War in Donbas

This article is about the armed conflict in the Donbass region of Ukraine. For the concurrent unrest across Ukraine, see 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.

"War in Ukraine" redirects here. For the Ukrainian war of independence, see Ukrainian War of Independence. For other wars in Ukraine throughout history, see List of wars involving Ukraine.

War in Donbas
Part of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
Light red represents areas held by the DPR/LPR insurgents. Yellow represents areas previously held by insurgents, but retaken by the Ukrainian government. Pink represents areas retaken from the government by the DPR/LPR. Orange represents settlements being contested.
Date 6 April 2014 (2014-04-06) – present (10 years, 6 months, 4 weeks and 1 day) Location Donbass, includes: Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine Status Ongoing Insurgents take control of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts Counter-offensive by government forces Government forces recapture Mariupol, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, Artemivsk, Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk amongst other cities, and regained a 121-kilometre (75 mi) stretch of the border with Russia.
Belligerents
Donetsk People's Republic Lugansk People's Republic Russia (denied by Russia)	Ukraine
Commanders and leaders
Aleksandr Zakharchenko Vladimir Antyufeyev Alexander Borodai Denis Pushilin Igor Girkin Vladimir Kononov Pavel Gubarev Valery Bolotov  (WIA) Ihor Plotnytskiy Igor Kakidzyanov  (POW) Vladimir Putin Sergey Shoygu Valery Gerasimov	Petro Poroshenko Arseniy Yatsenyuk Oleksandr Turchynov Arsen Avakov Valeriy Heletey Viktor Muzhenko Mykhailo Kutsyn  (WIA) Andriy Parubiy Valentyn Nalyvaichenko
Units involved
Donbass People's Militia Vostok Battalion Russian Orthodox Army Army of the South East Foreign volunteers: Abkhaz Belarusian Chechen Ingush North Ossetian Russian Serbian South Ossetian Uzbek	Ground Forces Air Force Airmobile Forces Ministry of Internal Affairs Internal Troops National Guard State Border Guard Service Security Service SBU Alpha Group Paramilitaries Donbas Battalion Kharkiv Battalion Kyiv-1 Battalion Azov Battalion Dnipro Battalion Aidar Battalion Right Sector Foreign volunteers: Albanian Azeri Belarusian Georgian
Strength
20,000 fighters (according to the separatists) ≈10,000 fighters (according to experts) 1,000-5,000+ Russian infantry (NATO, UK, and DPR sources)	50,000 servicemen
Casualties and losses
1,017 killed (according to the separatists) 1,100–1,700 killed (pro-government source)	789 killed, 2,789 wounded, 294–1,200 captured and 20,000 deserted or defected (according to the government) 8,601–9,200 killed and wounded, 3,500 missing, 100 captured and 5,200 deserted (according to the separatists)
2,152 Ukrainian civilians killed 300 foreign civilians killed 2,593 Ukrainian civilians and combatants killed overall, according to the United Nations 207,343–730,000 Ukrainians fled to Russia, 190,087 people displaced within the country

The War in Donbass (also known as the War in Ukraine or War in Eastern Ukraine) is an ongoing armed conflict in the Donbass region of Ukraine. From the beginning of March 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, together commonly called the "Donbass", in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and the Euromaidan movement. These demonstrations, part of a wider group of concurrent pro-Russian protests across southern and eastern Ukraine, escalated into an armed conflict between the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, and the Ukrainian government. Prior to a change of the top leadership in August, the separatists were largely led by Russian citizens. Russian paramilitaries are reported to make up from 15% to 80% of the combatants.

Between 22 and 25 August, Russian artillery, personnel, and a humanitarian convoy were reported to have crossed the border into Ukrainian territory without the permission of the Ukrainian government. Crossings occurred both in areas under pro-Russian forces control and areas that were not under their control, such as the south-eastern part of Donetsk Oblast, near Novoazovsk. These events followed the reported shelling of Ukrainian positions from the Russian side of the border over the course of the preceding month. Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, said that Ukraine considered the events of 22 August a "direct invasion by Russia of Ukraine". Western and Ukrainian officials described these events as a "stealth invasion" of Ukraine by Russia.

Background

Main articles: 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Donetsk People's Republic, and Lugansk People's Republic

Donetsk Oblast

Attempts to seize the Donetsk Regional State Administration (RSA) building began since pro-Russian protests erupted in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, in the wake of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. Pro-Russian protesters occupied the Donetsk RSA from 1–6 March, before being removed by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). On 6 April, 1,000–2,000 people gathered at a rally in Donetsk to demand a status referendum similar to the one held in Crimea in March. The demonstrators stormed the RSA building, and took control of its first two floors. They said that if an extraordinary legislative session was not held by regional officials to implement a status referendum, they would take control of the regional government with a "people's mandate", and dismiss all elected regional councillors and members of parliament. As these demands were not met, the activists held a meeting in the RSA building, and voted in favour of independence from Ukraine. They proclaimed the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

Luhansk Oblast

Unrest in Luhansk Oblast began on 6 April, when approximately 1,000 activists seized and occupied the SBU building in the city of Luhansk, following similar occupations in the cities of Donetsk and Kharkiv. Protesters barricaded the building, and demanded that all arrested separatist leaders be released. Police were able to retake control of the building, but the demonstrators regathered for a 'people's assembly' outside the building and called for a 'people's government', demanding either federalisation or incorporation into the Russian Federation. At this assembly, they elected Valery Bolotov to the position of "People's Governor". Two "referendums" were announced, one on 11 May to determine whether the region should seek some form of autonomy, and a second scheduled for 18 May to determine whether the region should join the Russian Federation, or declare independence.

The Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) was declared on 27 April. Representatives of the Republic demanded that Ukrainian government provide amnesty for all protesters, enshrine Russian as an official language, and hold a referendum on the status of the region. They issued an ultimatum that stated that if Kiev did not meet their demands by 14:00 on 29 April, they would launch an insurgency in tandem with that of the Donetsk People's Republic.

History

See also: Timeline of the war in Donbass

Pro-Russian protesters in Donetsk

After having gained control of the Donetsk RSA and having declared the Donetsk People's Republic, pro-Russian groups vowed to fan out and take control of strategic infrastructure across Donetsk Oblast, and demanded that public officials who wished to continue their work swear allegiance to the Republic. By 14 April, pro-Russian separatists had taken control of government buildings in many other cities within the oblast, including Mariupol, Horlivka, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Yenakiieve, Makiivka, Druzhkivka, and Zhdanivka.

First standoff

In response to the widening unrest, the Ukrainian President, Oleksandr Turchynov, vowed to launch a major "anti-terror" operation against separatist movements in Donetsk Oblast. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Arsen Avakov, said on 9 April that the unrest in Donetsk Oblast would be resolved within forty-eight hours, either through negotiations or the use of force. President Olexander Turchynov signed a decree to retake the Donetsk RSA building, and place it "under state protection," and offered amnesty to the demonstrators if they laid down their arms.

Expansion of territorial control

Unmarked separatist militants seized the Donetsk office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on 12 April without resistance. Following negotiations between the militants and those in the building, the chief of the office resigned from his post. Officers from the Berkut special police force, which had been dissolved by the government following the February revolution, took part in the seizure on the separatists' side. Following this seizure, the militants would begin to expand their control across Donetsk. The municipal administration building in Donetsk city was stormed and occupied by the insurgents on 16 April. Further actions by separatists resulted in the capture of the offices of the regional state television network on 27 April. After capturing the broadcasting centre, the militants began to broadcast Russian television channels. On 4 May, the flag of the Donetsk People's Republic was raised over the police headquarters in Donetsk city proper.

Sloviansk

Main article: Siege of Sloviansk

Separatist militants took control of the city administration building, police offices, and SBU building in Sloviansk, a city in the northern part of Donetsk Oblast, on 12 April. The militants were apparently welcomed by the elected mayor, Nelya Shtepa, who said that the buildings were seized by "volunteers" and "activists". "I cannot object to them, since Slavyansk considers Russia its elder brother and we will not fight with Russia," she said of the militants. Some people gathered outside the occupied police building to voice their support for the militants. They told Ukrainian journalists who were reporting on the situation to "go back to Kiev". Nelya Shtepa was detained, and replaced by the self-proclaimed "people's mayor", Vyacheslav Ponomarev. The separatists gained control of the city's police weapons cache and seized hundreds of firearms, which prompted the Ukrainian government to launch a "counter-terrorism" operation to retake the city. This government counter-offensive began on the morning of 13 April. As result, an entrenched standoff between pro-Russian forces and the Armed Forces of Ukraine resulted. The city remained under siege until 5 July, when Ukrainian forces recaptured it, with an estimated 15–20,000 people displaced by the fighting.

Kramatorsk

Main article: Battle of Kramatorsk

In Kramatorsk, a city in northern Donetsk Oblast, separatists attacked a police station on 13 April, resulting in a shootout. The fighters, members of the Donbass People's Militia, later captured the police station. They removed the police station's sign and raised the flag of the Donetsk People's Republic over the building. They then issued an ultimatum that stated that if the city's mayor and administration did not swear allegiance to the Republic by the following Monday, they would remove them from office. Concurrently, a crowd of demonstrators surrounded the city administration building, captured it, and raised the Donetsk People's Republic flag over it. A representative of the Republic addressed locals outside the occupied police station, but was received negatively and booed.

After a government counter-offensive as part of the "anti-terror" operation in Donetsk Oblast on 2–3 May, the insurgents were routed from Kramatorsk's occupied SBU building. Despite this, Ukrainian troops quickly withdrew from the city for unknown reasons, and the separatists quickly regained control. Sporadic fighting continued until 5 July, when the insurgents withdrew from Kramatorsk.

Horlivka

Militants attempted to seize the police headquarters in Horlivka on 12 April, but were halted. Ukrayinska Pravda reported that police said that the purpose of the attempted seizure was to gain access to a weapons cache. They said that they would use force if needed to defend the building from "criminals and terrorists". By 14 April, however, militants had successfully captured the building after a tense standoff with the police. Some members of the local police unit defected to the Donetsk People's Republic earlier in the day, whilst the remaining offices were forced to retreat, allowing the insurgents to take control of the building. The local chief of police was captured and badly beaten by the insurgents. A Horlivka city council deputy, Volodymyr Rybak, was kidnapped by masked men believed to be pro-Russian militants on 17 April. His body was later found in a river on 22 April. The city administration building was seized on 30 April, solidifying separatist control over Horlivka. Self-proclaimed mayor of Horlivka Volodymyr Kolosniuk, was arrested by the SBU on suspicion of his participation in "terrorist activities" on 2 July.

Mariupol

Main article: Battle of Mariupol

Donetsk People's Republic activists took control of the city administration building in Mariupol on 13 April. The Ukrainian government claimed to have "liberated" the building on 24 April, but this was denied by locals interviewed by the BBC near the building.

Clashes between government forces and pro-Russian groups escalated in early May, when the city administration building was briefly retaken by the Ukrainian National Guard. The pro-Russian forces quickly took the building back. Militants then launched an attack on a local police station, leading the Ukrainian government to send in military forces. Skirmishes between the troops and local demonstrators caused the city administration building to light on fire. Government forces, however, were unsuccessful in forcing out the pro-Russians, and only further inflamed tensions in Mariupol. On 16 May, however, Metinvest steelworkers, along with local police and security forces, routed the insurgents from the city administration and other occupied government buildings in the city. Most insurgents left the city, and those few remaining were said to be unarmed. Despite this, the headquarters of the Donetsk People's Republic in the city remained untouched, and pro-Russian demonstrators could still be seen outside the burnt city administration.

