daniel kitson tour 2023

Daniel Kitson

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Past Events

Here are the most recent UK tour dates we had listed for Daniel Kitson. Were you there?

• Sat 6 Jul Melbourne Hall Just the Tonic Comedy Shindig - Matinee with Daniel Kitson Spencer Jones
• Mon 1 Jul London, Union Chapel Hopefully A Few Laughs with Daniel Kitson & Lou Sanders Katherine Ryan, Tom Rosenthal (Comedy), Brett Goldstein…
• Sun 19 May London, Union Chapel Ballad Of Roger And Grace Daniel Kitson, Gavin Osborn
• Sat 11 May London, Union Chapel Live At The Chapel with Bridget Christie Harriet Kemsley, Jin Hao Li, Daniel Kitson
• Tue 2 Apr Exeter Phoenix Daniel Kitson
• Mon 1 Apr Exeter Phoenix Daniel Kitson
• Mon 11 Mar ➙ Wed 13 Mar Brighton & Hove, The Old Market Collaborator - A Work In Progress by Daniel Kitson
• Mon 5 Feb ➙ Fri 9 Feb London, The Cockpit Collaborator - A Work in Progress by Daniel Kitson

October 2023

• Sun 1 Oct London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Rose Matafeo, Ele McKenzie, Will Duggan, Daniel Kitson
• Sat 1 Jul London, Union Chapel Live At The Chapel - July 2023 Nish Kumar, Ania Magliano, Lou Sanders, Amy Gledhill, Daniel Kitson
• Thu 29 Jun Brighton & Hove, The Old Market Daniel Kitson
• Wed 21 Jun Nottingham, Metronome Daniel Kitson
• Mon 19 Jun Manchester, 53Two Daniel Kitson
• Sun 18 Jun London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Carl Donnelly, Ray Badran, Daniel Kitson
• Wed 17 May London, Union Chapel Stand Up for Nerve Tumours UK Comedy Fundraiser Paul Foot, Laura Lexx, Lara Ricote, Dan Tiernan, Celya AB…
• Wed 1 Mar ➙ Thu 2 Mar Bristol, The Wardrobe Theatre Daniel Kitson - The Bit Before You Get To A Work In Progress (Priced Accordingly)

February 2023

• Sun 19 Feb London, Bloomsbury Theatre Resofit: Comedy Gala Fundraising Night Matthew Highton, Rosie Holt, Stewart Lee, Ania Magliano, Shazia Mirza…

September 2022

• Wed 21 Sep Manchester, Castlefield Bowl Laughterama 2022 David O'Doherty, Rose Matafeo, Lou Sanders, Josh Jones, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 31 Jul St. Albans, Verulamium Park St Albans Comedy Garden 2022 Simon Amstell, John Kearns, Desiree Burch, Daniel Kitson
• Wed 6 Jul Brighton, Preston Park Brighton Comedy Garden 2022 Phil Wang, Suzi Ruffell, Fern Brady, John Kearns, Daniel Kitson
• Sat 18 Jun Melbourne Hall Daniel Kitson
• Sat 11 Jun ➙ Wed 15 Jun London, Bussey Rooftop Bar Daniel Kitson: Outside - Work in Progress Shows
• Mon 30 May ➙ Mon 27 Jun London, Bussey Rooftop Bar Daniel Kitson: Outside - Work in Progress Shows

November 2020

• Tue 24 Nov ➙ Thu 26 Nov Online / Streaming Events Dot. Dot. Dot. (HOME Manchester) Daniel Kitson
• Sun 8 Nov Online / Streaming Events Dot. Dot. Dot. (Theatr Clwyd) Daniel Kitson
• Sun 1 Nov ➙ Mon 2 Nov Online / Streaming Events Dot. Dot. Dot. (The Lyceum Edinburgh) Daniel Kitson
• Wed 20 May London, Hackney Empire A Belter For Shelter Stewart Lee, Rosie Jones, Bridget Christie, Paul Hamilton, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 8 Mar London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Daniel Kitson, Fern Brady
• Sat 7 Mar London, Union Chapel Live At The Chapel with Bridget Christie & Tim Key Isy Suttie, Ivo Graham, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 1 Mar London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Daniel Kitson, Rosie Jones, Marise Gaughan

