The Donetsk People's Republic

Directed by Antony Butts

As an uneasy ceasefire continues to hold in Eastern Ukraine, VICE News returns to Donetsk with an exclusive film that follows some of the characters involved in setting up the self-proclaimed state of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). In early April 2014, pro-Russia rebels seized the regional administration building and other key institutions in Donetsk, expelling Ukrainian officials and raising their own flag. The rebellion here — and other incidents elsewhere — quickly escalated into a bloody civil war that has left over 2,000 people dead and displaced more than a million. Filmed over six weeks, this documentary follows the chaotic birth of the DPR as it tries to forge a path to independence and closer ties to Russia.