Ukrainian troops gained control of the city on 13 June, with assistance from the National Guard. The headquarters of the DPR was captured. Mariupol was then declared the provisional capital of Donetsk Oblast, in place of Donetsk city, which was occupied by separatists.

Other cities

Many smaller cities across the Donbass fell to the separatists.

In Artemivsk on 12 April, separatists failed to capture the local Ministry of Internal Affairs office, but instead captured the city administration building and raised the Donetsk People's Republic flag over it. The city administration buildings in Yenakiieve and Druzhkivka were also captured. Police repelled an attack by pro-Russian militants upon an office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Krasnyi Lyman on 12 April, but the building was later captured by the separatists after a skirmish. Insurgents affiliated with the Donbass People's Militia occupied a regional administration building in Khartsyzk on 13 April, followed by a local administration building in Zhdanivka on 14 April. Demonstrators hoisted the flag of the Donetsk People's Republic over the city administration buildings in Krasnoarmiisk and Novoazovsk on 16 April. The local administration building in Siversk was similarly captured on 18 April. Following the takeover, local police announced that they would co-operate with the activists. On 20 April, separatists in Yenakiieve left the city administration building there which they had occupied since 13 April. Despite this, by 27 May the city was still not under Ukrainian government control. Pro-Russian demonstrators in Kostiantynivka burnt down the offices of a newspaper that had been critical of the DPR on 22 April.

70 to 100 insurgents armed with assault rifles and rocket launches attacked an armoury in Artemivsk on 24 April. The depot housed around thirty tanks. Ukrainian troops attempted to fight off the insurgents, but were forced to retreat after a substantial number of men were wounded by insurgent fire. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Arsen Avakov, said that the insurgents were led by a man with "an extensive bear", referring to the Russian militant Alexander Mozhaev. Some thirty militants seized the police headquarters in Konstantinovka on 28 April. On the next day, a city administration building in Pervomaisk was overrun by Lugansk People's Republic insurgents, who then raised their flag over it. On the same day, militants seized control over the city administration building in Alchevsk. In Krasnyi Luch, the city administration conceded to demands by separatist activists to support the referendums on the status of Donetsk and Luhansk being held on 11 May, and followed by raising the Russian flag over the city administration building.

Insurgents occupied the city administration building in Stakhanov on 1 May. Later in the week, they captured the local police station, business centre, and SBU building. Activists in Rovenky occupied a police building on 5 May, but quickly left it. On the same day, the police headquarters in Slovianoserbsk was seized by members of the Army of the South-East, which is affiliated with the Lugansk People's Republic. The town of Antratsyt was occupied by a number of renegade Don Cossacks. Insurgents went on to seize the prosecutor's office in Sievierodonetsk on 7 May. On the next day, supporters of the Lugansk People's Republic captured government buildings in Starobilsk.

Government counter-offensive

The barricade outside the Donetsk RSA, with banners displaying anti-western slogans.

Arsen Avakov, the Minister of Internal Affairs, said on 9 April that the separatist problem would be resolved within forty-eight hours, through either negotiations or the use of force. "There are two opposite ways for resolving this conflict – a political dialogue and the heavy-handed approach. We are ready for both," he said, according to the Ukrinform state news agency. At the time, President Oleksandr Turchynov had already signed a decree which called for the Donetsk Regional State Administration building, which had been occupied by separatists, to be taken "under state protection". He offered amnesty to any separatists who laid down their arms and surrendered. By 11 April, the Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said that he was against the use of "law enforcement" at the time, but that "there was a limit" to how much the Ukrainian government would tolerate.

In response to the spread of separatist control throughout Donetsk Oblast, and the refusal of the separatists to lay down their arms, Turchynov vowed to launch a military counter-offensive operation against insurgents in the region on 15 April. As part of the counter-offensive, Ukrainian troops re-took the airfield in Kramatorsk after a skirmish with members of the Donbass People's Militia. At least four people died as a result.

After the Armed Forces of Ukraine re-took the airfield, the commanding general of the unit that had retaken it, Vasily Krutov, was surrounded by hostile protesters who demanded to know why the Ukrainian troops had fired upon local residents. Krutov was then dragged back to the airbase along with his unit. They were then blocked by the protesters, who vowed not to let the troops leave the base. Krutov later told reporters that "if they [the separatists] do not lay down their arms, they will be destroyed".

Donbass People's Militia insurgents entered Sloviansk on 16 April, along with six armoured personnel carriers they claimed to have obtained from the 25th Airborne Brigade, which had surrendered in the city of Kramatorsk. Reports say members of the brigade were disarmed after the vehicles were blocked from passing by angry locals. In another incident, several hundred residents of the village of Pchyolkino, south of Sloviansk, surrounded another column of fourteen Ukrainian armoured vehicles. Following negotiations the troops were allowed to drive their vehicles away, but only after agreeing to surrender the magazines from their assault rifles. These incidents led President Turchynov to disband the 25th Airborne Brigade. Three members of the Donbass People's Militia were killed, eleven wounded, and sixty-three were arrested after they attempted and failed to storm a National Guard base in Mariupol.

File:Ukranian military roadblocks in Donetsk oblast 2.jpg

Ukrainian military roadblocks in Donetsk oblast

Turchynov relaunched the stalled counter-offensive against pro-Russian insurgents on 22 April, after two men, one a local politician, were found "tortured to death". The politician, Volodymyr Rybak, was found dead near Sloviansk after having been abducted by pro-Russian insurgents. Turchynov said that "the terrorists who effectively took the whole Donetsk Oblast hostage have now gone too far". The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the city of Sviatogorsk, near Sloviansk, was retaken by Ukrainian troops on 23 April. In addition, the Defence ministry said it had taken control over all points of strategic importance in the area around Kramatorsk.

The Internal Affairs Minister, Arsen Avakov, said on 24 April that Ukrainian troops had captured the city administration in Mariupol, after a clash with pro-Russian demonstrators there. Despite this, a report by the BBC said that whilst it appeared that Ukrainian troops and the mayor of Mariupol did enter the building in the early morning, Ukrainian troops had abandoned it by the afternoon. Local pro-Russian activists blamed Ukrainian nationalists for the attack upon the building, but said that the DPR had regained control. A representative of the Republic, Irina Voropoyeva, said "We, the Donetsk People's Republic, still control the building. There was an attempted provocation but now it's over".

On the same day, Ukrainian government officials said that the Armed Forces had intended to retake the city of Sloviansk, but that an increased threat of "Russian invasion" halted these operations. Russian forces had mobilised within 10 kilometres (6+1⁄4 mi) of the Ukrainian border. The officials said that seven troops were killed during the day's operations. President Turchynov issued a statement later in the day, and said that the "anti-terrorist" operation would be resumed, citing the ongoing hostage crisis in Sloviansk as a reason. By 6 May, fourteen Ukrainian troops had died and sixty-six had been injured in the fighting.

Early in the morning on 7 May, the National Guard retook the city administration in Mariupol after heavy fighting with insurgents overnight. Anti-government demonstrators said that government forces had used a "toxic gas" during the operation, resulting in injuries when the demonstrators tried to re-occupy the building after the National Guard withdrew. By 7 May, the flag of the DPR was once again flying over the building.

Ukrainian troops launched another attack on insurgents in Mariupol on 9 May. During an assault on an occupied police building, that building was set alight by government forces, causing the insurgents to flee. Arsen Avakov said that sixty insurgents attacked the police building, not Ukrainian troops, and that the police and other government forces had managed to repel the insurgents. Between six and twenty militants were killed, along with one police officer. Four militants were captured, and five policemen were wounded. One armoured personnel carrier was captured by pro-Russian protesters during the fighting. After the clashes, pro-Russian forces built barricades across the city center. Concurrently, Ukrainian National News said that separatists attempted to disarm Ukrainian troops near Donetsk. The troops resisted by firing warning shots, and arresting one-hundred of the separatists. Also, an unnamed Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) priest attempted to negotiate with separatists near Druzhkivka, but was later killed after being shot eight times. This was confirmed by the Church and the Prosecutor's Office.

Post-referendum fighting

Main articles: Volnovakha checkpoint attack and Federal State of Novorossiya

The referendum organised by pro-Russian separatists. A line to enter a polling place in Donetsk, 11 May 2014

It was reported on 12 May that, following the local autonomy referendum, the Donbass People's Militia leader Igor Girkin declared himself "Supreme Commander" of the Donetsk People's Republic. In his decree, he demanded that all military stationed in the region swear an oath of allegiance to him within 48 hours, and said that all remaining Ukrainian military in the region would be "destroyed on the spot." He then petitioned the Russian Federation for military support to protect against "the threat of intervention by NATO" and "genocide." Pavel Gubarev, president of Donetsk People's Republic, instituted martial law on 15 May, and vowed for "total annihilation" of Ukrainian forces if they did not pull out of the Donbass by 21:00. Similarly, the president of the Lugansk People's Republic, Valery Bolotov, declared martial law on 22 May.

The Donetsk-based steel magnate Rinat Akhmetov called on his 300,000 employees within the Donetsk region to "rally against separatists" on 20 May. Sirens sounded at noon at his factories to signal the beginning of the rally. A so-called "Peace March" was held in the Donbass Arena in Donetsk city, accompanied by cars sounding their horns at noon. BBC News and Ukrayinska Pravda reported that some vehicles were attacked by separatists, and that gunmen had warned the offices of several city taxi services not to take part. In response to Akhmetov's refusal to pay taxes to the Donetsk People's Republic, on 20 May the chairman of the State Council of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, announced that the Republic would attempt to nationalise Akhmetov's assets. On 25 May, between 2,000 to 5,000 protesters marched to Akhmetov's mansion in Donetsk city, and demanded the nationalisation of Akhmetov's property, while chanting "Akhmetov is an enemy of the people!".

Eighteen soldiers were killed during an attack by separatists upon an army checkpoint near the city of Volnovakha, on 22 May. Three armoured personnel carriers and several lorries were destroyed in the attack and one insurgent was killed in the raid. On the same day, a convoy consisting of one-hundred soldiers attempted to cross a bridge at Rubizhne, near Luhansk, and advance into insugent-held territory. They were ambushed by a group of between 300 and 500 insurgents. After fighting that lasted throughout the day, the soldiers were forced to retreat. Between two and fourteen soldiers, and seven and twenty insurgents were killed during the fighting. Three army infantry combat vehicles and one lorry were destroyed, and another three armoured vehicles were captured by the insurgents. The Internal Affairs ministry stated that some insurgents had attempted to enter Luhansk Oblast from Russia, but had been repelled by border guards.

Following a declaration by Pavel Gubarev establishing the "New Russia Party" on 22 May, representatives of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics signed an agreement creating the confederative state of New Russia. Separatists planned to incorporate most of Ukraine's southern and eastern regions into the new confederation, including the key cities of Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia and Odessa. The declaration signed established the position of Russian Orthodoxy as the state religion and an intention to nationalise key industries.

Separatist barricade in Luhansk city

A unit of the pro-government Donbas Battalion volunteer paramilitary attempted to advance on a separatist checkpoint near the village of Karlivka, northwest of Donetsk city, on 23 May. They were ambushed by a group of between 150 and 200 separatists, supported by one of the captured armoured personnel carriers. The pro-government paramilitary was surrounded by the separatists, and outnumbered six to one, until fighters affiliated with the nationalist Right Sector broke through the separatist lines to allow some members of the group to escape. Five members of the Donbas Battalion were killed, along with four separatists. Twenty of the pro-government paramilitaries were wounded, and at least four were captured. The involvement of Right Sector was disputed by the leadership of the Donbas Battalion. Pro-Russian leader Igor Bezler said that he executed all of the captured paramilitaries. Another separatist leader confirmed four of their fighters were killed, and also said that ten pro-government paramilitaries and two civilians died. During the same day, two pro-Russian separatists were killed during an assault by the pro-government "Ukraine Battalion" paramilitary on an occupied local government building in Torez.

