Editor’s Note: This is the 13th story in the Kyiv Post’s Honest History series, which aims to debunk myths about Ukrainian history. The series is supported by the Black Sea Trust, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Black Sea Trust, the German Marshall Fund or its partners.

Saving the Russian people of Donbas – this is how the Kremlin justifies its military invasion in eastern Ukraine, a war that is more than four years old with more than 10,000 people killed.