Question

Ukraine started the war in 2014 by invading the Donbass.

Answer 1

This original source is just from a random person on a social media platform I think that is the first problem with this statement. To say Ukraine did fight in Donbas Is true, however Russia openly annexed Crimea nearly a month prior to this fighting in March of 2014. It would seem like that is more of an act of war than fighting back in an occupied area of your country. Donbas has a high economic output compared to the average of Ukraine so Russia would want to take that but it does belong to Ukraine and I feel its unfair to say protecting that is the starting a war when Russia is the one invading. 

So yes Ukraine fought back in Donbas. To say that started the war is an interesting and Russian biased opinion.

Used Britanica which is a pretty factual site and a Ukraine news outlet 

Answer 2

I found that Donbas was in fact the starting point for a fully expanded war between Russia and Ukraine. An article posted on Britannica states, "In April 2014, just two months after Ukraine’s pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine ahead of impeachment proceedings, Russian troops and Russian-backed militants seized control of a broad swath of the Donbas, leading to fierce fighting in the region." I was a little skeptical of this claim at first because of the source that was cited, but now I have found several articles to back this up. 

What significant event occurred in the Donbas in April 2014? | Britannica

Answer 3

The original claim stems from a post on social media by a random user, with no evidence or sources. While this perspective could be argued as true because of Ukraine's involvement in Donbas, it is exaggerated and misleading. There is an extensive history of Russian and Ukrainian forces dealing with conflict, even before this point. For example, the Russian annexation of Crimea in early that same year.

Source, https://www.crisisgroup.org/visual-explainers/conflict-ukraines-donbas-visual-explainer

Answer 4

This claim is falsified and misleading. To begin, the source provided with the claim is not a credible source, but instead a post by a user on social media. When investigating this further it can be found that Donbas was always part of Ukraine. Igor Girkin led the invasion of it after Yanukovych fled instead of facing justice for murdering civilians. The initial conflict between Russia and Ukraine began when Russia covertly invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula. This was followed by Russia-backed separatists seizing territory in the eastern Donbas region. "In reality, the war began in 2014, when Putin seized Crimea and Russian proxies grabbed part of eastern Ukraine." (BBC)

https://www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/horizons-summer-2022-issue-no.21/the-causes-and-consequences-of-the-ukraine-war

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj0q964851po