Airport battle and fighting in Luhansk

Main article: Battle of Donetsk Airport

On the morning of 26 May, 200 pro-Russian insurgents, including members of the Vostok Battalion, captured the main terminal of the Donetsk International Airport, erected roadblocks around it, and demanded that government forces withdraw. Soon after these demands were issued, the Ukrainian National Guard issued an ultimatum to the separatists, asking them to surrender. This was subsequently rejected. Government forces then launched an assault on separatist positions at the airport with paratroopers and airstrikes. Attack helicopters were also used by government forces. They targeted a separatist-operated anti-aircraft gun. An estimated forty insurgents died in the fighting, with some civilians caught in the crossfire. Between fifteen and thirty-five insurgents were killed in a single incident, when two lorries carrying wounded fighters away from airport were destroyed in an ambush by government forces.

During the fighting at the airport, Druzhba Arena in Donetsk city was ransacked by pro-Russian insurgents, who looted the building and destroyed surveillance equipment, and set it ablaze. Concurrently, Donetsk police said the insurgents had killed two policemen in the nearby town of Horlivka. The Moscow Times reported that the two men had been executed for "breaking their oath to the Donetsk People's Republic".

Lugansk People's Republic-affiliated insurgents attacked a Ukrainian National Guard unit in the early hours of 28 May. RIA Novosti reported that eighty National Guard members subsequently surrendered to the insurgents, whilst the National Guard issued a statement that said "there have been losses both in the ranks of the military unit and the attacking side." At least one separatist and one soldier died in the fighting.

Escalation in May and June

Mykhailo Koval, the Minister of Defence, said on 30 May that Ukrainian government forces had "completely cleared" the insurgents from the southern and western parts of Donetsk Oblast and the northern part of Luhansk Oblast. On the same day, six insurgents were killed while attempting to the retrieve the bodies of their comrades at the site of the airport battle. A spokesman for the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that two new attacks on the airport had been repelled, with no injuries among government forces. Meanwhile, an internal coup replaced the leadership of the Donetsk People's Republic, and some bodies of Russian fighters killed in the airport battle were repatriated back to Russia.

Luhansk border post siege

Main article: Siege of the Luhansk Border Base

Two separatists were killed in a skirmish with Ukrainian border guards on 31 May. Two days later, five separatists were killed when 500 separatists attacked a border post in Luhansk Oblast. Eleven border guards and eight separatists were wounded during the fighting, which also killed one civilian. On the same day, between seven and eight people were killed in an explosion at the occupied RSA building in Luhansk city. Separatists blamed the incident on a government airstrike, but Ukrainian officials denied this, and claimed that the explosion was caused by a stray surface-to-air missile fired by insurgents. The OSCE published a report on the next day, stating that based on "limited observation", they believed that the explosion was caused by an airstrike, verifying separatist claims. The Armed Forces of Ukraine later admitted launching over 150 airstrikes on the day of the explosion in the Luhansk area.

Continued fighting

A restored PTS-2 used by the separatists, shown on a bridge over the Siversky Donets river, near the city Schastia

Government forces destroyed a separatist stronghold in Semenivka, and regained control of Krasnyi Lyman on 3 June. Two soldiers were killed in the fighting, and forty-five were wounded. A spokesman for the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that 300 insurgents were killed during the operation, and that 500 were wounded. Insurgents said they lost between ten and fifty men. They said that at least twenty-five were killed while in hospital at Krasnyi Lyman. None of these reports were independently confirmed, and both sides denied the other's accounts of the battle.

On the next day, insurgents captured the besieged Luhansk border post, as well as a National Guard base near Luhansk city. The fighting in these areas left six insurgents dead, and three government soldiers wounded. Another border post was captured by the insurgents in Sverdlovsk. The National Guard base fell after guardsmen ran out of ammunition. Separatists had earlier seized vast quantities of munitions from the captured border post.

Another border post was attacked on 5 June, in the village of Marynivka. Government officials said that between fifteen and sixteen insurgents were killed and that five soldiers were injured as well. A shootout between rival separatist groups in Donetsk city took place on 7 June, near the Donetsk RSA. The vice-president of the Donetsk People's Republic, Maxim Petrukhin, was killed in the fighting, and president Denis Pushilin was wounded.

Russian tank incursion

Ukrainian officials said that Russia had allowed tanks to cross the Russo-Ukrainian border into Donetsk Oblast on 11 June. Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov said "we have observed columns passing with armoured personnel carriers, other armoured vehicles and artillery pieces, and tanks which, according to our information, came across the border and this morning were in Snizhne". He continued by saying Ukrainian forces had destroyed part of the column, and that fighting was still under way. Reuters correspondents confirmed the presence of three tanks in Donetsk city, and the US State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research also said that Russia had indeed sent tanks, along with other heavy weapons, to the separatists in Ukraine. The weapons sent are said to include: a column of three T-64 tanks, several BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers, and other military vehicles. "Russia will claim these tanks were taken from Ukrainian forces, but no Ukrainian tank units have been operating in that area," the State Department said in a statement. "We are confident that these tanks came from Russia." The newly elected Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, said that it was "unacceptable" for tanks to be crossing into Ukraine. Russia called the reports "another fake piece of information." Nevertheless, the three tanks were later spotted moving through Makiivka and Torez, flying the flag of the Russian Federation. Insurgents confirmed that they had obtained three tanks, but leaders refused to elaborate on how they acquired them; one militant told reporters that they originated "from a military warehouse." The president of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, stated that the three tanks would be stationed in Donetsk city, and that they gave his forces "at least some hope of defending [Donetsk] because heavy weapons are already being used against us." Konstantin Mashovets, a former Ukrainian Defence Ministry official, said the tanks had likely been seized by Russian forces in Crimea before making their way into mainland Ukraine. Anton Heraschenko, an advisor to Arsen Avakov, confirmed at a briefing in Kiev that the tanks were once in the possession of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Crimea, and that they had been transferred by sea to Russia before crossing the border into Ukraine.

On the day after the tank incursion, three soldiers were killed when they were ambushed by insurgents in Stepanivka. Heavy fighting resumed during the morning of 13 June, when the government launched a new attack against insurgents in Mariupol. Ukrainian troops managed to recapture the city, and declared it the "provisional capital" of Donetsk Oblast until the government regains control over Donetsk city. Meanwhile, an agreement between the Minister of Internal Affairs, Arden Avakov, and the president of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, meant to create a ceasefire and allow civilians to escape the violence in Sloviansk failed, with both sides blaming each other for launching new attacks. During the next morning, a convoy of border guardsmen was attacked by insurgents while passing Mariupol, leaving at least five of the guardsmen dead.

Ilyushin Il-76 shoot-down

Main article: Ukrainian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 shoot-down

A Ukrainian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76MD was shot down by forces aligned with the Lugansk People's Republic on 14 June. The aircraft was preparing to land at Luhansk International Airport, and was carrying troops and equipment from an undisclosed location. All forty-nine people on board died. Meanwhile, two T-72 tanks entered Donetsk, and a skirmish erupted at a military checkpoint in Luhansk, lasting two days. At least two civilians died in the fighting.

Battle of Yampil

Late on 19 June, a battle fought with tanks and armoured vehicles broke out in town of Yampil, near government-held Krasnyi Lyman. Up to 4,000 insurgents were present for the fighting, which started, according to the insurgents, after the Armed Forces attempted to capture insurgent-held Yampil, with the goal of breaking through to Seversk. According to the Armed Forces, it started after insurgents attempted to break through a cordon of government troops around government-held Krasny Lyman. The battle was described as exceeding "in terms of force and scale anything there has been" during the conflict in Donbass. The Armed Forces deployed both air and artillery strikes in their attempts to rout the insurgents. The battle continued into the next day. Overnight, between seven and twelve soldiers were killed and between twenty-five and thirty were wounded. The Armed Forces said they killed 300 insurgents, but this was not independently verified, and although a separatist commander acknowledged heavy losses, the separatists confirmed only two deaths and seven wounded on their side. The insurgents also said they destroyed one tank, several BMD-1s, and also shot down a Su-25 bomber.

The Ukrainian miltiary said that they had gained control of Yampil and Seversk on 20 June, twenty hours before a unilateral ceasefire by Ukrainian force, as part of president Poroshenko's fifteen-point peace plan. They also acknowledged that there was still heavy fighting in the area around Yampil, and the village of Zakitne. By this point, the number of soldiers killed in the battle had reached 13. During the continued fighting, militants blew up a bridge over the river in the village of Zakitne.

Post-ceasefire government offensive

After a week-long ceasefire unilaterally declared by Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko ended, the Armed Forces renewed their operations against the insurgents on 1 July. Shelling occurred in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, and government forces retook a border crossing in Dolzhansk, one of the three major border crossings occupied by the separatists. Government forces also recaptured the villages of Brusivka and Stary Karavan. On the same day, insurgents in Luhansk said that they had taken control of Luhansk International Airport.

Internal Affairs ministry spokesman Zoryan Shkyriak said that over 1,000 pro-Russian insurgents were killed in the first day following the resumption of hostilities. Liga.net, citing a source involved with the government military operation, reported that over 400 insurgents were killed in action, but that the higher figures reported earlier could not be confirmed. Separatists themselves reported only two deaths in fighting at Mykolaivka.

Damaged block of flats in rebel-held Donetsk, 14 July 2014

Insurgents attacked a border post in Novoazovsk on 2 July. During the attack, mortars were fired upon the post, and clashes broke out. One border guard was killed in the fighting, and another eight guardsmen were injured. Government forces recaptured the town of Mykolaivka, near Sloviansk, on 4 July. A group of DPR-affiliated militants defected as a result, and joined the Ukrainian army.

In a further blow to the insurgents, government forces retook the stronghold of Sloviansk on 5 July. Commander of the DPR insurgents, Igor Girkin, took the decision "due to the overwhelming numerical superiority of the enemy", according to DPR prime minister Alexander Borodai. He said that DPR forces had retreated to Kramatorsk, but BBC News reported that they were seen abandoning their checkpoints in Kramatorsk. Later that day, Borodai confirmed that the insurgents had abandoned "the entire northern sector", including Kramatorsk, and had retreated to Donetsk city. After the retreat of Girkin's forces to Donetsk, he assumed control of the DPR, replacing the previous authorities there in what was described as a "coup d'état".

Subsequently, Ukraine's Armed Forces recaptured Druzhkivka, Kostyantynivka, and Artemivsk. Amidst the insurgent retreat, Donetsk city mayor Oleksandr Lukyanchenko said that at least 30,000 people had left the city since April. In a separate development, Ukrainian forces said they spotted two aerial drones in Mariupol, and shot one of them down.

Ahead of a planned government offensive on the insurgent-occupied city of Donetsk, key roads leading into the city were blocked on 7 July. Insurgents destroyed railway bridges over the roads, causing them to collapse and block the roads. Defence Minister Valeriy Heletey stated on 8 July that there would be "no more unilateral ceasefires", and said dialogue was only possible if the insurgents laid down their weapons. More fighting broke out at Luhansk International Airport on 9 July. LPR-affiliated insurgents said that they had captured the airport on 1 July, but the Ukrainian army managed to maintain control over it. More than 10,000 households in Luhansk Oblast are without gas service due to damage to gas lines, according to a statement on the same day by the regional gas supplier.