February 2020

• Sun 23 Feb London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Janine Harouni, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 16 Feb London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Rich Hall, Helen Bauer, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 9 Feb London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Ivo Graham, Ray Badran, Olga Koch, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 2 Feb London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special David O'Doherty, Daniel Kitson, Birthday Cake

January 2020

• Sun 26 Jan London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special John Kearns, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 19 Jan London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Josh Widdicombe, Lloyd Langford, Daniel Kitson
• Sat 18 Jan London, Union Chapel Make Some Noise Daniel Kitson, Bridget Christie, Josie Long, Lolly Adefope, Nina Conti…
• Sun 12 Jan London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Rhys James, Nina Conti, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 5 Jan London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Tom Basden, Daniel Kitson

October 2019

• Mon 21 Oct London, Bloomsbury Theatre Resofit Daniel Kitson, Arnold Brown, Matthew Highton, Kuan-Wen Huang, Elf Lyons…
• Sun 20 Oct London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Ivo Graham, Ali Macofsky, Daniel Kitson

September 2019

• Sat 7 Sep London, Union Chapel Live At The Chapel's Post-Fringe Gala Daniel Kitson, John Kearns, Jessica Fostekew, Rob Auton, Lou Sanders…
• Sun 1 Sep London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Rhys James, Sara Barron, Daniel Kitson

August 2019

• Sun 4 Aug ➙ Sun 18 Aug Edinburgh, Summerhall Daniel Kitson
• Sun 21 Jul London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Daniel Kitson, Lou Sanders
• Sun 2 Jun London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Ivo Graham, Daniel Kitson, Tom Parry
• Sun 26 May London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Ben Norris, John Kearns, Amy Gledhill, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 19 May London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Josh Widdicombe, Daniel Kitson, Rosie Jones, Phil Ellis
• Sun 12 May London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Nish Kumar, Daniel Kitson, Sara Barron
• Sun 5 May London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Sunday Special Carl Donnelly, Sophie Willan, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 28 Apr London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Nina Conti, Daniel Kitson

January 2019

• Mon 28 Jan London, Battersea Arts Centre Nish Kumar, Bridget Christie, Daniel Kitson

December 2018

• Sun 16 Dec Bristol, The Wardrobe Theatre Daniel Kitson
• Sat 15 Dec Bristol, The Wardrobe Theatre Daniel Kitson
• Wed 12 Dec Bristol, The Wardrobe Theatre Daniel Kitson
• Wed 5 Dec Bristol, The Wardrobe Theatre Daniel Kitson
• Tue 4 Dec Bristol, The Wardrobe Theatre Daniel Kitson

November 2018

• Sun 4 Nov London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Adam Hess, Daniel Kitson, Olga Koch

October 2018

• Sun 28 Oct London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Fern Brady, Daniel Kitson, Arnab Chanda
• Sun 7 Oct London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Reginald D Hunter, Daniel Kitson

September 2018

• Sun 30 Sep London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Fin Taylor, Lou Sanders, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 8 Jul London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Daniel Kitson, Nina Conti
• Sun 20 May London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Steen Raskopoulos, Daniel Kitson
• Tue 15 May London, Up The Creek Comedy Club All Hands Charity Night Joel Dommett, Annie McGrath, James Acaster, Ed Gamble, Daniel Kitson
• Sun 6 May London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Carl Donnelly, Tom Ward (2), Thanyia Moore, Daniel Kitson
• Sat 7 Apr London, Union Chapel Live At The Chapel hosted by Daniel Kitson Sara Pascoe, James Acaster, Tom Parry, Gein's Family Giftshop

February 2018

• Wed 7 Feb London, Hackney Empire Bridget Christie, Dane J Baptiste, Kevin Eldon, Kevin McAleer, Lolly Adefope, Michael Legge, Stewart Lee, Daniel Kitson …
• Sat 3 Feb Brighton Dome Tim Key, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Nish Kumar, Daniel Kitson

