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Fights on the Ukrainian–Russian border in 2014, also famous as "Operation to restore the state border", "Battle at the border",[8][9][10][11]Battle in sector D ,[12] (in Russian-language sources often – "Izvarinsky Encirclement",[13][14]"Dovzhansky Encirclement"[15][16]) – an episode of the war in eastern Ukraine, the battle of anti-terrorist operation forces against illegal armed groups supported by Russian artillery in the border areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions during summer campaign in Donbass. Fighting broke out in Sector D of the anti-terrorist operation during the "operation to restore the state border"[17] during June–August 2014. The main task of the Anti-Terrorist Operation Forces was to restore control over the section of the state border Izvaryne – Kumachovo[18] and to cut the routes for illegal armed groups.
Establishing border control was a key point in the peace plan of newly elected President Petro Poroshenko. The offensive of the anti-terrorist operation forces began on 12 June.[19] During the confrontation, Ukrainian units came under artillery fire from the territory of the Russian Federation. During numerous battles, the Ukrainian military failed to regain control of the Izvaryne checkpoint. With the loss of control over the settlements of Stepanovka, Marynivka and the Marynivka checkpoint in mid-July, anti-terrorist operation forces east of the village of Marynivka found themselves in an actual environment of the main forces. The besieged units were unblocked and in fact the battle ended on 7 August[19] with the release of the last units that performed the task of blocking the state border. The battle on the border was the first major defeat for the anti-terrorist operation forces. As a result, control over the state border from Izvaryny to Marynivka was lost. The Armed Forces, the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine have suffered heavy losses in both personnel and equipment. The Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered particularly heavy losses.
Fighting at the border significantly limited the ability to supply from Russia, and after capturing hundreds of kilometers of the state border, the ability to supply militants, equipment and ammunition from Russia was limited only by its own available resources. As the supply of militants came exclusively from Russia, border control was a key point of settlement and later became one of the foundations of the Minsk Protocol.
The situation in early summer
Incidents of violation of the state border began in the spring of 2014. So in the beginning of April a group of mercenaries from the Russian Federation led by a citizen of the Russian Federation, a former employee of special services, Igor Girkin freely entered the territory of Ukraine and captured the city of Slovyansk. At the end of May, it became quite clear that the state border was not locked. From Russia, militant detachments, military equipment and supplies arrived in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts without hindrance. The leadership of the border service reported full control over the state border. But the actual state of affairs was criticized by the leadership of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, in particular the head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Mykola Lytvyn.
So, on the night of 2–3 May 2014, two Ural trucks loaded with weapons drove into the yard of the Antratsyt District State Administration. The administration's premises were occupied by several dozen Don Cossacks, they did not let anyone into the yard, did not answer questions. The Russian flag and the flag of the Don Army were raised above the administration.
Another high-profile incident occurred on 13 May, when the wounded self-proclaimed Luhansk "governor" Valery Bolotov was able to leave Ukraine through the Dovzhansky checkpoint. Acting President of Ukraine and Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Turchynov instructed the Prosecutor General's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine to explain the reasons for this withdrawal within three hours.[20] On 17 May, border guards detained Valery Bolotov at the Dovzhansky checkpoint at 5:45am, informed all law enforcement agencies, including representatives of the anti-terrorist operation, and waited for about two hours for help from security forces, but no one arrived. Clashes broke out between the militants and border guards, as a result of which Bolotov was repulsed by armed men.[21]
On 19 May 2014, a group of pro-Russian militants (about 50 people) carried out an armed attack on a checkpoint of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the town of Amvrosiyivka, Donetsk region, near the Uspenka border checkpoint. As a result of the confrontation, the militants were neutralized, and some of them were detained and prosecuted. On 27 May, an air strike destroyed a terrorist training camp at the Yaseni camp near Sverdlovsk. However, at the time of the attack, most of the terrorists had moved to Sverdlovsk.
On 1 June, head of the border service Mykola Lytvyn admitted that militants, including Russian citizens, were breaking through the state border every day. They tried to block the border guards. The SBGS moved from guarding to defending the border. On 30 May, a column of militants was stopped and five militants were killed. Since the beginning of March, more than 250 Russian citizens have been detained trying to travel to Ukraine for sabotage.[22] In early June, there were a number of armed clashes between the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and militants seeking to establish their control over the border.