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Unexploded rocket artillery projectile inside flats in Lysychansk, Luhansk region, 24 July 2014

Clashes at the Donetsk International Airport continued on 10 July. Insurgents fired mortars at the airport, and attempted to recapture it, but were repelled by the Armed Forces. Ukrainian forces also retook the city of Siversk, which was confirmed by the insurgents. On the same day, the Luhansk city administration reported that six civilians had been injured due to ongoing hostilities across the city. There were also reports of factionalism among the separatists, with some desertions. According to these reports, the Vostok Battalion had rejected the authority of Igor Girkin. Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the DPR, denied these reports, however, and said that they were lies.

Heavy fighting continued in Luhansk Oblast on 11 July. On that day, an Armed Forces column travelling near Rovenky was attacked by an insurgent-operated Grad rocket lorry. An air strike launched by the Armed Forces eventually managed to destroy the rocket launcher, but only after twenty-three soldiers were killed. In response to the attack, Ukrainian president Poroshenko said that "For every life of our soldiers, the militants will pay with tens and hundreds of their own". On the next day, the Ukrainian Air Force launched air strikes targeting insurgent positions across Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. The Ukrainian government said that 500 insurgents were killed in these strikes, which they said were retaliation for the separatist rocket attack on the previous day. Four people were killed at Marinka, a western suburb of Donetsk city, after rockets struck an insurgent-held area of the city. The Ukrainian government and separatists blamed each-other for the attack.

Fighting worsens in eastern Donetsk Oblast

Main article: Battle in Shakhtarsk Raion

After a brief lull following the insurgent withdrawal from the northern part of Donetsk Oblast, fighting continued to escalate sharply in the eastern parts of Donetsk Oblast. Shells landed on the border town of Donetsk in Rostov Oblast, a part of Russia, on 13 July. One civilian was killed in the shelling. Russian officials blamed the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the shelling, whilst Ukraine denied responsibility and accused insurgents in Donbass of having staged a false flag attack. Russia said it was considering launching airstrikes against government targets in Ukraine as retaliation for the shelling. Ukrainian forces went on to make gains around Luhansk, ending an insurgent blockade of Luhansk International Airport. LPR officials acknowledged that they lost thirty men during fighting in the village of Oleksandrivka. The insurgent-occupied town of Snizhne was hit by rockets fired from an aeroplane on 15 July, leaving at least eleven people dead, and destroying multiple homes. The insurgents blamed the Air Force of Ukraine, but the Ukrainian government denied any involvement in the attack.

Clashes broke out between insurgents and the Armed Forces along the border with Russia in Shakhtarsk Raion on 16 July. Insurgents who had been holed up in the town of Stepanivka made an attempt to escape encirclement by government forces at 05:00. According to a report by the National Guard, a roadblock near the border village of Marynivka was attacked by the insurgents with tanks, mortar fire, and anti-tank missiles. The checkpoint was shelled for over an hour, causing significant damage to infrastructure in Marynivka. Guardsmen managed to repel the attack, and forced the insurgents back to Stepanivka, where fighting continued. The battle then moved to the nearby village of Tarany. At least eleven Ukrainian soldiers died in the fighting. Attempts to form a "contact group" between the insurgents and the Ukrainian government, part of President Poroshenko's "fifteen-point peace plan", failed, leaving little hope of a renewed ceasefire. The insurgents later said that they successfully retook Marynivka from the Armed Forces.

Downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

Main article: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

A civilian passenger jet, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, was shot down over Hrabove on 17 July, killing all 298 people on board. DPR-affiliated insurgents blamed the Ukrainian government for disaster, whereas the government blamed Russia and the insurgents. This disaster followed two similar incidents earlier in the week, when two Ukrainian Air Force planes were shot down. Meanwhile, fighting in Luhansk resulted in the loss of electrical power and water services across the city. Shelling damaged an electrical substation in the district Kamennobrodskiy, causing the power loss. An oil refinery in Lysychansk was also set alight. At least twenty civilians were killed in the shelling of Luhansk, according to a statement by the city administration. The statement said that a barrage of rockets hit "virtually every district". The shelling forced OSCE monitors to flee from their office in Luhansk, and move to Starobilsk. Government forces went on to capture the south-eastern section of the city. Another sixteen people died overnight, and at least sixty were wounded. According to a government report, Luhansk airport was secured by government forces amidst the battle.

Government push into Donetsk and Luhansk cities

See also: Luhansk refugee convoy attack

Heavy fighting also resumed around Donetsk airport overnight, and explosions were heard in all districts of the city. The city fell quiet by 09:00 on 19 July. By 21 July, heavy fighting in Donetsk had begun again. Donetsk was rocked by explosions, and heavy weapons fire caused smoke to rise over the city. Fighting was concentrated in the northwestern districts of Kyivsky and Kuibyshevsky, and also near the central railway station and airport, leading local residents to seek refuge in bomb shelters, or to flee the city. The city's water supply was cut off during the fighting, and all railway and bus service was stopped. The streets emptied, and insurgents erected barricades across the city to control traffic. The cities of Dzerzhynsk, Soledar, and Rubizhne were also recaptured by government forces.

File:Shelling of Gorlovka, July 28, 2014.jpg

Shelling of Horlivka, 28 July 2014

The suburb of Mayorsk, just outside Horlivka, and the city of Sievierodonetsk, in Luhansk Oblast, were recaptured by the Armed Forces on 22 July. OSCE monitors visiting Donetsk following the previous day's fighting there said that the city was "practically deserted", and that the fighting had stopped. On the same day, DPR prime minister Alexander Borodai said that he wanted to resume ceasefire talks. DPR commander Igor Girkin also said "The time has come when Russia must take a final decision – to really support Donbas's Russians or abandon them forever". Also, the pro-Ukrainian paramilitary Donbas Battalion captured Popasna. After having retaken Sievierodonetsk, government forces fought insurgents around the neighbouring city of Lysychansk. An insurgent car bomb killed three soldiers during the fighting there. Grad rocket attacks were launched against government forces garrisoned at Vesela Hora, Kamysheve, and also Luhansk airport. The press centre for the government military operation said that situation remained "most complex" in the areas around "Donetsk city, Luhansk city, Krasnodon and Popasna". Government forces broke through the insurgent blockade around Donetsk airport on 23 July, and then advanced into the northwestern corner of Donetsk city. Subsequently, the insurgents withdrew from many areas on the outskirts of the city, including Karlivka, Netailove, Pervomaiske, and the area around Donetsk airport. Insurgent commander Igor Girkin said that this was done to fortify Donetsk city centre, and also to avoid being encircled by government forces. He also said that he did not expect a government incursion into Donetsk city centre. Meanwhile, clashes continued in Shakhtarsk Raion, along the border with Russia. Amidst the fighting, two Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jets that had been providing air support to ground forces near Dmytrivka were shot down by the insurgents.

By the next day, government forces recaptured Lysychansk. On the same day, fighting raged around Horlivka. Government forces launched air and artillery strikes on insurgents within the city, and clashes were fought all around it. One important bridge collapsed in the fighting, severing a critical route out of the city. People fled the violence in cars and on foot. Despite these advances by the Armed Forces, the border with Russia was not secured. Izvaryne border post in Luhansk Oblast, which is controlled by the Army of the South-East, was reported to be the main entry point for weapons and reinforcements from Russia. Shelling began again in the Kyivsky, Kirovsky and Petrivsky districts of Donetsk city. According to Donetsk city administration, eleven houses were damaged in Petrivsky, and at least one man was injured. The fighting continued overnight into 26 July, with explosions, shelling, and shooting heard across the city.

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The memorial atop Savur-Mohyla in August 2014, seen heavily damaged by fighting there.

During the third day of the government's offensive on the insurgent-stronghold of Horlivka, between twenty and thirty civilians were killed on 27 July. Horlivka was virtually abandoned, with electric power and water cut off. Shelling damaged or destroyed many buildings, including a hospital, greengrocer's, and energy company office. Ukrainian troops also entered the town of Shakhtarsk, fought the insurgents that had been occupying it, and captured it around 14:30. This cut off the supply corridor between the territories held by the DPR and LPR, isolating insurgents in Donetsk city. Skirmishes also broke-out in the nearby towns of Snizhne and Torez. The intense combat across Shakhtarsk Raion forced a party of Dutch and Australian policemen to call off an attempt to investigate the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Forty-one Ukrainian soldiers deserted their posts and went to the insurgent-controlled Izvaryne border crossing, where they told insurgents that they refused to fight against their "own people". The insurgents allowed them to flee Ukraine, and cross into Russia. By 28 July, the strategic heights of Savur-Mohyla were under Ukrainian control, along with the town of Debaltseve. Insurgents had previously used Savur-Mohyla to shell Ukrainian troops around the town of Marynivka. By 29 July, a further seventeen civilians had been killed in the fighting, along with an additional forty-three people injured. Shelling continued in the Leninsky and Kyivsky districts of Donetsk city. According to the city administration, these districts were heavily damaged.

According to a report by National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, crossing points on the border with Russia were attacked from Russian territory at least 153 times since 5 June. 27 border guardsmen were killed in these attacks, and 185 were injured. Government forces made a further advance on 30 July, when they evicted insurgents from Avdiivka, near Donetsk airport. Military operations were paused on 31 July. This was meant to allow international experts to examine the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which is located in Shakhtarsk Raion, where the fiercest battles had been taking place on the previous few days. Monitors were escorted to the site by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After fighting severed various transmission lines, Luhansk city lost all access to electrical power. Little fuel remained to power emergency generators. Minor skirmishes occurred in Vasylivka and Zhovtneve. Meanwhile, talks between the separatists, Russia, Ukraine, and the OSCE were held in Minsk. Fighting continued in Shakhtarsk. An ambush by the insurgents on government forces there resulted in the deaths of ten soldiers. Eleven went missing, and thirteen were wounded. A government offensive on the city of Pervomaisk in Luhansk Oblast continued.

Damaged building in Torez, 6 August 2014

Following a series of military defeats, Igor Girkin, insurgent commander for the DPR, urged Russian military intervention, and said that the combat inexperience of his irregular forces, along with recruitment difficulties amongst the local population in Donetsk Oblast had caused the setbacks. He addressed Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying that "Losing this war on the territory that President Vladimir Putin personally named New Russia would threaten the Kremlin's power and, personally, the power of the president". Government forces closed in on Luhansk and Donetsk cities on 3 August. A number of civilians were killed in fighting in both cities. Luhansk was reported to be "virtually surrounded", with little electrical power or water supply available. The situation in the city of Donetsk was less dire, as trains to Russia were still running, but fighting and shelling did not relent. According to the Armed Forces, three-quarters of the territory once held by the insurgents had been recaptured. They also said that they had completely cut off supply lines between the DPR and LPR, after more than a week of fighting in Shakhtarsk Raion.

After a prolonged battle, the Armed Forces recaptured the vital town of Yasynuvata on 4 August. At least five soldiers died in the fighting to capture the town, which is a strategic railway junction on the main road between Donetsk and Luhansk cities. The pro-government paramilitary Azov and Shakhtarsk battalions said that they had advanced into Donetsk city, and had begun to "liberate" it. The Ukrainian government said that all civilians should evacuate from Donetsk, and issued statements asking DPR and LPR forces to help establish "humanitarian corridors" to allow civilians in Donetsk, Luhansk and Horlivka to flee. Commenting on the situation in Luhansk, mayor Sergei Kravchenko said "As a result of the blockade and ceaseless rocket attacks, the city is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe".