December 2017

• Mon 18 Dec Mold, Theatr Clwyd Daniel Kitson
• Sun 17 Dec Brighton, Attenborough Centre For The Creative Arts Daniel Kitson
• Fri 15 Dec Manchester, The Dancehouse Theatre Daniel Kitson
• Thu 14 Dec Leicester, The Y Theatre Daniel Kitson
• Mon 11 Dec Exeter Phoenix Daniel Kitson
• Sun 10 Dec Bristol Old Vic Daniel Kitson
• Thu 7 Dec Halifax, Square Chapel Daniel Kitson
• Wed 6 Dec Durham, Gala Theatre and Cinema Daniel Kitson
• Tue 5 Dec Edinburgh, Royal Lyceum Theatre Daniel Kitson
• Mon 4 Dec Norwich Playhouse Daniel Kitson
• Fri 1 Dec Margate, Theatre Royal Daniel Kitson

October 2017

• Sun 29 Oct London, The Bill Murray Daniel Kitson
• Sat 28 Oct London, The Bill Murray Daniel Kitson

August 2017

• Thu 31 Aug ➙ Sat 9 Sep Manchester, Royal Exchange Theatre Daniel Kitson
• Wed 12 Jul ➙ Sat 29 Jul London, The Roundhouse Daniel Kitson
• Thu 29 Jun London, The Bill Murray Daniel Kitson
• Wed 28 Jun London, The Bill Murray Daniel Kitson
• Thu 18 May Wolverhampton Grand Theatre Josh Widdicombe, Romesh Ranganathan, Suzi Ruffell, Tim Key, Alun Cochrane, Daniel Kitson …
• Mon 8 May London, Up The Creek Comedy Club Joel Dommett, Nish Kumar, Suzi Ruffell, Daniel Kitson

August 2016

• Thu 4 Aug ➙ Sun 28 Aug Edinburgh, The Stand Comedy Club Daniel Kitson
• Mon 6 Jun Wolverhampton Grand Theatre Joe Lycett, Aisling Bea, Nish Kumar, Daniel Kitson
• Mon 9 May London, Cambridge Theatre Stewart Lee, Isy Suttie, Elis James, Josie Long, Kevin Eldon, Nick Helm, Daniel Kitson …
• Sun 27 Mar Manchester, Gorilla Daniel Kitson
• Thu 10 Mar Leicester, Just the Tonic Comedy Club at Hansom Hall Daniel Kitson

February 2016

• Mon 8 Feb Edinburgh, Cameo Picturehouse Daniel Kitson
• Sat 6 Feb London, Hackney Empire Daniel Kitson, Stewart Lee, Earl Okin, Lewis Schaffer, Francesca Martinez, Sofie Hagen, James Acaster …

January 2016

• Mon 25 Jan Edinburgh, Cameo Picturehouse Daniel Kitson
• Thu 14 Jan London, Union Chapel Daniel Kitson, Tim Key, Bridget Christie, Tom Basden, Ellie White, Tash Demetriou, Roisin Conaty, Aisling Bea …
• Mon 11 Jan London, Leicester Square Theatre Roisin Conaty, Tim Key, Isy Suttie, Romesh Ranganathan, Mike Wozniak, Aisling Bea, Daniel Kitson …

November 2015

• Sun 1 Nov Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre Daniel Kitson, Gavin Osborn

October 2015

• Wed 28 Oct Margate, Theatre Royal Daniel Kitson, Gavin Osborn

August 2015

• Sun 16 Aug Edinburgh, Assembly Rooms Daniel Kitson, Mark Steel, Mark Thomas, Ivor Dembina

Beyond The Joke

The Lowdown on Comedy, Theatre, TV, Food, Travel & Sam Campbell

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Tickets go on sale for new daniel kitson edinburgh show.

Daniel Kitson has confirmed that he will be performing a new show at the Edinburgh Fringe this August from August 2 - 27.

He explained on his latest newsletter that First Thing will be a work in progress and that he doesn't know much about it at this stage except that it will start at 10.30am and will be done by noon.

First Thing will be at Summerhall's Paines Plough Roundabout venue, where Kitson has performed before (see picture below).

The pop-up venue stages shows in the round and Kitson has written that: "I want it to be something specifically made for being in the round so that i can then tour it a bit to other lovely in the round theatres because i love being in the round."

Buy tickets HERE

Pictured: Daniel Kitson at previous Edinburgh show.

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Daniel Kitson

Daniel Kitson: I Shall Have A Good Think When Everybody's Gone Home (UK)

Comedy Festival at Malthouse

30 MAR – 23 APR

Merlyn Theatre

21 years after his first visit and 4 years since his last, Daniel Kitson waddles back into town with something less like a work in progress and more like a person looking for ingredients without knowing what they want to cook or whether they’re even hungry.