On 28 May, the airspace of Ukraine was violated by the Russian Federation, and the flight of a Russian UAV was recorded in the anti-terrorist operation zone. On 30 May, border guards in the direction of Novaya Nadezhda (Russia) – Dibrivka (Ukraine) detained armed individuals with a significant number of weapons while attempting to enter illegally.[23] On 2 June, border guards were attacked. Fights with militants took place near Horodyshche and Amvrosiivka.[24] On 3 June, after a two-day assault, the Luhansk border detachment was captured. The attack on the Luhansk border detachment was a planned action aimed at disorganizing the actions of border guards to protect the border with Russia. After the loss of control, the border guards were left without a coordinating and governing body.[25][26] On the night of 3–4 June, and in the first half of 4 June, a special operation was conducted to relocate SBGS personnel in the Luhansk region. During the movement, on 3–4 June, a column of border guards was attacked, three assailants were killed and one car was destroyed.[27] Personnel, weapons, ammunition, and equipment from the Stanychno-Luhanske, Krasnodon, Biryukovo, Sverdlovsk, and Dyakovo Luhansk Oblast Border Service were redeployed. Many weapons were left in Sverdlovsk. The SBGS stressed the need to involve the National Guard and the Armed Forces to defend the state border.[28][29]
On 5 June, a battle took place for the Marynivka checkpoint, which was attacked by terrorists from the Vostok group. A convoy of militants, consisting of an armoured personnel carrier, four Kamaz trucks, three minibuses, and four cars invading from Russia, attacked the border checkpoint.[30] Thanks to the reinforcements that arrived on time, the battle for the anti-terrorist operation forces was victorious. The militants retreated to Russian territory. During the battle, the armoured personnel carriers of the militants were captured.[31]
During 4–5 June, there were attempts to oust border detachments from checkpoints,[28] and on 5 June, according to a government decision, Ukraine closed 8 border checkpoints, which was officially reported to the Russian authorities: in Luhansk region – Chervonopartizansk, Dovzhansky, Chervona Mohyla, Novoborovtsi, Krasnodarskyi(checkpoint in the adjacent territory – Donetsk), Krasnodarskyi (checkpoint in the adjacent territory – Nizhny Shvyrev)," Northern "; in the Donetsk region – "Marynivka".[32] Thus, about 100km of the border was left unguarded.[33] On 7 June, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine handed Russia a note of protest against violations of the regime at the border. The note listed the facts of violations and drew attention to the participation in the conflict of Russian paramilitary group – "Kazaki".[34]
On 8 June, militants attacked the Izvarine checkpoint. Border guards successfully repulsed the attack. On 10 June, militants seized the Dovzhansky checkpoint. On 12 June, tanks were transferred to Ukraine from the Russian Federation,[36] crossing the border at night, passing through Snizhne, Torez, and Makiivka, and entering Donetsk.[37] In the evening of 12 June, Poroshenko held a meeting with the heads of law enforcement agencies on the invasion of tanks of the Russian Federation.[38]
Plan for future operations
The decision to conduct an operation to restore border control was made for both political and purely military reasons. Border control and the creation of a 10km buffer zone was one of the key points of the peace plan proposed by newly elected President Petro Poroshenko. Later, Secretary of the National Security and Defense CouncilAndriy Parubiy said that the state border was closed in accordance with the task set by the President.[39] Later in an interview, the former chief of staff of the anti-terrorist operation, General Viktor Nazarov, said that the corridor along the border of the anti-terrorist operation was punched to meet the requirements of the European community. This was one of the requirements for assistance to Ukraine. According to Nazarov, the Ukrainian military command was not very happy about this, because it understood that their men were in fact exposed to fire from two sides.[40]
The initial task of the anti-terrorist operation group was to isolate the anti-terrorist operation area, regain control of the 140-kilometer section of Ukraine's state border with the Russian Federation on the Izvaryne-Kumachyovo section to prevent the groups of Russian mercenaries from crossing the border and eliminate militant and separatist lines, weapons and ammunition. In addition, the grouping of Sector "D" was entrusted with the task of ensuring the unimpeded transportation of ammunition and logistics between Petrovske – Stepanovka.