As government troops pushed into Donetsk on 5 August, heavy fighting erupted at 17:00 in the Petrivsky district of the city. Elsewhere, insurgents recaptured the town of Yasynuvata after a retreat by government forces. A spokesman from the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine said that the Armed Forces left the town to avoid harming the "peaceful population", and that the city was being evacuated so that it could be "completely liberated". He also said that the railway station remained under government control, and that all railway traffic had been blocked. Fighting between insurgents and government forces across the Donbass region continued "constantly" over the course of the day.

File:Wooden Orthodox church on fire in Gorlovka, August 7, 2014.jpg

A wooden Orthodox church on fire in Horlivka, 7 August 2014

Fighting and shelling continued around Donetsk on 8 August, with several civilians killed or injured. By 9 August, insurgent commander Igor Girkin said that Donetsk had been "completely encircled" by government forces. This followed the capture of the vital town of Krasnyi Luch by the government, after insurgent-aligned Cossacks stationed there fled. Further skirmishes between insurgents and the Armed Forces took place in Mnohopillia, Stepanivka, Hryhorivka, Krasny Yar, Pobeda, Shyshkove, Komyshne, Novohannivka, Krasna Talivka, Dmytrivka, Sabivka, and Luhansk airport. Overnight and into 10 August, government forces launched an artillery barrage on Donetsk city, causing "massive damage" across it. According to a spokesman for the Armed Forces, insurgents began to flee the city during the barrage, and were in a state of "panic and chaos". Hospitals and residential buildings were heavily damaged, and many remaining residents took shelter in basements. The cities of Pervomaisk, Kalynove, Komyshuvakha, in western Luhansk Oblast near Popasna, were captured by government forces on 12 August after heavy fighting. Heavy shelling of Donetsk continued into 14 August. During this artillery barrage, Igor Girkin resigned from his post as commander of the insurgent forces of the Donetsk People's Republic. He was replaced by Vladimir Kononov, who is known by the nom de guerre Tsar.

Later in the day, a convoy of some two dozen armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles with official Russian military plates crossed into Ukraine near the insurgent-controlled Izvaryne border crossing. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen confirmed that a "Russian incursion" into Ukraine had occurred. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said that Ukrainian artillery engaged and destroyed a "significant" portion of the armoured column. The defence ministry of Russia denied the existence of any such convoy. Following this incident, the newly appointed prime minister of the DPR Alexander Zakharchenko said that his forces included 1,200 Russian-trained combatants.

A Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet was shot down by the insurgents in Luhansk Oblast on 17 August. Ten civilians were killed during continued shelling in Donetsk. The insurgent-occupied city of Horlivka was encircled by the Armed Forces on 18 August. Government forces also advanced into the edges of Luhansk city. A convoy of refugees from Luhansk was hit by Grad rockets near the village of Novosvitlivka. Dozens of civilians died in the attack, which the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine blamed on the insurgents. Insurgents denied attacking any refugee convoys. DPR prime minister Aleksandr Zakharchenko stated that if the Ukrainian government made "reasonable proposals to lay down arms, close borders, we will talk on equal terms as equal partners". He added, however, that the government "must recognise us as a state, now it is already impossible to ask for a certain degree of autonomy".

After having edged into Luhansk city on 18 August, government forces began to advance through the city "block by block" on 19 August. Fighting was heard in streets across the city, and shelling of many insurgent-occupied districts continued. There was also fighting Makiivka and Ilovaisk, two cities just outside of Donetsk city. A spokesman for the Internal Affairs ministry said that government forces were "clearing" Ilovaisk of insurgents, and later captured most of the city. The headquarters of the DPR in Donetsk city were also shelled. Fighting across Donetsk Oblast on 19 August resulted in the deaths of 34 civilians. By early evening on 20 August, government forces said that they had recaptured "significant parts" of the city of Luhansk, after a series of running battles in streets throughout the day.

August counter-offensive by pro-Russian forces

Further information: 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine

By 25 August, an insurgent counter-offensive had stalled the government's offensive on Donetsk and Luhansk cities. Insurgents attacked government positions in Shchastya, and along the River Seversky Donets in Luhansk Oblast. As this attack occurred, insurgents in Luhansk received reinforcements. Government forces near Ilovaisk and Amvrosiivka in Donetsk Oblast became surrounded by insurgents, after their attempt to take Ilovaisk was halted by heavy shelling. The pro-government volunteer Donbas Battalion, trapped in the city for days by the insurgents, accused the Ukrainian government and Armed Forces of "abandoning" them. Other volunteer battalions, such as the Azov and Dnipro, left Ilovaisk after encountering heavy resistance. Donbas Battalion leader Semen Semenchenko said "I think it is profitable for the defence ministry not to send help, but to achieve a situation where volunteer battalions start blaming each other about who helped who".

A column of armoured vehicles crossed into Ukraine from Russia near the town of Novoazovsk in southern Donetsk Oblast on 25 August. There were no insurgent formations within 30 kilometres (18+2⁄3 mi) of this area for many weeks. Directly prior to the appearance of the column, the area was heavily shelled. The nearest insurgent artillery positions were beyond the range of this area. About 5 kilometres (3 mi) from that town, 10 kilometres (6+1⁄4 mi) from the border, the State Border Guard of Ukraine confronted the column. According to government sources, the column consisted of ten tanks and two armoured personnel carriers, and the vehicles carried insignias of the Donetsk People's Republic. The column appeared to be heading for the government-controlled city of Mariupol. Heavy fighting took place in the village of Markyne, 7 kilometres (4+1⁄4 mi) from Novoazovsk. Insurgents had used the village to shell Novoazovsk. A spokesman for the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine said that the entrance of the column into Ukraine was an attempt "by the Russian military in the guise of Donbass fighters to open a new area of military confrontation". According to the Mariupol city website, the Dnipro and Donbas battalions repelled the attack, and the "invaders" retreated to the border. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had no knowledge of the incident, and suggested that reports of the incident being an incursion by Russian forces were "disinformation."

Villagers from Kolosky in Starobesheve Raion told Reuters that military men with Russian accents and no identifying insignias had appeared in the village at the weekend of 23–24 August. They set-up a roadblock near the village. The men wore distinctive white armbands. The villagers referred to them as "polite green men", a term that was used to refer to the irregular Russian forces that took control of Crimea from February 2014. Following the appearance of these men, ten soldiers in green military uniforms with white armbands were detained by Ukrainian forces at Dzerkalne. This village is north of Novoazovosk, 7 kilometres (4+1⁄4 mi) from Kolosky, and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the Russian border. The Russian military confirmed that these men were indeed Russian paratroopers, and that they had been captured. The defence ministry of Russia said the men had entered Ukraine "by mistake during an exercise". The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) released videos that they said were interviews with the captive Russian soldiers. In one of the videos, a soldier said that their commanders had sent them on a 70-kilometre (43+1⁄2 mi) march "without explaining its purpose or warning that they would be in Ukrainian territory, where they were apprehended by Ukrainian forces and surrendered without a fight".

Insurgents pushed into Novoazovsk on 27 August. Whilst the Ukrainian government said they were in "total control" of Novoazovsk, town mayor Oleg Sidorkin confirmed that the insurgents had captured it. He also said that "dozens" of tanks and armoured vehicles had been used by the insurgents in their assault on the town. At least four civilians were injured by insurgent shelling. To the north, close to Starobesheve, Ukrainian forces said that they spotted a column of 100 armoured vehicles, tanks, and Grad rocket lorries that was heading south, toward Novoazovsk. They said these vehicles were marked with "white circles or triangles", similar to the white armbands seen on the captured Russian paratroopers earlier in the week. Amidst pressure on this new third front, government forces retreated westward toward Mariupol. They evacuated the town of Starobesheve, among other areas in the 75-kilometre (47 mi) stretch of borderland from the Sea of Azov to the existing insurgent-held territories. A report by The New York Times described the retreating soldiers as "exhausted, filthy and dismayed". Western officials described the new insurgent actions as a "stealth invasion" by the Russian Federation, with tanks, artillery and infantry said to have crossed into Ukraine from Russian territory. US State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said that "these incursions indicate a Russian-directed counteroffensive is likely underway", and Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said "An invasion of Russian forces has taken place". A statement by the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC) later said that Novoazovsk had been captured by "Russian troops", despite earlier denials by the Ukrainian government. According to the NSDC, Ukrainian troops withdrew from Novoazovsk to save lives, and were instead preparing defences in Mariupol. Meanwhile, fighting continued in and around Donetsk city. Shells fell on the Kalininsky district of Donetsk, and the Donbas Battalion continued to fight against the insurgents that had trapped them in Ilovaisk for days. NATO commander Brig. Gen. Nico Tak said on 28 August that "well over" 1,000 Russian soldiers were operating in the Donbass conflict zone. Amidst what The New York Times described as "chaos" in the conflict zone, the insurgents re-captured Savur-Mohyla.

Despite these advances by pro-Russian forces, the National Guard of Ukraine retook the city of Komsomolske in Starobesheve Raion of Donetsk Oblast on 29 August.

Maps of the war

Donetsk Oblast

This map may not be up to date with the latest events.

Amvrosiivka

Artemivsk

Dobropillia

Donetsk

Druzhkivka

Dzerzhynsk

Horlivka

Karlivka

Komsomolske

Kostiantynivka

Kramatorsk

Krasnoarmiisk

Krasnyi Lyman

Kurakhove

Makiivka

Marinka

Marynivka

Mariupol

Mykolaivka

Novoazovsk

Savur-Mohyla

Shakhtarsk

Siversk

Sloviansk

Snizhne

Starobesheve

Starovarvarivka

Sviatohirsk

Torez

Velyka Novosilka

Volnovakha

Yampil

Yasynuvata

Yenakiieve

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Armed Conflict in Donetsk Oblast:
Administrative buildings captured by pro-Russian forces
Administrative buildings recaptured by government forces during the counter-offensive

Luhansk Oblast

This map may not be up to date with the latest events.

Antratsyt

Alchevsk

Biryukove

Chervonopartyzansk

Izvaryne

Krasna Talivka

Krasnodon

Krasnyi Luch

Luhansk

Lysychansk

Milove

Novoaidar

Oleksandrivsk

Pervomaisk

Popasna

Rubizhne

Sievierodonetsk

Shchastya

Starobilsk

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Armed Conflict in Luhansk Oblast:
Administrative buildings captured by pro-Russian forces
Administrative buildings recaptured by government forces during the counter-offensive
Border post

Combatants

Forces foreign and domestic have participated in the conflict in the Donbass.

Pro-Russian insurgents

Aleksandr Zakharchenko takes an oath of office as the Prime Minister of Donetsk People's Republic, 8 August 2014

Insurgents in Donetsk

Pro-Russian insurgents

Donbass People's Militia

Main article: Donbass People's Militia

Igor Girkin, who commanded the Donbass People's Militia in Sloviansk, denied Russian involvement in the insurgency. He said his unit was formed during the Crimean crisis, and that two-thirds of its members were Ukrainian citizens. Girkin also said that the Sloviansk insurgents had agreed to work with the leadership of the Donetsk People's Republic, despite some conflict between insurgent groups. According to a spokesman for the Donetsk People's Republic, the militants that occupied Sloviansk were "an independent group...supporting the Donetsk protest", while insurgents in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk identified themselves as members of Pavel Gubarev's Donbass People's Militia.

The group's forces at Sloviansk included some professional soldiers amongst their ranks, as well as retired veterans, civilians, and volunteers, while those in Donetsk have been confirmed to include former Berkut special police officers. When asked by The Sunday Telegraph where their weapons had come from, one veteran of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan nodded at the Russian flag flying from the police station and said: "Look at that flag. You know which country that represents". An insurgent commander in Donetsk, Pavel Paramonov, told journalists he was from Tula Oblast in Russia. In Horlivka, police who defected were commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel of the Russian Army, later identified as Igor Bezler. Former Soviet military veteran Vyacheslav Ponomarev, who declared himself mayor of Sloviansk, said that he appealed to old military friends to take part in the militia: "When I called on my friends, practically all of whom are ex military, they came to our rescue, not only from Russia but also from Belarus, Kazakhstan and Moldova".

