The year 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, which changed the history of Russia and the world. The author turns to the events of 1917-1919, when the territory of the Donbass became the subject of a dispute between the various newly formed governments of Russia and Ukraine. He analyses the events of the revolutionary movement in the Donbas, the acute political struggle for control over this territory, and tries to understand the complex processes of creation and formation of local authorities, such as Soviets of workers' deputies and state formation as the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic. The author proves the historical validity of the artificial attachment of the territory of Donbass to Ukraine and raises the question of changing the further status of this region with the granting of autonomous self-government.