Border control was to make it impossible for the militants to use the five main routes through which the militant-controlled territories were connected with the Russian Federation, specifically the Uspenka, Marynivka, Dovzhansky, Chervonopartizansk and Izvaryne. Plans included creating fortified defense points, which could destroy the enemy moving through highways and steppe areas with artillery fire.
Moreover, after performing the first task (blocking the state border), the brigades of the Armed Forces had to move to the second – the encircling the megacities. Territorial defense battalions were to take their place.[41] The operation was scheduled to begin on 17 May, but had to be postponed due to an attack on a 51st mechanized brigade checkpoint near Volnovakha, as a result of which the demoralized unit was temporarily withdrawn to the rear. In fact, the offensive did not begin until 12 June.[42] This postponement allowed the militants to strengthen their positions in the border zone. On 5 June, militants from Donetsk and Shakhtarsk arrived in Amvrosiivka, numbering several hundred people with several armored personnel carriers and about ten trucks. On the same day, five trucks with Caucasian-looking militants arrived in Snizhne.[43]
On 7 June, a column of militants from Russia invaded Ukraine. Part of the column went to Torez and Snizhne. From Snizhne, the militants began to establish a stronghold and prepare for the siege. During 8 June, the militants continued fortification work in Snizhne: set up checkpoints, dug trenches, and equipped firing points. The columns brought reinforcements from Russia, including Russian military personnel.[44]
In Snizhne on 10 June, the number of DPR militants, including militants of the Vostok group, increased. The strengthening of barricades and preparations for defense also continued. Dmytrivka was already under militant control.[45] Snizhne would be a key settlements in future battles on the border, 15km to the Ukrainian-Russian border and 12km to the Savur-Mohyla hill – the highest point in the area. It would be difficult to keep Savur-Mohyla without control on Snizhny.
The total number is not established, but the media is called a figure of about 3-5 thousand Ukrainian servicemen[46][47] more than 50 tanks, 200 armored personnel carriers, 30 mortars, up to 80 guns and reactive plants.[48] According to Y. Tinchenko, allocated for the operation of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces, 70-90% consisted of just called in the army.[46][47]
He commanded the "D" sector, in the zone of the responsibility of which it was planned to conduct an operation, Colonel Andriy Gryshchenko, the commander of the 72nd Brigade, on 23 July he changed the Lieutenant General Peter Lytvyn, the commander of the 8th Army Corps.[49]
Composition and number of militants and Russian armed forces
Accurate data on the number and weapons of militants and Russian forces at the time of the ATO's offensive. There are only fragmentary data on the total number of militants zone of ATO or individual detachments. 16 June, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council at a briefing said that in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of the ATO forces to resist 15 000 – 20 000 militants. Half of them were citizens of Russia – Kadyrivka from Chechnya, Russian Special Forces, mercenaries. The other half was local, forcibly mobilized by terrorists. The mercenaries were well armed and had fighting experience.[50] In the border areas of the Russian Federation near Lugansk and Donetsk regions, 16 thousand Russian military were concentrated.[51]
Lugansk militants were more than 4,000 people armed with light rifle weapons and integrated into several groups, including:
The group "Yugoslava" is more than 100 people, the place of dislocation is Lugansk.
The group "Mozgovoy" – up to 200 people, the place of dislocation – at first, the recreation center "Yaseni" in the Sverdlovsky district of Lugansk region. As of 16 June, the group was divided into Lisichansk, Severodonetsk and Sverdlovsk.
Gayde Group (subordinated to the cerebrospinal) – about 50 people, the place of the dislocation – Sverdlovsk.
The group "Pasha Locator" is about 50 people, the place of dislocation – Stakhanov.
Group "Lesesho", more than 50 people, dislocation place – Lugansk.
Group "9 mouth", more than 30 people, the place of dislocation – the happiness of the Lugansk region.
Group "BEMA" – more than 100 people, place of dislocation – Lugansk.
Goncharov group – more than 50 people, dislocation place – Lugansk.
