The Russian-backed blitz that seemed imminent hasn't materialized

The military commandant in this embattled city, Andrei Shpigel, was having an emotional discussion with officers and soldiers of his 'DPR Army' on the veranda of a local restaurant. They were talking about the future of their self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. Would it eventually become a peaceful region of Ukraine, or be annexed by Russia, or stay an independent but unrecognized separatist territory?

For Shpigel and perhaps 15,000 other rebel soldiers controlling this part of eastern Ukraine, a return of Kyiv's legal and military authority over their 'republic' would mean potential prison terms and even worse: "mass physical elimination," they agreed, nodding at each other. The commandant told The Daily Beast that DPR forces would never allow their self-proclaimed republic to reunite with Ukraine.

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