A former separatist militant corroborated these stories in an interview with Radio Free Europe. He said that fighters, including some Cossack units, arrived from Russia to support the separatists. Another interview with an insurgent from Saint Petersburg was published in Gazeta. He claimed to be fighting voluntarily as part of the "Russian Imperialist Movement."

In late July, the local support for the militia within the city of Donetsk was estimated to be 70% by a local entrepreneur interviewed by Die Welt.

Army of the South-East

The Army of the South-East (Russian: Армия Юго-Востока, Armiya Yugo-Vostoka) is a pro-Russian militant group that has occupied buildings in Luhansk Oblast. According to The Guardian, their personnel include former members of the disbanded Berkut special police. They are affiliated with the Lugansk People's Republic.

Russian Orthodox Army

The Russian Orthodox Army (Russian: Русская православная армия, Russkaya pravoslavnaya armiya) is a pro-Russian insurgent group in Ukraine that was founded in May 2014, as part of the insurgency. It reportedly had 100 members at the time of its founding, including locals and Russian volunteers. As fighting between separatists and the Ukrainian government worsened in Donbass, their membership rose to 350, and later 4,000. Notable engagements of the ROA include the June 2014 skirmishes in Mariupol and Amvrosiivka Raion. The headquarters of the ROA is located in an occupied Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) building in Donetsk city. They swore allegiance to Igor Girkin, insurgent and minister of defence of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic. According to the Defence Ministry of Ukraine, the ROA has been in conflict with another pro-Russian militia, the Vostok Battalion, who accused the ROA of looting, and avoiding combat.

Vostok Battalion

Vostok Battalion

Alexander Khodаkovsky

The Vostok Battalion (Russian: Батальон Восток, Ukrainian: Батальйон Схід; lit. "East Battalion") was formed in early May 2014. It is commanded by Alexander Khodakovsky, a defector from the Security Service of Ukraine. Khodakovsky is the chief of the DPR's security service, and of the Patriotic Forces of Donbass, an insurgent battalion.

Vostok reportedly includes members of the original Vostok Battalion, a special forces unit of the Russian intelligence directorate (GRU) that participated in the Second Chechen and Russo-Georgian Wars. The original battalion was incorporated in 2009 into a Russian Defence Ministry reserve unit that is based in Chechnya. Khodakovsky said he had about 1,000 men at his disposal, and that more "volunteers" with experience in the Russian security sector were expected to join the battalion. A report by Radio Free Europe said that there were suspicions that the battalion was either created directly by the GRU, or that it was at least sanctioned by it. The battalion includes both fighters from Russia and from Ukraine. A BBC News report said that the battalion was composed largely of untrained locals from eastern Ukraine, with a smattering of Russian volunteers. A number of the Vostok insurgents were killed at the Battle of Donetsk Airport. Thirty bodies were repatriated to Russia after the fighting. Some of the members said they received salaries of 100 US dollars a week, though they maintained that were only volunteers.

Foreign groups

Cossacks

Some identified maverick Cossack volunteers are participants in the war, along with some self-styled neo-Cossack groups. Several of these Cossacks formed a paramilitary unit called the 'Terek Wolves Sotnia', a reference to a detachment of White emigre Cossacks that fought against the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Prominent fighters include Alexander "Boogeyman" Mozhaev (a Russian military veteran from Belorechensk) and the unit's commander, Evgeny Ponomarev.

Although Cossack units have been prohibited from crossing the Russian border into Ukraine en masse, allegations have been made that Russian elements tacitly support the individual fighters in crossing the border into Ukraine. The Cossacks claim that it is their faith in Cossack brotherhood, Russian imperialism, and the Russian Orthodox Church that has driven them to take part in the insurgency with the aim of conquering what they perceive as "historically Russian lands." On 20 May, Mozhaev issued a video address to Vladimir Putin to open a land corridor to Russia to allow for reinforcements in what he called a "Sacred War." Mozhaev also alleged that some of the more extreme views of the Cossacks include destroying "the Jew-Masons," who they claim have been "fomenting disorder all over the world" and "causing us, the common Orthodox Christian folk, to suffer." On 25 May, the SBU arrested thirteen Russian Cossacks in Luhansk.

Caucasian armed groups

Insurgents in Donetsk

The Foreign Affairs ministry of Ukraine said that the presence of foreign soldiers amounted to "undisguised aggression" from Russia, and "the export of Russian terrorism to our country". "There are grounds to affirm that Russian terrorists funnelled on to the territory of Ukraine are being organised and financed through the direct control of the Kremlin and Russian special forces," the ministry said. To date, reports and interviews have shown the presence of Chechen, Ossetian, Tajik, Afghan, Armenian, and various Russian paramilitary forces operating in Ukraine.

Chechen paramilitaries

Chechen paramilitaries were spotted in Sloviansk on 5 May 2014. Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov threatened on 7 May that he would send tens of thousands of Chechen "volunteers" to southern and eastern Ukraine if the "junta" in Kiev continued its "punitive operations." It was reported that Kadyrov engaged in an aggressive recruitment campaign in Chechnya for this operation, and that there were recruitment centres for it in Grozny, Achkhoy-Martan, Znamenskoye, and Gudermes. The Kavkazcenter, the official website of the North Caucasus Islamic insurgency, reported that Chechen authorities had opened recruiting offices for "volunteers" wishing to fight in Ukraine, and that those offices had suddenly closed.

An armed militiaman in Sloviansk, 14 April 2014

Five lorries crossed the Ukraine-Russia border carrying militants aboard on 24 May, with some reports suggesting among the militants were veteran Chechen soldiers. On the following day, the Vostok Battalion arrived in Donetsk in a convoy of eight lorries, each filled with twenty soldiers. Several of the soldiers looked Chechen, spoke the Chechen language, and said that they were from Chechnya. Two insurgents told CNN reporters that these were Chechen volunteers.

Ramzan Kadyrov denied knowledge of the presence Chechen troops in Ukraine, but a separatist commander later confirmed that Chechens and militants of other ethnicities fought for the Donetsk People's Militia. In the aftermath of the Battle of Donetsk Airport, local authorities said that some wounded militants were Chechens from Grozny and Gudermes. One Donetsk resident said that the presence of Chechen fighters showed "that this war is not clean. It is artificially created. If this is an uprising by the Donetsk People's Republic, what are foreigners doing here?"

Chechen militants interviewed by the Financial Times and Vice News said that they became inolved in the conflict on the orders of the Chechen president. President Kadyrov strongly denied these reports on 1 June. In his statement, he said that there were "74,000 Chechens who are willing to go to bring order to the territory of Ukraine," and that he would not send them to Donetsk, but to Kiev.

Ossetian and Abkhaz paramilitaries

On 4 May 2014, the United Ossetia party and the Union of Paratroopers in Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia announced the volunteer recruitment of veterans of the Georgian–Ossetian conflict for "protection of the peaceful population of Ukraine's southeast." Video published by an Osset militant group indicated that they were operating in Donetsk. On 27 May soldiers interviewed admitted that there were 16 fighters from Ossetia operating in Donetsk who had been operating in Donetsk two months prior. The Head of the State Border Service of Ukraine, Mykola Lytvyn, said official records indicate the presence of Abkhaz militants as well.

On 1 June, insurgents from North and South Ossetia were open about their presence to reporters. "In 2008 they were killing us and the Russians saved us. I came here to pay my dues to them," said one named Oleg of the group of 16 within Vostok Battalion.

Serbian paramilitaries

There are at least 250 Serbian volunteers in the Donbass.

Counter-insurgency forces

Donbas Battalion training group near Kiev

Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are the primary military force of Ukraine, and have taken a leading role in countering the insurgency in the Donbass.

National Guard of Ukraine

The National Guard of Ukraine was re-established on 13 March 2014, amidst rising tensions in Ukraine during the Crimean crisis. It is a reserve component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and a light infantry force. This stands in contrast to the old National Guard, which was a mechanised infantry force.

Ministry of Internal Affairs

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is commonly known as the militsiya, and is the primary police force in Ukraine. It is led by the Internal Affairs Minister, Arsen Avakov, a key figure in leading the counter-insurgency operations in the Donbass.

Pro-government paramilitaries

Donbas Battalion in Donetsk region, 9 August 2014

Dmytro Yarosh (right), Right Sector's leader, meets Semenchenko, Donbas Battalion commander, July 2014

Several pro-Ukrainian paramilitaries have been formed, and have fought against the Donbass People's Militia and other insurgent groups. These forces include the Donbas Battalion, Azov Battalion, Kharkiv Battalion, and Oleh Lyashko's militia.

After having defeated separatists there, the town of Shchastya in Luhansk Oblast was occupied by the Aidar Battalion on 9 July. While subordinate to the Ministry of Defence, the battalion took control of the town in the same manner has the separatists had done earlier. Another paramilitary unit, the Azov Battalion, is aligned with the far-right ultranationalist group Social-National Assembly. "More than half of the battalion's fighters are Russian-speaking eastern Ukrainians." The Internal Affairs ministry has denied claims that foreign citizens are fighting in the Azov Battalion, though a man calling himself "Mikael Skillt" told a BBC journalist on the telephone that he was a Swedish sniper serving in the Azov Battalion. According to the BBC report, Mr Skillt said "there are only a handful of foreign fighters in the Azov Battalion and they do not get paid". Al-Jazeera interviewed a Canadian volunteer with the Azov Battalion, and reported that the battalion's "ideological alignment with other far-right, social-nationalist groups has attracted volunteers from organisations in Sweden, Italy, France, Canada, and Russia".

The Russian Foreign Ministry asked the governments of Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and France to conduct a thorough investigation into reports of mercenaries from their countries serving Ukrainian forces, following a story in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale.

The ultra-nationalist group Right Sector has its own volunteer battalion that is fighting against the separatists. It lost twelve fighters when it was ambushed outside Donetsk in August 2014. Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh vowed his group would avenge the deaths.

Russian involvement

Main article: 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine

Following the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Russia intervened in different ways throughout the war in the Donbass region. Reports and statements by the US State Department repeatedly accused Russia of orchestrating the April unrest across eastern and southern Ukraine. Russia denied these reports. As the unrest escalated into a war in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, Russia supplied arms, armoured vehicles, tanks, and other equipment to the forces of the DPR and LPR. A significant number of Russian citizens and military men have fought in the war as "volunteers", something that the leaders of the DPR and LPR admitted. Recruitment for Donbass insurgent groups was performed openly in Russian cities, using private and military facilities. This culminated on 25 August, when the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that it captured a group of Russian paratroopers in Ukrainian territory. The SBU released photographs of them, and their names. On the following day, the Russian Defence Ministry said these soldiers crossed the border "by accident".

A new front in the war was opened on 27 August. Vast amounts of military equipment and troops crossed the border from Russia into southern Donetsk Oblast, an area previously controlled by the Ukrainian government. Western officials described this new offensive as a "stealth invasion" by the Russian Federation. US State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said that "these incursions indicate a Russian-directed counteroffensive is likely underway", and Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said "An invasion of Russian forces has taken place". NATO commander Brig. Gen. Nico Tak said on 28 August that "well over" 1,000 Russian soldiers were operating in the Donbass conflict zone. The week before the "invasion", Russia had been shelling Ukrainian units from across the border, though instances of cross-border shelling from Russia had been reported since mid-July. At the time, Russian government spokesmen denied these reports.

