Fighting between separatist forces affiliated with the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), and Ukrainian military and volunteer forces broke out at Donetsk International Airport on 28 September 2014, sparking the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport, a part of the ongoing war in the Donbass region of Ukraine. This followed an earlier battle over control of the airport in May 2014, which left it in Ukrainian hands. The new battle was sparked despite a ceasefire agreement, the Minsk Protocol, that had been in place from 5 September. At the start of the battle, the airport was the last part of Donetsk city held by government forces, and it lies between the separatist and Ukrainian lines of control. Heavy fighting over the airport continued into the new year, with some of the worst fighting having ta