UPSC Prelims 2023 Q97: Donbas, Kachin, Tigray Conflict Zones Explained
Consider the following pairs:
(Area of conflict mentioned in news : Country where it is located)
1. Donbas : Syria
2. Kachin : Ethiopia
3. Tigray : North Yemen
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
- Only one
- Only two
- All three
- None
Answer: (d) None
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: incorrect — Donbas (the Donets Basin) is in eastern Ukraine, not Syria. It covers the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Russian-backed separatists have fought there since 2014. In September 2022 Russia claimed to annex Donetsk and Luhansk, along with Kherson and Zaporizhzhia; the UN General Assembly rejected the claim by 143 votes to 5 on 12 October 2022. Syria was one of the five countries that voted against the resolution, which may explain the trap pairing.
- 2: incorrect — Kachin is the northernmost state of Myanmar, not a region of Ethiopia. It borders China and India. In 2011 a 17-year ceasefire between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar military broke down, and fighting has displaced over 100,000 people (UN figures).
- 3: incorrect — Tigray is the northernmost region of Ethiopia and borders Eritrea. It has nothing to do with Yemen. Ethiopia's federal government fought the Tigray People's Liberation Front from November 2020 until an African Union-brokered permanent cessation of hostilities was signed in Pretoria on 2 November 2022. North Yemen (the Yemen Arab Republic) no longer exists as a country: it merged with South Yemen on 22 May 1990 to form the Republic of Yemen.
How to eliminate
Most of this question can be solved with basic knowledge. Donbas was the most widely reported place name of 2022 because of the Russia-Ukraine war, so pair 1 is clearly wrong. That alone rules out 'All three'. Pair 3 fails for two reasons. First, 'North Yemen' has not been a country since Yemen unified in 1990, and UPSC sometimes puts a defunct state in a match-the-following question as a trap. Second, Tigray is in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is listed against Kachin, so the countries have been shuffled between the pairs. Once you know Tigray is Ethiopian, Kachin–Ethiopia looks doubtful too. To be sure, you only need one fact: Kachin is Myanmar's northern state, on India's eastern neighbourhood. With all three pairs wrong, the answer is 'None'. Fact to remember: Donbas → Ukraine, Kachin → Myanmar, Tigray → Ethiopia.
Know more
Conflict areas in news: learn the place, the country and the parties
UPSC regularly tests regions of conflict through match-the-pairs questions. These are usually sub-national regions that you hear about only during a war. The safe method is to fix each name on a mental map with its country, its neighbours and the armed actors.
| Region | Country | Location | Parties / key events |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donbas (Donetsk, Luhansk) | Ukraine | East, bordering Russia | Separatist war since 2014; Russia recognised the 'republics' on 21 Feb 2022 and claimed to annex them in Sept 2022, a claim UNGA rejected in resolution ES-11/4 |
| Kachin State | Myanmar | Far north, bordering China and India | Kachin Independence Army vs Myanmar military; 1994 ceasefire collapsed in 2011; fighting worsened after the 2021 coup |
| Tigray | Ethiopia | North, bordering Eritrea | Federal forces (with Eritrean troops) vs TPLF, 2020–22; Pretoria agreement, 2 Nov 2022 |
| Yemen (unified 1990) | Yemen | Southern Arabian Peninsula | Houthi movement vs government backed by a Saudi-led coalition; Red Sea shipping attacks |
Points to note
- Donbas is also a classic heavy-industry region built on Donets Basin coal and steel. That is why it appears in both geography and IR questions.
- Kachin matters to India because it lies next to Arunachal Pradesh and close to India's Act East corridors through Myanmar.
- Tigray's war also drew in the Amhara and Afar regions and neighbouring Eritrea.
- Watch for defunct names as traps: North Yemen, South Yemen, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Burma (as an older name).
In the news
In 2022–23 all three regions were in the news at once. Russia's war in Ukraine centred on Donbas and ended in Russia's annexation claim of September 2022. The Pretoria agreement of November 2022 ended the Tigray war. Myanmar's post-coup civil war brought heavy fighting and airstrikes in Kachin.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Donbas: Pair 1 depends on knowing where the Donbas coal-and-steel region actually lies.