As peace talks continue and the U.S. pushes for compromise, one proposal keeps returning: Ukraine should withdraw from the remainder of Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk Oblast to end the war. The region was initially invaded by Russia in 2014, has endured the fiercest fighting since 2022, and Russia now controls most of it. But Kyiv still holds a fortified belt of cities that form the backbone of Ukraine’s eastern defense. Supporters of a deal argue that time favors Moscow and that painful concessions now could prevent greater losses later. Ukrainian officials and soldiers see it differently. With layered fortifications, drone-saturated killzones, and hundreds of thousands of civilians still at stake, Donetsk Oblast is not just territory — it is the line preventing further Russian expansion. The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell explains why the Battle of Donbas remains at the center of the peace process.

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