The Donbass, once serving as the industrial and coal-mining heartland of Ukraine, was thrust into years of bloodshed beginning in the spring of 2014, after Kiev sent troops to try to crush local resistance to the February 2014 Maidan coup. Russia was not given any opportunity to resolve the conflict in Donbass peacefully, President Vladimir Putin has said. "If there was even once chance to solve this problem by other, peaceful means, of course we would have taken it. But we were not left with such a chance, simply weren't given it", Putin said, speaking to Artyom Zhoga, whose son...