Humanitarian concerns

The United Nations observed an "alarming deterioration" in human rights in insurgent-held territory. The UN reported growing lawlessness in the region, documenting cases of targeted killings, torture, and abduction, primarily carried out by the forces of the Donetsk People's Republic. The UN also reported threats against, attacks on, and abductions of journalists and international observers, as well as the beatings and attacks on supporters of Ukrainian unity. A report by Human Rights Watch said "Anti-Kiev forces in eastern Ukraine are abducting, attacking, and harassing people they suspect of supporting the Ukrainian government or consider undesirable...anti-Kiev insurgents are using beatings and kidnappings to send the message that anyone who doesn't support them had better shut up or leave". There were incidents of violence against local civilians by Ukrainian troops. In August, Igor Druz, a senior advisor to insurgent commander Igor Girkin, said that "On several occasions, in a state of emergency, we have carried out executions by shooting to prevent chaos. As a result, our troops, the ones who have pulled out of Sloviansk, are highly disciplined".

Damaged building in Donetsk, 7 August 2014

In a report from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, Ivan Šimonović, UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, wrote about illegal detention, abduction and intimidation of election officials, and called for urgent action to prevent a Balkans-style war. He also warned of a humanitarian crisis due to a failure of social services in the region, and an exodus of people from affected areas. He said, "Donetsk is on the verge of collapse of social services" due to a shortage of crucial supplies, such as medicines like insulin. A medicine shortage was confirmed by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), "The results of a psychosocial assessment of children in Donetsk Oblast in Eastern Ukraine are deeply troubling ... and indicate that about half of all children aged 7-18 have been directly exposed to adverse or threatening events during the current crisis." OSCE monitors spoke to refugees from Donetsk city in Zaporizhzhia. They said that men were "often not allowed" to leave the city, but were instead "forcibly enrolled in 'armed forces' of the so-called 'Donetsk People's Republic' or obliged to dig trenches".

A report by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released on 28 July said that based on "conservative estimates", at least 1,129 civilians had been killed since mid-April during the fighting, and at least 3,442 had been wounded. Also, the report found that at least 750 million US dollars worth of damage has been done to property and infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. The New York Times reported that the high rate of civilian deaths had "left the population in eastern Ukraine embittered toward Ukraine's pro-Western government", and that this sentiment helped to "spur recruitment" for the insurgents.

Abductions

See also: Siege of Sloviansk § Hostages and abductions

Since the start of the war, many people have been taken hostage or abducted by insurgents affiliated with the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics. Apart from ordinary citizens taken as forced labour by the insurgents, these include journalists, city officials, local politicians, and members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). A particularly large number of hostages were taken by Vyacheslav Ponomarev in Sloviansk, though these were later freed when government forces recaptured the city.

Insurgents in Donetsk raided the city's International Committee of the Red Cross office at 19:00 on 9 May, and captured large stocks of medical supplies. They detained between seven and nine Red Cross workers. Those taken prisoner were accused of espionage, and held in the occupied Donetsk RSA building. They were later released on 10 May. One of the prisoners was found to have to been severely beaten. The OSCE mission in Ukraine lost contact with four of its monitors in Donetsk Oblast on 26 May, and another four in Luhansk Oblast on 29 May. Both groups were held for a month, until being freed on 27 and 28 June respectively.

In early July, Amnesty International published evidence of beatings, torture, and abduction of activists, protesters and journalists by insurgents in the Donbass region since the start of the unrest in April. It said that "while most abductions appear to have a 'political' motivation there is clear evidence that abduction and torture is being used by armed groups to exert fear and control over local populations". The report also said that some people had been abducted for ransom.

A report by the United Nations OHCHR that was released on 28 July said that insurgent groups continued "to abduct, detain, torture and execute people kept as hostages in order to intimidate and to exercise their power over the population in raw and brutal ways". The report documents that at least 812 people have been abducted by the insurgents since mid-April, and said that these include "local politicians, public officials and employees of the local coal mining industry", and that "the majority are ordinary citizens, including teachers, journalists, members of the clergy and students".

Shells hit residential building in Luhansk, 7 August 2014

In early August, Amnesty International voiced concerned about actions of Radical Party leader and member of the Verkhovna Rada Oleh Lyashko. Lyashko is the leader of a pro-government paramilitary that participated in the war in Donbass. According to the Amnesty International report, Lyashko conducted a "continuing campaign of violence, intimidation and abduction against individuals". As an example of this "campaign", the report cited the abduction of DPR defence minister Igor Kakidzyanov. The abduction was recorded by Lyashko's forces. In the video, Kakidzyanov was seen being abducted, and later, after having been captured, "dressed only in his underwear with two bleeding cuts to his body".

In mid August, there were reports that members of the pro-government Aidar Battalion paramilitary had taken hostages and demanded ransom for their release. In one incident, a man from Polovynkyne in Luhansk Oblast was accused of "separatism" by members of the battalion, and taken hostage. The paramilitaries said that they would kill him unless his wife paid 10,000 US dollars in ransom. She did this, and the man was released. OSCE monitors said that "the man's head was heavily swollen, bloody, and bruised" and he had "bruises and smaller wounds on his arms and legs". Another man was taken captive by members of Aidar Battalion in Shchastya on 13 August. Also accused of "separatism", his current whereabouts are unknown.

A statement released on 22 August by Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Antanas Linkevičius said that the Lithuanian honorary consul in Luhansk, Mykola Zelenec, was abducted by pro-Russian insurgents and killed. Linkevičius defined the abductors as 'terrorists'. A report released on the same day by Human Rights Watch criticised government forces for "the serial arrests of Russian journalists in Ukraine" and "the actions of extremists like parliamentarian Oleh Lyashko, who has repeatedly abducted and abused people accused of involvement with the insurgency".

Refugees

Some refugees from the Donbass fled to parts of western and central Ukraine, such as Poltava Oblast. Around 2,000 families from the Donbass were reported to have taken refuge in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa. Other refugees from Luhansk fled to Russia during the week-long ceasefire that was declared 23 June and in effect until 27 June. As of June, at least 110,000 people had left Ukraine for Russia in the wake of the conflict, according to a United Nations report. Refugees clustered around Rostov-on-Don, with 12,900 people, including 5,000 children, housed in public buildings and tent camps there. Similarly, the report stated that around 54,400 are internally displaced people within Ukraine itself.

Between 15,000 and 20,000 refugees arrived in Svyatogorsk from Sloviansk after the Ukrainian Armed Forces intensified shelling on the city at the end of May. Remaining residents of the besieged city were without water, gas, and electricity. Despite this, most residents remained. Russian officials said that 70,000 refugees had fled across the border into Russia since the fighting began. Starting on 30 May, at least 1,589 refugees from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts were provided temporary accommodation in railway stations and railway hotels by Southern Railways. The largest number of refugees, 1,409 people, stayed at Kharkiv-Pasazhyrskiy railway station.

Camps for internally displaced persons were established in Kharkiv Oblast. OSCE monitors visited one camp at Havryshi, in Bohodukhiv Raion, after northern Donetsk Oblast had been retaken by government forces. Some of those displaced people had visited Sloviansk, and said that there was a lack of water, electrical power, food, and that banks were not operating. Some decided to continue to stay in the camp until conditions in Sloviansk improved, whereas others decided to return. By 16 July, thirty-six people had returned to Sloviansk. Another seventy people were meant to return on the day. Some sixty-five from other conflict areas also checked into the camp. According to railway operators, some 3,100 people used the Kharkiv–Sloviansk railway from 9–14 July. OSCE monitors also met with some refugees in Zaporizhzhia. The refugees said that many residents of Donetsk wanted to leave, but were unable to because they lacked the financial resources to do so. Trains leaving Donetsk were said to be filled to capacity, forcing many refugees to use private motorcars to escape.

According to a United Nations OHCHR report, the number of internal refugees created by conflict reached 101,617 on 25 July, an increase of more than 15,000 since 15 July. The report also said that at least 130,000 had fled to Russia. OSCE monitors visited Sievierodonetsk on 29 July, after the city had been recaptured by governments forces. According to the OSCE, the situation had normalised, and the city had not been "severely damaged" during the conflict. The city's mayor said that 40% of the 120,000 residents had fled during war.

By early August, at least 730,000 had fled fighting in the Donbass and left for Russia. This number, much larger than earlier estimates, was given by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Numbers of internal refugees rose to 117,000.

Conditions in cities under siege

Monitors from the OSCE mission in Ukraine met with the self-proclaimed mayor of Sloviansk, Volodymyr Pavlenko, on 20 June. According to him, sewage systems in Sloviansk had collapsed, resulting in the release of least 10,000 litres of untreated sewage into the river Sukhyi Torets, a tributary of the Seversky Donets. He called this an "environmental catastrophe", and said that it had the potential to effect both Russia and Ukraine.

The DPR imposed martial law on 16 July.

Burning block of flats in Shahtersk, 3 August 2014

OSCE monitors spoke to refugees from Luhansk city in early August. As government forces encircled the city, the refugees said that all electricity, water, and mobile connections were cut off. They said that the city was being shelled non-stop from 04:00 to 02:00 each day, with only a brief lull from 02:00 to 04:00. All shops were closed, and were few supplies remained in the city. Bread was nowhere to be found, and tap water was undrinkable. Anyone that could flee city had done so, and only those without money stayed. Corpses were buried in back gardens, as no undertakers were operating.

Government forces shelled the DPR-occupied SBU building in the city of Donetsk on 7 August. In doing this, however, a public hospital and residential buildings fewer than 500 metres (550 yd) from that building were hit by the shells. The entire second floor of the hospital was destroyed, and patients were traumatised. One civilian at the hospital died. A report by The New York Times said that insurgents fired mortars and Grad rockets from residential areas, and then quickly moved. This caused return fire by government forces to hit those areas, usually an hour later, after the insurgents had already left.

OSCE monitors spoke with another group of refugees on 11 August, this time from Pervomaisk. According to the refugees, most people had fled Pervomaisk, with only 10,000 of the city's 80,000 inhabitants remaining. They said that the city was under heavy shelling by government forces from 22 July, that almost all blocks of flats had been damaged, and that only 30% of detached houses remained standing. They also said that at least 200 people had been killed. After having spoken to the refugees, OSCE monitors contacted the mayor of Pervomaisk, who confirmed the reports of the refugees.

A report by The New York Times said that pro-Ukrainian unity residents in Donetsk city were intimidated by the insurgents. Another report by American radio network NPR said that some insurgents in Donetsk have used carjackings, forced labour, and abuse to intimidate those that oppose them, and that some local residents lived in fear of the insurgents. On the other hand, a local man interviewed by Die Welt said that 70% of local residents support the insurgents.

War crimes

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the arbiter of international humanitarian law, the conflict is a "war", meaning that war crimes investigations can be held. A press release from the organisation said "These rules and principles [international humanitarian law] apply to all parties to the non-international armed conflict in Ukraine, and impose restrictions on the means and methods of warfare that they may use".

Human Rights Watch said that Ukrainian government forces, pro-government paramilitaries, and the insurgents had used unguided Grad rockets in attacks on civilian areas, stating that "The use of indiscriminate rockets in populated areas violates international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, and may amount to war crimes". It also stated that pro-Russian insurgents "failed to take all feasible precautions to avoid deploying in civilian areas" and in one case "actually moved closer to populated areas as a response to government shelling". Human Rights Watch documented Grad rocket use in civilian areas in the fighting at Donetsk railway station on 21 July, in Kuibyshivskyi district of Donetsk city on 19 July, and in Petrovskyi district of Donetsk city and Marynivka on 12 July. It called on all sides to stop using the "notoriously imprecise" Grad rockets.

