UKRAINE, DONETSK, 10 MARCH 2014
Large murals remember of the 2012 European Championship football that was held in Ukraine. The tournament generated only temporary spinoffs for the region; the average income for residents in this part of he country is still only between 200 and 300 euro a month.
Donetsk, in the eastern part of the Ukraine, is the largest city of the Donets Basin (Donbas) region. It's seen as the centre of the country's coal mining and steel industry. The language commonly used is Russian, and many of the people living here have close relations with Russia. The Donbas region used to be the power base of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's former president who was ousted after he tried to surpress the Euromaidan movement with deadly violence.
Lately Pro-russian protests in the eastern part of the country are calling for greater autonomy from Kiev and a referendum on secession from the western part of the country.