” from scratch. Instead, it inherited the borders of the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. These were internal administrative boundaries inside the USSR that became international borders after independence. Russia and other major countries formally recognized Ukraine’s borders in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, where Ukraine also gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security assurances. That agreement is often cited when discussing the legitimacy of Ukraine’s territorial borders.
Second, the idea that people in Donbas are simply “ethnic Russians” who feel unsafe only because they are being attacked is an oversimplification. Donbas has a mix of identities, including ethnic Ukrainians and Russian-speaking Ukrainians. Language use does not automatically equal political identity. Surveys before the 2014 conflict showed that a significant portion of residents still supported Ukraine remaining unified, rather than separating or joining Russia. After 2014, an armed conflict did break out in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, involving Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatist groups. Civilians on both sides of the front line were affected, and the situation is generally described by international organizations as an armed conflict rather than a simple one-sided attack on civilians of one identity group.
Finally, on language and jobs in Ukraine. Ukrainian is the official state language, so it is required in government, public administration, and much of formal education. Over time, especially after 2014 and later education reforms, Ukrainian has become more dominant in schools nationwide. However, Russian is still widely spoken in everyday life in many regions, especially in the east and south. In the private job market, language requirements vary depending on the employer and location. It is not accurate to say that all jobs depend strictly on Ukrainian, but it is true that state jobs and official institutions generally require it.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0l0k4389g2o
