5. **Shelling of Ethnic Russians**: - The conflict in Do…

5. **Shelling of Ethnic Russians**:
- The conflict in Donbas started with armed clashes between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists. While there were instances of civilian casualties, the narrative of systematic shelling of ethnic Russians by the new pro-NATO government is not supported by independent sources. The conflict was primarily fueled by Russian support for separatist groups and Ukrainian efforts to maintain control over its territory[2][3].