Timeline of the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine

This is a timeline of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest that has erupted in Ukraine, in the aftermath of the Ukrainian revolution and the Euromaidan movement.

On 1 March 2014, the council of Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine's easternmost region, voted to demand giving the Russian language the status of second official language, stop "persecution of Berkut fighters", disarm Maidan self-defense units and ban a number of political organizations like Svoboda and UNA-UNSO. They threatened the Ukrainian central authorities that it reserved the right "to ask for help from the brotherly people of the Russian Federation". Pro-Russian citizens held a rally of up to 5,000 against the new government and demanding a referendum on whether to join Russia.

There were reports of busloads of Russian citizens crossing the border into Ukraine to support pro-Russian demonstrators. At an administrative building in Kharkiv, a Russian from Moscow replaced the Ukrainian flag with a Russian one. Demonstrators supporting Russia vandalized the parliament building and beat civilians, but Reuters reported that this had alienated many local ethnic Russians, who were speaking and mobilizing in support of the Ukrainian government. The flag was restored and 200 policemen guarded the building.

Protesters in Donetsk reportedly raised the Russian tricolor over the Donetsk Oblast Regional Administration building, in addition to electing a new pro-Russian governor. Demonstrators in Mariupol also protested in front of regional offices, waving Russian flags. According to Interfax, between 5,000 and 20,000 participated in a pro-Russian demonstration in Odessa. Russian flags were reportedly raised in Melitopol and Yevpatoria.

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