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International Business Times
International Business Times
Business

Ukraine's Donbas Refugees Don't Want To Be Sacrificed For Peace

Infographic with a map of Ukraine locating territories claimed by Russia (Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea, which was annexed in 2014), as well as Russian territorial advances, according to data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and AEI's Critical Threats Project, as of August 17, 2025. (Credit: AFP)

Maryna Tereshchenko still remembers the smell of the apricot trees in her Donbas home town, and clings to the hope that she will one day be able to return to east Ukraine.

Forced to flee twice -- first when Russian-backed separatists took control of Lugansk in 2014, and then again as Moscow's army invaded her new home city of Siverskodonetsk -- she is outraged at the idea Kyiv should give the land up in any peace deal.

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