This is, to be honest, a thinly veiled excuse to spend a month in Melbourne but it shouldn’t be awful, is priced accordingly and will be finished by 7.30pm (1.30pm Sundays) so you’ll have plenty of time to salvage your evening with a better show by someone else or some decent noodles or a first kiss followed by a lifetime of happiness.

It’s up to you, your time’s your own.

Daniel Kitson: I Shall Have a Good Think When Everybody’s Gone Home at Malthouse presented as part of Melbourne International Comedy Festival .

Comedy Festival at Malthouse is supported by our Season Partner, Scotchmans Hill .

PERFORMER /

Daniel Kitson

Event & ticketing details

Performance times.

All online bookings incur a $4 booking fee per transaction.

90 minutes (no interval)

Content notes

This production contains coarse language, graphic humour, audience participation, and calling attention to distracting patrons within the theatre. 

All warnings are subject to change, please check back closer to the time of performance for an updated list of potentially sensitive content

Event notes

ACCESSIBILITY /

Wheelchair access is available. Please make a wheelchair booking here . For more information, please see our Access page .

BOOKING FEES /

Online orders incur a $4 booking fee.

YOUR VISIT /

Malthouse Theatre is a COVID-Safe venue. Find out what we're doing and how you can help keep everyone safe here . 

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Daniel Kitson Concert Setlists & Tour Dates

Daniel kitson at albany empire, lewisham, england.

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Daniel Kitson at MAC Theatre, Birmingham, England

Daniel kitson at union chapel, london, england.

• First Thought
• Manual Labourer
• Closing Montage (going out at minute 39 of a 40 minute show)
• Chapter One.
• Charlie's 18th Birthday
• Chapter Two.
• Hello, My Name's Charlie
• Chapter Three.
• Greyhound - Friday, July the 3rd
• Chapter Four

Daniel Kitson at Wilton's Music Hall, London, England

• Maybe A Ghost Story

Daniel Kitson at St. Ann's Warehouse, New York, NY, USA

Daniel kitson at roundhouse, london, england.

• Something Other Than Everything
• Mouse - The Persistence of an Unlikely Thought

Daniel Kitson at Connelly Theater, New York, NY, USA

• A Show For Christmas

Daniel Kitson at Old Vic Theatre, London, England

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• A Show For Christmas ( 1 )
• Analog.Ue ( 1 )
• Chapter Five ( 1 )
• Chapter Four ( 1 )
• Chapter One. ( 1 )

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Marquee memories: upsahl.

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Daniel Kitson

I Shall Have a Good Think When Everybody’s Gone Home

This isn’t really a work in progress as much as it is just a loose dollop of stand up in search of an idea.

It shouldn’t be awful though and has been priced accordingly.

I know that’s not massively appealing without an existing knowledge of my powerful back catalogue and that maybe you’d rather catch a cool flick, or track down some decent noodles or seek out a magical first kiss by the river followed by a lifetime of happiness.

I wouldn’t blame you, that sounds lovely.

Its up to you. Your times your own.

Venue: Main Auditorium

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Tue 10 Sep 2024 @ 7:30pm

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Maybe A Ghost Story by Daniel Kitson

Review of the comedian and storyteller's Halloween yarn

In his blurb for Maybe A Ghost Story, DanieI Kitson insists: ‘I don’t believe in ghosts and I’ve never been comfortable with (or really, any good at) frightening people.’

So while his Halloween monologue has a supernatural air, it is unlikely to chill the bones. Instead, the intrigue comes more from pondering how the interactions between its two central characters will play out than it does from the eerier back story.

The dynamic of these strangers, thrown together by happenstance, is identical to that in the magical Show For Christmas that Kitson created for the Battersea Arts Centre in 2014. One is enamoured by tradition, in thrall to all the trappings of the season, the other a more cynical grouch, dismissing the stuff-and-nonsense and just wanting to get on with life.

They seem to reflect the two sides of Kitson’s personality, too. On one hand, the mesmerising storyteller delighting in the romance of human possibilities; on the other, the more prickly comedian acutely aware that quite a lot of those humans are awful.