Destroyed house in Donbass, 22 July 2014

Another report by Human Rights Watch said that the insurgents had been "running amok...taking, beating and torturing hostages, as well as wantonly threatening and beating people who are pro-Kiev". It also said that the insurgents had destroyed medical equipment, threatened medical staff, and occupied hospitals. A member of Human Rights Watch witnessed the exhumation of a "mass grave" in Sloviansk that was uncovered after insurgents retreated from the city.

DPR prime minister Aleksandr Zakharchenko said on 24 August that the Ukrainian government had used white phosphorous against the insurgents. Similar allegations had previously been reported in the Russian media from June onward. A 20 June report by Human Rights Watch analysed many of the videos, and determined that the substance shown in the videos was not white phosphorous. They also said that some of the videos cited by the Russian media were actually from a 2004 white phosphorous attack by American forces in Iraq.

Insurgents with bayonet-equipped automatic rifles in the city of Donetsk paraded captured Ukrainian soldiers through the streets on 24 August, the Independence Day of Ukraine. During the parade, Russian nationalistic songs were played from loudspeakers, and members of the crowd jeered at the prisoners with epithets like "fascist". Street cleaning machines followed the protesters, "cleansing" the ground they were paraded on. Human Rights Watch said that this was in clear violation of the common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. The article forbids "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment". They further said that the parade "may be considered a war crime". In response, DPR Prime Minister Aleksandr Zakharchenko stated: "We did nothing against international law. The prisoners were not undressed or starved. Show me a single international law which prohibits parading prisoners." In a press-conference on 25 August, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he "did not see anything close to abuse" at the parade. On the following day, the insurgents tied a woman accused of being a spy to a lamppost. They wrapped her in a Ukrainian flag, and had passers-by spit, slap, and throw tomatoes at her.

Infrastructure damage

A report by the United Nations OHCHR found that at least 750 million US dollars worth of damage had been done to property and infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts by July. Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on 31 July that at least 2 billion hryvnia would be allocated to rebuild the Donbass.

Humanitarian response

An emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the subject of the humanitarian situation in Donbass was held on 5 August at Russia's behest. Russia proposed that a "humanitarian mission" be sent to Ukraine to help alleviate the suffering of civilians in the region. Western governments responded hesitantly to the proposal, with British permanent representative to the United Nations Sir Mark Lyall Grant saying "It is deeply ironic that Russia should call for an emergency meeting of the council to discuss a humanitarian crisis largely of its own creation".

The government of Russia stated that it would send a "humanitarian convoy" to Luhansk city on 11 August, which was completely cut off from electrical power, water, food, and gas supplies amidst a government offensive on insurgents in the city. According to government spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the convoy would be dispatched under the "aegis of the Red Cross". Western governments were weary of the plan, which NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said was part of "developing the narrative and the pretext" for an invasion of Ukraine "under the guise of a humanitarian operation". The government of Ukraine said that the convoy would not be allowed to cross the border into Ukraine. Despite this, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that an agreement between Ukrainian and Russian government officials had been made, which would allow the convoy to drive to the border. At the border, the goods carried would be unloaded and put onto Ukrainian lorries.

The convoy left Moscow on 12 August, despite any evidence of a concrete agreement as to where the convoy would go or what it would carry. It consisted of 280 army lorries, painted white, and was said to carry 2,000 tonnes (2,200 short tons) of goods, "including grain, sugar, medicine, sleeping bags and power generators". A spokesman for the ICRC said that the Russian government had not provided "basic details" about the contents or route of the lorries. There were suggestions that the convoy was a "trojan horse operation to smuggle weapons to rebel militias rapidly running low on fuel and ammunition". Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, said that there were "three conditions" that had to be met by the Russian convoy: it should cross the border at a post controlled by the State Border Guard, it should be accompanied by ICRC workers, and it should clearly state its destination, its route, and what it carried. The Russian government said that its destination was Shebekino-Pletenivka border crossing, in Kharkiv Oblast. The convoy stopped in central Russia, about 300 kilometres (190 mi) from that border crossing, as Ukrainian Internal Affairs minister Arsen Avakov said "no humanitarian convoy of Putin's will be allowed to cross the territory". After some time, the convoy continued to Rostov Oblast. It headed toward insurgent-controlled Izvaryne border crossing, rather than the government-controlled Shebekino-Pletenivka in Kharkiv Oblast that had been agreed. It stopped in a field at Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, 28 kilometres (17 mi) from Izvaryne. Inspectors from the State Border Guard of Ukraine were sent to the field on 15 August to examine the contents of the convoy. The convoy drove to the insurgent-held Izvaryne border crossing on 17 August, after having been declared "legal" by the Ukrainian government. Despite this, the State Border Guard said that they had received no paperwork from the convoy, and the Red Cross had not yet given the convoy clearance to cross into Ukraine, citing "security issues". In a press briefing on 19 August, a spokesman for the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine said that an advance team of Red Cross workers was sent to the Izvaryne border crossing to asses the convoy, and to organise transport of its cargo to Luhansk. He also said that work on processing the convoy had been delayed because the DPR and LPR had not guaranteed the safety of the Red Cross workers that are meant to drive the convoy to its destination. The Red Cross gave the convoy instructions on how to deliver the goods to Luhansk on 21 August. The instructions dictated that the lorries should drive directly to the delivery point, and must be escorted by the ICRC at all times. Despite these instructions, the convoy entered Ukraine without customs clearance or an ICRC escort on 22 August. SBU chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko said that this was tantamount to a "direct invasion", and the Red Cross said that it was not part of the moving convoy "in any way". The convoy was escorted into Ukraine by pro-Russian forces affiliated with New Russia. After delivering its cargo somewhere in Luhansk Oblast, the convoy crossed back into Russia at Izvaryne on 23 August.

A series of humanitarian convoys was sent by the Ukrainian government to Luhansk Oblast in August. The first convoys, from the cities of Kiev, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk, arrived at Starobilsk and Sievierodonetsk on 8 and 10 August respectively. A total of sixty lorry-loads of aid were sent. Workers with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine continued to operate in areas controlled by the pro-Russian forces, unimpeded by the LPR. They worked with the local Red Cross to distribute aid. Another group of convoys was sent by the Ukrainian government on 14 August. Seventy-five lorries bound for Luhansk and carrying 800 tonnes (880 short tons) of aid left from the same cities as the first group of convoys. According to the government, the aid was transferred to the Red Cross for distribution upon arrival into the combat zone.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia hoped to send a second "humanitarian convoy" to the Donbass conflict zone on 25 August. He stated "The fact that the first convoy eventually delivered aid with no excess or incidents gives us reason to hope that the second one will go much more smoothly".

Reactions

Many observers have asked both the Ukrainian government and the insurgents to seek peace, and ease tensions in Donetsk and Luhansk.

• NATO – NATO published a statement on the war in Donbass and the Crimean Crisis in August 2014. It attempted to debunk the Russian government's accusations against the Ukrainian government, and also other statements made by Russia to justify its presence in Ukraine. According to the statement, Russia attempted to "divert attention away from its actions" and "levelled a series of accusations against NATO which are based on misrepresentations of the facts". It also said that Russia "made baseless attacks on the legitimacy of the Ukrainian authorities and has used force to seize part of Ukraine's territory". In response to the unauthorised entry of the Russian humanitarian convoy on 22 August, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated that this incident could "only deepen the crisis in the region, which Russia itself has created and has continued to fuel. The disregard of international humanitarian principles raises further questions about whether the true purpose of the aid convoy is to support civilians or to resupply armed separatists".
• Russia – The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Ukrainian authorities of "blaming" the Russian government for all its troubles and stated "Ukrainian people want to get a clear answer from Kiev to all their questions. It's time to listen to these legal claims". It also stated it was "carefully observing" events in the east and south of Ukraine, and again called for "real constitutional reform" that would turn Ukraine into a federation. In an 7 April opinion piece in The Guardian, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov wrote that it was Europe and the United States, and not Russia, that was guilty of destabilising Ukraine and that "Russia is doing all it can to promote early stabilisation in Ukraine". The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a stern condemnation of the "criminal order" by Kiev for armed aggression against Donetsk: "The Kiev authorities, who self-proclaimed themselves as a result of a coup, have embarked on the violent military suppression of the protests," demanding that "the Maidan henchmen, who overthrew the legitimate president, to immediately stop the war against their own people, to fulfill all the obligations under the Agreement of 21 February."
• United Kingdom - In a statement at a meeting of the UN Security Council on 6 August, UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations Sir Mark Lyall Grant said: "The truth of the matter is that this is not an insurrection born in the Donbas; it is an insurgency manufactured in Moscow. It is led by Russians, using Russian-supplied weapons, in a deliberate effort to destabilise Ukraine and to exert control over Kiev". Sir Mark made another statement to the Security Council on 28 August, and listed "100 main battle tanks, 80 armoured personnel carriers, 100 man-portable air-defence systems, 100 anti-tank weapons and over 100 artillery pieces" that were supplied to the Donbass insurgents directly by Russia.
• United Nations – A press release issued on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the importance of "constructive and results-oriented dialogue between all concerned", and of adherence to the terms of the Geneva Statement on Ukraine. The statement also made clear that the situation "remains extremely volatile".
• United States – US Secretary of State John Kerry said on 7 April 2014 that the events "did not appear to be spontaneous" and called on Russia to "publicly disavow the activities of separatists, saboteurs and provocateurs" in a phone call to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. A spokeswoman for the US National Security Council noted that the separatists appeared to be supported by Russia. "We saw similar so-called protest activities in Crimea before Russia's purported annexation," she said in a statement, adding: "We call on President (Vladimir) Putin and his government to cease all efforts to destabilize Ukraine, and we caution against further military intervention." The US government is sending military advisors to Ukraine to aid the Ukrainian government in its fight against the insurgents. In April, the US Defence Department shipped a 7 million US dollar package of non-lethal military equipment to the Ukrainian forces, to be followed by another 8 million US dollar million package including armoured personnel carriers, goods and patrol vehicles, binoculars, night vision goggles and small patrol boats. This aid is helping to train Ukrainian forces. American ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey R. Pyatt characterised the pro-Russian insurgents as "terrorists".

Labelling of the conflict

NATO considers the conflict a war with Russian irregulars, and others consider it to be a proxy war between Russia and NATO. The International Committee of the Red Cross, the arbiter of international humanitarian law for the United Nations, described the events in the Donbass region as a "non-international armed conflict". Some news agencies, such as the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia and Reuters, interpreted this statement as meaning that Ukraine was in a state of "civil war".

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and former acting Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchynov considers the conflict a direct war with Russia. According to the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the war will be known in history of Ukraine as the Patriotic War.

Gallery

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  Civilians block the Ukrainian military's movement near Sloviansk (April 2014)
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  Pro-Russian militants inside the occupied Donetsk police headquarters (12 April 2014)
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  Pro-Russian militants with captured vehicles in Sloviansk (16 April 2014)
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  A government building in Sloviansk occupied by separatists (April 2014)
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  Ukrainian soldiers from SBU Alpha Group near Kramatorsk (25 April 2014)
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  A captured (by the pro-Ukrainian Aidar Battalion) LPR vehicle (9 June 2014)
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  Leader of the pro-Ukrainian Donbass Battalion Semen Semenchenko (2 June 2014)

See also

• Little green men (GRU)

External links

• 12 May report on human rights and minority rights situation in Ukraine by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
• 15 July report on the human rights situation in Ukraine by the OHCHR
• 28 August report on claims of war crimes by the insurgents in Donbass by Human Rights Watch