Eastern Ukraine campaign

Eastern Ukraine campaign
Part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Clockwise from top left:
Date24 February 2022 – present
(2 years, 8 months and 4 weeks)
Location
Eastern Ukraine (Donetsk Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast)
Status

Ongoing

Belligerents

 Russia

 Ukraine

Commanders and leaders
Russia Vladimir Putin Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Units involved
See order of battle See order of battle
Strength
38,000+ soldiers (late March 2022)[2][3][4]
50,000–62,000 soldiers (early April 2022)[5]
10,000–20,000 mercenaries (per European officials, early April 2022)[6][7][8]
300–500 Syrian and Libyan mercenaries (per ISW, early April 2022)[9]
180,000 soldiers (per Ukraine, July 2023)[10]		 125,000 soldiers (in eastern Ukraine)[11]
40,000–50,000 (as of the start of the battle of Donbas)[12]

Ukraine's easternmost oblasts, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, have been the site of an ongoing theatre of operation since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The battle of Donbas was a major offensive in the eastern theatre that took place in mid-2022.[13] By the culmination of the offensive in July 2022, Russian forces and their separatist allies had captured the cities of Sievierodonetsk,[14] Lysychansk,[15] Rubizhne[16] and Izium.[17] However, in early September, Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive in the east, which recaptured the cities of Izium, Balakliia, Kupiansk, Sviatohirsk[18] and the strategic city of Lyman.[19] The counteroffensive stalled east of the Oskil river, and a campaign in eastern Kharkiv Oblast and western Luhansk Oblast has continued since, though Donetsk Oblast has remained the most active area of the frontline.

In the winter of 2022–2023, Russia focused on capturing the city of Bakhmut, largely destroying the city in one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and fully capturing it in May 2023. In June 2023, Ukraine launched another major counteroffensive across the entire frontline, capturing some Russian positions along Bakhmut's outskirts and in southwestern Donetsk Oblast, though not making the major gains in the Donbas which had been sought. By November 2023, this counteroffensive had largely stalled in the east and Russia began making new offensive operations to capture territory, gaining control of Avdiivka and Marinka in Donetsk Oblast by February 2024.[20][21] Following the capture of Avdiivka, Russian forces advanced to form a salient northwest of it and captured the settlement of Ocheretyne in April 2024 and began contesting Krasnohorivka, southwest of Donetsk, and Chasiv Yar, west of Bakhmut, and launched an offensive towards the city of Toretsk in June 2024. In late July 2024, Russia increased offensive maneuvers in the direction of the strategically important city of Pokrovsk, advancing significantly towards the city in August 2024.

  1. ^ a b "Russia captures Ukrainsk in east Ukraine, state media and war bloggers say". Reuters. 17 September 2024. Russian forces, which have taken about a fifth of Ukraine, control 98.5% of the Luhansk region
  2. ^ John Bacon; Tom Vanden Brook; Jorge L. Ortiz; Celina Tebor (12 April 2022). "As Russia gears up for bloodier phase of war, reports indicate a chemical weapon was used in Mariupol: Live Ukraine updates". USA Today. Archived from the original on 12 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Kyiv warns Russia planning large assault in eastern Ukraine". Al-Jazeera News. 11 April 2022. Archived from the original on 12 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Hundreds of thousands face catastrophe in Mariupol". The Economist. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022. Ukrainian forces in Mariupol are vastly outnumbered, with 3,500 soldiers facing 14,000 invaders, around a tenth of the total estimated Russian force in the country.
  5. ^ "Russia has begun 'Battle for Donbas' in Ukraine's east: Zelenskyy". Al Jazeera. 19 April 2022. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Russia deploys up to 20,000 mercenaries in battle for Ukraine's Donbas region". The Guardian. 19 April 2022. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Russia is deploying up to 20,000 Syrian, Libyan, and Wagner Group mercenaries in the Donbas, European official says". Insider. 19 April 2022. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  8. ^ Adam Schrek (19 April 2022). "Russia pours in more troops and presses attack in the east". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference isw 20 April was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Hird, Karolina; Mappes, Grace; Wolkov, Nicole; Evans, Angelica; Kagan, Frederick W. "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 4, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  11. ^ Alexei Muraviev (21 January 2022). "2022 is not 2014: What holds back Russia from Ukraine". Lowly Institute. The Interpreter. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  12. ^ "Ukraine war: Russia bombards cities as eastern offensive begins". BBC News. 19 April 2022. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  13. ^ "Ukraine conflict: Russia begins Donbas offensive". Janes.com. 22 April 2022. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Ukraine war: Kyiv orders forces to withdraw from Severodonetsk". BBC News. 24 June 2022.
  15. ^ Stepanenko, Kateryna; Hird, Karolina; Kagan, Frederick W. (2 July 2022). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 2". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Ukrainian forces lose foothold in eastern town". CNN. 13 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  17. ^ "Росіяни контролюють Ізюм – Генштаб ЗСУ".
  18. ^ "Ukraine takes control of entire Kharkiv region and towns seized at onset of Russian invasion". the Guardian. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Recaptured Ukrainian city Lyman 'completely destroyed', say officials". euronews. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference bakhmutflank23 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ "Ukraine's commander-in-chief on the breakthrough he needs to beat Russia". The Economist. 1 November 2023. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.