Battle of Sviatohirsk | |||||||
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Part of the eastern Ukraine offensive's battle of Donbas in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine | |||||||
Russian weaponry destroyed following the Ukrainian recapture of Sviatohirsk | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ukraine | |||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Sich Battalion | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Russian claim: 300+ killed [5] |
The battle of Sviatohirsk was a military engagement near the city of Sviatohirsk between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the battle for Donbas in 2022.
Some Russian attacks on Izium started taking place from 28 February 2022, with continued rocket strikes by the Russian military starting on 3 March. Eight civilians were killed on 3 March, with the town's central hospital reportedly sustaining significant damage. [6] On 1 April, the Ukrainian military confirmed Izium was under Russian control. [7] [8] [9] The following day, in an interview for Ukrinform , Izium's Deputy Mayor Volodymyr Matsokin claimed that 80% of the city's residential buildings had been destroyed and that there was no power, heating, or water in the city. Kreminna was the first city to fall during the Donbas Offensive that was announced by Russia on 18 April. The Governor of Luhansk Oblast, Serhiy Haidai, reported that 200 civilians were killed, but there could have been more. Ukrainian officials reported on 25 April that Russian forces were killed in an explosion in the Kreminna City Hall by a gas explosion. [10] Russian forces control the city. Fighting continued throughout the night, with heavy artillery fire being shot around the streets. Russian forces later captured the city hall on the 19 April.[ citation needed ] That evening, Haidai reported that the remaining Ukrainian troops withdrew, giving Russian troops full control of the city. [11] By 27 May, most of the city of Lyman came under Russian control. [12]
On 30 May 2022, as a result of shelling of the town of Sviatohirsk, the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra was damaged, two monks of this monastery and a nun were killed, three monks were injured. [13] On the evening of 30 May, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched a much more massive ground attack with fierce artillery strikes on the city. During the day on 31 May, the infantry troops of the Russian Federation launched an assault on Sviatohirsk with the aim of encircling the entire city and forming a cauldron. [13]
On 4 June, a large-scale fire broke out in the grounds of the Holy Dormition Lavra, and the flames engulfed the main shrine of the monastery; the Ukrainians blamed Russian forces for starting the fire. [14]
During 3-4 June, the strikes became more intense. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced on 6 June that it had taken full control over the city of Sviatohirsk and Sviatohirsk Lavra. [16] On 8 June, the ISW confirmed that Russian forces had advanced to the city, but acknowledged it was unclear if their forces have entirely seized Sviatohirsk. [17] On 9 June, Ukrainian media claimed that Russian forces had captured a part of the city and that another western section was still in Ukrainian control. [18] However, later reports confirmed the town had been seized by the Russian military. [1]
On 10 September, shortly after the recapture of Izium by Ukrainian troops, Russian sources reported that an attack was being conducted by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the town of Svyatohirsk. On the 12th, the Ukrainian National Guard reported that they had recaptured the town. [19]
According to the Security Service of Ukraine, a place of illegal detention of people was found near the Sviatohirsk Lavra, with items indicating signs of torture. [20]
Kreminna is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. Prior to 2020, it served as the administrative center of former Kreminna Raion. Its population was estimated at 18,116, as of January 2022.
Sviatohirsk or Svyatogorsk is a city in the northern part of the Donetsk Region of Ukraine. A part of the Sloviansk Municipality, it stands on the banks of the Siverskyi Donets River, 30 kilometers (19 mi) from the city of Sloviansk. The population is 4,226. The 16th-century Sviatohirsk Lavra Monastery is located in the city.
The Holy Mountains Lavra of the Holy Dormition is a major Orthodox Christian monastery on the steep right bank of the Siverskyi Donets River. The name comes from the surrounding Holy Mountains; the Holy Dormition is another term for the death of the Virgin Mary.
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 Rubizhne was a military engagement on the eastern theatre of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The city came under Russian control on 12 May.
The battle of Izium was a military engagement between Russia and Ukraine that occurred as part of the eastern Ukraine offensive during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The battle started in March 2022 for control of the town of Izium due to the town's importance as a transportation node. The Russian military wanted to capture Izium so its forces in Kharkiv Oblast could link up with their troops in the Donbas region.
The battle of Donbas was a military offensive that was part of the wider eastern Ukraine campaign of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The offensive began on 18 April 2022 between the armed forces of Russia and Ukraine for control of the Donbas region. Military analysts consider the campaign to have been the second strategic phase of the invasion, after Russia's initial three-pronged attack into Ukraine.
The Russian occupation of Kharkiv Oblast, officially the Kharkov Military–Civilian Administration, is an ongoing military occupation that began on 24 February 2022, after Russian forces invaded Ukraine and began capturing and occupying parts of Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. Russian forces failed to capture the capital city of the oblast, Kharkiv. However, other major cities including Izium, Kupiansk, and Balakliia were captured by Russian forces. As of November 2022, Russian forces only occupy a small portion of land in the Kharkiv Oblast.
The battle of Sievierodonetsk was a military engagement in the wider battle of Donbas of the Eastern Ukraine offensive during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Bilohorivka is a rural settlement in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located in Lysychansk urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It is located approximately 88 kilometres (55 mi) northwest from the centre of Luhansk and 25 kilometres (16 mi) west-south-west from Sievierodonetsk. The population is 808.
The battle of Popasna was a military engagement during the eastern Ukraine campaign as part of the battle of Donbas. The city came under Russian control on 7 May 2022.
The battle of Kreminna was a military engagement between Russia and Ukraine over the Eastern Ukrainian city of Kreminna. It is regarded as the first battle during the battle of Donbas.
Bohorodychne is a village in Kramatorsk Raion (district) in Donetsk Oblast of south-eastern Ukraine, at about 120 kilometres (75 mi) north-northwest from the centre of Donetsk city, on the right bank of the Siverskyi Donets river.
The battle of Toshkivka was an armed conflict around the city of Toshkivka, a mountainous municipality in the Sievierodonetsk Raion of Luhansk Oblast, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive was a major counteroffensive operation during the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on 6 September 2022. Following the launch of the Kherson counteroffensive in southern Ukraine in late August, Ukrainian forces began a second counteroffensive in early September in Kharkiv Oblast, in Eastern Ukraine.
The battle of Balakliia was part of the Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive that began on September 6, 2022.
On 15 September 2022, several mass graves, including one site containing at least 440 bodies, were found in woods near the Ukrainian city of Izium after it was recaptured by Ukrainian forces during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The graves contained bodies of people who were killed by Russian forces. The Ukrainian government believes that over 1,000 people were killed during the battle for and subsequent Russian occupation of Izium.
The second battle of Lyman was a military engagement during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as part of the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive. The battle started on 10 September 2022 during the counteroffensive and ended three weeks later on 2 October. By 30 September, Ukrainian forces had closed in on the city after crossing the Siverskyi Donets River, advancing along Lyman's southern and eastern flanks while capturing land northwest of the settlement, allowing Ukrainian forces to cut off the only road left supplying the occupying forces from the north. On 1 October, Ukrainian forces entered Lyman after a Russian withdrawal.
Since 19 September 2022, a military campaign has taken place along a 60-km frontline in western parts of Luhansk Oblast and far-eastern parts of Kharkiv Oblast amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Also known as the Svatove–Kreminna line or the Kupiansk–Svatove–Kreminna–Bilohorivka line after the major settlements along the front, the campaign began a day after the Ukrainian Army recaptured the nearby city of Lyman during the Kharkiv counteroffensive after of which the front line froze over the next few months.