‘Ghost stories are just a very long-winded way of shouting boo,’ says Graham, the pragmatist of the pair, who reluctantly picks up a woman in the simplest of Halloween costumes – who is known throughout only as Ghost – when he sees her beneath her sheet and next to her broken-down car beside a country road.

Their trip to get the petrol she needs takes longer than expected, and with more diversions too, as the couple disagree over whether Bonfire Night is better than Halloween but come to a consensus over the delights of low-quality sweets and Ribena. Ghost is keen to reprise the anarchic origins of trick-or-treating, but Graham just wants to get home.

Reading from a book, with just a simple lighting change to indicate a switch of timelines, Kitson draws the audience in with his intimate delivery of the story - the carefully crafted words enough to engross on their own. 

But making the show more entertaining is the way he intersperses the vivid script with wonderfully witty asides, especially in the first half, as he comments on his work and how it’s going down. One especially endearing in-joke portrays us late-night punters as rowdy boozehounds, when nothing could be further from the truth.

The setting is a delight, too. Originally devised for a brief run at Shakespeare’s Globe last Halloween, this story finds a more-than-suitable home this week in the Victorian-era Wilton’s Music Hall in East London, atmospheric with its exposed brickwork harbouring the spirits of bygone entertainers.

It’s scary how charming and engrossing it all is.

• Maybe A Ghost Story continues at Wilton’s Music Hall tonight and tomorrow

Review date: 3 Nov 2023 Reviewed by: Steve Bennett Reviewed at: Wilton's Music Hall

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Quote from: Tiggles on April 03, 2023, 08:59:05 AM He's currently Co-DJ-ing on Melbourne's RRR until about 10am UK time https://www.rrr.org.au/

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Quote from: Tiggles on May 04, 2023, 04:47:20 PM Looks like Kitson will be doing a WIP at Edinburgh called "First Thing" at Summerhall. Tickets apparently go on sale tomorrow at noon. No idea on the dates! https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2023/05/edinburgh-festival-fringe-summerhall-launch-their-huge-programme/

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Quote from: merri on May 08, 2023, 04:16:36 AM Oh and I've a copy of the RRR show here if anyone wants it.

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Donetsk and Luhansk: What you should know about the ‘republics’

Who has followed Russia in recognising the controversial, Moscow-backed statelets in Ukraine? And what is life like there?

Kyiv, Ukraine – Moscow-backed separatists have controlled the southeastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, known collectively as Donbas, for almost eight years.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised them only on Monday, paving the way for the official presence of Russian troops in the rebel-controlled areas that occupy about a third of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Keep reading

Why russia recognised separatist-held regions in east ukraine, syria backs russian recognition of east ukraine breakaway regions, stocks slide, oil jumps as russia orders troops to ukraine region, ukraine crisis: asia braces for economic fallout.

So far, only Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Syria have joined Putin in recognising Donetsk and Luhansk – along with breakaway Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. They all did so also on Monday.

The central question is whether Russia would recognise them in their current borders. Should it decide to help the rebels “restore” their statelets to the original borders, it may spell a large-scale war between Moscow and Kyiv.

At the moment, Russia will recognise “the borders, where the leadership of the DNR and the LNR are executing their authority,” Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told the Interfax News Agency on Tuesday.

But the foreign ministry also said on Tuesday that the issue of the borders is yet to be resolved.

While Ukraine and the West try to avoid war, other questions loom.

What are the roots of the region’s separatism? What has kept these areas alive since 2014? And what is their future?

Neo-Stalinism

A 13.5 metre-tall statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin still dominates the main square in Donetsk, the capital of the eponymous breakaway region in southeastern Ukraine.

And the constitution adopted by Lenin’s successor, Josef Stalin, has been restored by the Moscow-backed separatist leaders of Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk after they broke away from the central government in 2014.

This constitution prescribes the death penalty for a number of crimes, making the separatist “People’s Republics” – and authoritarian Belarus nearby – Europe’s only homes to capital punishment.

After almost eight years of existence, the “republics” are understood to have evolved into totalitarian, North Korea-like statelets.

It is near impossible for foreigners to enter the areas. Ukrainians can only visit if they have relatives in Donetsk and Luhansk, and would have to cross into Russia first, which takes about 30 hours and costs $100 – a journey that also involves bribing officials at times. Residents need a Soviet-era residency registration.

In the statelets, secret police and “loyal” residents monitor every word, phone call and text message.

