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Eastern Ukraine campaign
Part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Clockwise from top left:
Bombing of Mariupol
Theater in Mariupol destroyed
Russian tank destroyed near Mariupol
Aftermath of a missile strike at Kramatorsk railway station
Date
24 February 2022 – present (2 years, 1 month, 4 weeks and 2 days)
Location
Eastern Ukraine (Donetsk Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast)
Status
Ongoing
Russia and pro-Russian separatists control most of Luhansk Oblast as of 21 September 2022[1] and about half of Donetsk Oblast as of 20 September 2022[1]
Russia retreats from all of Kharkiv Oblast west of the Oskil River and the strategic city of Lyman
Russia captures cities of Soledar, Bakhmut, Marinka and Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast
Belligerents
Russia
Donetsk People's Republic
Luhansk People's Republic
Ukraine
Commanders and leaders
Vladimir Putin
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]
125,000 soldiers (in eastern Ukraine)[10] 40,000–50,000 (as of the start of the Battle of Donbas)[11]
v
t
e
Russian invasion of Ukraine
Northern Ukraine campaign
Antonov Airport
Chernobyl
Hostomel
Ivankiv
Kyiv
Kyiv strikes
shopping centre bombing
Russian Kyiv convoy
Bucha
massacre
Irpin
refugee column shelling
Makariv
Moshchun
Brovary
Slavutych
Borodianka
Hlukhiv
Konotop
Sumy
ammonia leak
Trostianets
Chernihiv
Chernihiv strikes
3 March 2022 bombing
16 March 2022 breadline attack
August 2023 missile strike
April 2024 missile strike
Okhtyrka
Lebedyn
Northern Ukraine skirmishes
Desna
Eastern Ukraine campaign
Marinka
Avdiivka
Mariupol
hospital airstrike
theatre airstrike
art school bombing
Kharkiv
Kharkiv strikes
February cluster bombing
government building airstrike
March cluster bombing
April cluster bombing
dormitories missile strike
Chuhuiv Air Base
Volnovakha
massacre
Izium
massacre
Stara Krasnianka
Donetsk
March 2022 attack
June 2022 attack
September 2022 attack
2024 attack
Rubizhne
Popasna
Kramatorsk
railway station attack
restaurant attack
Battle of Donbas
Kreminna
Siverskyi Donets
school bombing
Sievierodonetsk
Toshkivka
1st Lyman
Sviatohirsk
Lysychansk
2024 missile strike
Chasiv Yar strike
Pisky
Olenivka massacre
Bakhmut
Soledar
Vuhledar
Makiivka
Kharkiv counteroffensive
Balakliia
Kupiansk
civilian convoy shelling
2nd Lyman
Luhansk Oblast campaign
Lyman cluster bombing
Kostiantynivka
Hroza
Chasiv Yar
Southern Ukraine campaign
Kherson
Kherson strikes
Melitopol
Mykolaiv
bombing
7 March 2022 military quarters attack
cluster bombing
18 March 2022 military quarters attack
government building airstrike
Chornobaivka
Enerhodar
Zaporizhzhia NPP
1st and 2nd Voznesensk
Huliaipole
Orikhiv
Davydiv Brid
Crimea
Novofedorivka
1st Crimean Bridge
1st Sevastopol Naval Base
2nd Crimean Bridge
2nd Sevastopol Naval Base
Kherson counteroffensive
Prelude
Nova Kakhovka
Liberation of Kherson
Dnieper
Kakhovka Dam
2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive
Zarichne
Other regions
Zaporizhzhia
civilian convoy attack
residential building airstrike
Ivano-Frankivsk
Kryvyi Rih
Lviv
Odesa
6 March 2024 strike
Zhytomyr
Rivne
Vinnytsia
Dnipro
2023 residential building airstrike
Yavoriv
Khmelnytskyi
Kremenchuk
Serhiivka
Chaplyne
Strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
Sloviansk
Uman
Pokrovsk
2023 missile strike
2024 missile strike
29 December 2023 strikes
22 March 2024 strikes
Naval operations
Snake Island
Berdiansk
Moskva
Tendra Spit
Spillover and cross-border incidents
Western Russia
Millerovo
Dyagilevo and Engels air bases
Bryansk Oblast
Belgorod Oblast incursion
30 December 2023 Belgorod shelling
February 2024 Belgorod missile strike
2024 western Russia incursion
Moscow
Kremlin drone attack
May 2023 drone strikes
Transnistria
Poland
Przewodów
Belarus
Machulishchy
Resistance
Ukrainian resistance
Belarusian–Russian anti-war resistance
rail war in Belarus
rail war in Russia
Russian commissariat attacks
Ust-Ilimsk shooting
St. Petersburg cafe bombing
General topics
War crimes
Economic impact
Peace negotiations
Collaboration with Russia
Russian emigration
Attacks on civilians
Nuclear risk
Humanitarian impacts
Russian annexation
Treatment of prisoners of war
Timeline
24 Feb – 7 Apr 2022
8 Apr – 28 Aug 2022
29 Aug – 11 Nov 2022
12 Nov 2022 – 7 Jun 2023
8 Jun 2023 – 31 Aug 2023
1 Sep – 30 Nov 2023
1 Dec 2023 – present
Related
Zagreb Tu-141 crash
Russian mystery fires
Nord Stream pipeline sabotage
Soloti training ground shooting
2022 Russian mobilization
2022 Russian martial law
2022 protests in Russian-occupied Ukraine
2022 Russian Far East protests
Zeitenwende speech
Lady R incident
Brovary helicopter crash
Black Sea drone incident
Belgorod accidental bombing
Wagner Group rebellion
Wagner Group plane crash
Synytsia
Korochansky Ilyushin Il-76 crash
Skadovsk polling center bombing
June 2024 Ukraine peace conference
Ukraine's easternmost oblasts, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, are the site of a theatre of operation in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The battle of Donbas was a major offensive in the eastern theatre that took place in mid-2022.[12] By the culmination of the offensive in July 2022, Russian forces and their separatist allies had captured the cities of Sievierodonetsk,[13] Lysychansk,[14] Rubizhne[15] and Izium.[16] However, in early September, Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive in the east, which recaptured the cities of Izium, Balakliia, Kupiansk, Sviatohirsk[17] and the strategic city of Lyman.[18] The counteroffensive stalled east of the Oskil river, and a campaign in eastern Kharkiv Oblast and western Luhansk Oblast has continued since.
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. Russia claimed to have fully captured Bakhmut in May 2023 amid ongoing Ukrainian counterattacks on the city's outskirts. 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. However, by November 2023, this counteroffensive had largely stalled in the east and Russia began counterattacking to recapture territory, gaining control of Avdiivka and Marinka in Donetsk Oblast by February 2024.[19][20]
^ ab. 20 September 2022 https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/36a7f6a6f5a9448496de641cf64bd375. Retrieved 21 September 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^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.
^"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.
^"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.
^"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.
^"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.
^"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.
^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.
^Cite error: The named reference isw 20 April was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^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.
^"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.
^"Ukraine conflict: Russia begins Donbas offensive". Janes.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
^"Ukraine war: Kyiv orders forces to withdraw from Severodonetsk". BBC News. 24 June 2022.
^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.
^"Ukrainian forces lose foothold in eastern town". CNN. 13 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
^"Росіяни контролюють Ізюм – Генштаб ЗСУ".
^"Ukraine takes control of entire Kharkiv region and towns seized at onset of Russian invasion". the Guardian. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
^"Recaptured Ukrainian city Lyman 'completely destroyed', say officials". euronews. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
^Cite error: The named reference bakhmutflank23 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"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.
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