Dissidents or businessmen who refuse to “donate” their assets to the “needs of the People’s Republic” have been thrown in “cellars”, or dozens of makeshift concentration camps, without trial.

“It looks like the 1930s in the Soviet Union, a classic gulag,” Stanislav Aseyev, a publicist who was kidnapped in 2017 in Donetsk and was sentenced by a separatist “court” to 15 years in jail for “espionage”, told Al Jazeera.

For almost two years, he was incarcerated and tortured in these “cellars” until separatists swapped him and dozens of other prisoners in 2017.

Thousands of others were tortured and abused in the “cellars”, according to rights groups and witnesses. The grave human rights abuses make Donetsk and Luhansk far worse than today’s Russia, an international human rights advocate said.

“The cellars where prisoners are held in Donetsk, and the widespread use of torture, are among the most obvious human rights issues,” said Ivar Dale, a senior policy adviser with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, a human rights watchdog group.

But there are much wider problems such as civil and political rights, he said.

“You could say that the political repression in Russia is doubly felt in Donetsk and Luhansk and other areas effectively under control of the Putin regime,” Dale told Al Jazeera.

Rust-belt ruins

These tendencies have gone hand in hand with economic degradation.

The living standards are “many times, if not dozens of times worse than in pre-war 2013”, said Aseyev, 32, who now lives in Kyiv and has published a novel about the events in Donetsk.

This regress looks even more staggering considering Donetsk’s and Luhansk’s not-so-ancient history. The cities were founded by two Brits.

Englishman Charles Gascoigne built a metal factory in what is now Luhansk in 1795, shortly after czarist Russia annexed Crimea and eastern Ukraine from the Crimean Khanate, a mostly-Muslim vassal of Ottoman Turkey.

Decades later, in 1869, Welshman John Hughes started a steel plant and a coal mine in what is now Donetsk, and the city was named after him – Hughesovka or Yuzovka – until the Soviet era.

The birth and rapid growth of both cities followed the czarist government’s drive to develop the immense coal and iron ore deposits of what is now eastern Ukraine.

Communist Moscow further spurred the region’s development, and tens of thousands of ethnic Russians settled there, making urban areas almost exclusively Russian-speaking.

Coal and mines grew deeper next to hillocks made of spent ore, and foundries, chemical and power plants dotted the region.

The political heyday of Donetsk began in 2010, when its native Viktor Yanukovych became Ukraine’s president – and brought cohorts of his cronies to Kyiv.

They tried to wrestle control of Ukraine’s politics and economy – but triggered months-long protests that began in November 2013 and ended in February 2014, when the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove Yanukovych from office.

The protests are known in Ukraine as the Revolution of Dignity – but Russian President Vladimir Putin still calls them a “coup”.

‘Russian spring’

In the czarist era, the region was known as Novorossiya – or New Russia – and the Kremlin would use the name in 2014 as it proclaimed the “Russian Spring” or “liberation” of Russian-speaking regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.

But pro-Russian rallies and uprisings in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and Odesa, its largest seaport on the Black Sea, failed.

However, thousands of Russian volunteers flocked to Donetsk and Luhansk to aid separatist militias – while many locals were ecstatic about the “Russian Spring”.

“Putin will come and restore order here,” one of their supporters, a rotund minibus driver named Valerii, told this reporter in April 2014 in Donetsk.

But four months later, after the separatists tried to confiscate his minibus, he locked his apartment, loaded the bus with his most valuable belongings, and left for Kyiv.

‘Price tag’

Even though Ukraine barred any economic ties to the separatist regions, they still exist – and even involve top politicians.

Pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko, who came to power after the Revolution of Dignity, admitted that he channeled government funds worth tens of millions of dollars in exchange for Donetsk coal in the winter of 2014-2015 because otherwise “half of Ukraine could have frozen”.

But Russia still had to bankroll the separatist provinces spending billions of dollars a year.

So, what are Moscow’s economic goals in Donbas?

“Very simple – to lower the price tag of maintaining the occupied territories,” Aleksey Kusch, a Kyiv-based analyst, told Al Jazeera.

To achieve that, Russia may want to remove the middlemen who pocketed the lion’s share of profits from the export of coal and steel and the delivery of humanitarian aid that was immediately resold on the black market.

“They kept up to 70 percent of the profits,” Kushch said.