Group "Pak" – more than 20 people, dislocation place – Severodonetsk.[52]
Participation of the Russian Federation in the battle at the border
From 9 July to 5 September 2014, the State Border Service of Ukraine and the National Security and Defense Council reported more than 120 attacks of Russian artillery. Russian officials denied involvement.[53]
In the morning of 11 July 2014, as a result of unexpected massive artillery attacks on military targets in the area of Zelenopoly, 30 were killed and more than 100 soldiers were injured. During the next days after the attack, the units of the Ukraine's Border Guard Service were targeted by artillery fire. By the end of July 2014, the massive artillery fire led to significant losses and contributed to the consequent withdrawal of the Ukrainian forces.[citation needed]
Luhansk Oblast, also referred to as Luhanshchyna (Луганщина), is the easternmost oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the name Voroshilovgrad Oblast until 1958 and again from 1970 to 1991. It has a population of 2,102,921.
Pervomaisk, also known as Sokolohirsk (Сокологірськ), is a city in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine, on the left bank of the Luhan River. Pervomaisk is located 71 kilometres (44 mi), by road, from Luhansk, 133 kilometres (83 mi) from Izvaryne, where there is the de jure international border between Ukraine and Russia, and 736 kilometres (457 mi) from the capital Kyiv.
The Russia–Ukraine border is the de jure international boundary between Russia and Ukraine. Over land, the border spans five Russian oblasts and five Ukrainian oblasts. Due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in early 2014, the de facto border between Russia and Ukraine is different from the legal border recognized by the United Nations. As of 2024, Russia is militarily occupying a significant portion of Ukraine. Whereas, Ukraine is militarily occupying a very small portion of Russia.
Shakhtarsk Raion was one of the raions of Donetsk Oblast, located in eastern Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion was the city of Shakhtarsk, which was incorporated separately as a city of oblast significance and was not part of the raion. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Donetsk Oblast to eight. However the raion has not been under control of the Ukrainian government since 2014, and has been part of the Donetsk People's Republic which in 2015 abolished it and subordinated to the city of Shakhtarsk. The last estimate of the raion population, reported by the Ukrainian government, was 18,878.
From the end of February 2014, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the ousting of Russian-leaning Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, demonstrations by Russian-backed, pro-Russian, and anti-government groups took place in Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Odesa. The unrest, which was supported by the Russian military and intelligence services, belongs to the early stages of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, primarily the People's Militias of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), were pro-Russian paramilitaries in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. They were under the overall control of the Russian Federation. They were also referred to as Russian proxy forces. They were active during the war in Donbas (2014–2022), the first stage of the Russo-Ukrainian War. They then supported the Russian Armed Forces against the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the 2022 Russian invasion. In September 2022, Russia annexed the DPR and LPR, and began integrating the paramilitaries into its armed forces. They are designated as terrorist groups by the government of Ukraine.
The siege of Sloviansk was conducted by Ukraine between 12 April 2014 and 5 July 2014. It began immediately after Sloviansk was seized by the separatist group, the Donetsk People's Republic, which, having received support from Russia, declared itself independent from Ukraine on 7 April. Following three months of heavy fighting between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the DPR People's Militia, the Ukrainian government retook the city as the pro-Russia rebels retreated to Donetsk. The engagement in Sloviansk marked the first military engagement of the War in Donbas.
The war in Donbas, also known as the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the Donbas region of Ukraine. The war began in April 2014, when a commando unit headed by Russian citizen Igor Girkin seized Sloviansk in Donetsk oblast. The Ukrainian military launched an operation against them. The war continued until subsumed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Luhansk People's Republic is a republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitaries in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed by Russia in 2022. The entire territory of LPR is viewed as sovereign territory of Ukraine by nearly all UN member states.
During the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, the city of Mariupol, in Donetsk Oblast, saw skirmishes break out between Ukrainian government forces, local police, and separatist militants affiliated with the Donetsk People's Republic. Government forces withdrew from Mariupol on 9 May 2014 after heavy fighting left the city's police headquarters gutted by fire. These forces maintained checkpoints outside the city. Intervention by Metinvest steelworkers on 15 May 2014 led to the removal of barricades from the city centre, and the resumption of patrols by local police. Separatists continued to operate a headquarters in another part of the city until their positions were overrun in a government offensive on 13 June 2014.
The Donbas Battalion is a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and formerly based in Severodonetsk. It was created in 2014 as a volunteer unit by Semen Semenchenko after the Russian occupation of Crimea and an anticipated invasion of continental Ukraine. The unit was formed in the spring during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The unit was initially formed as an independent force, but has been fully integrated into the National Guard as the 2nd Special Purpose Battalion "Donbas" in the 15th Regiment of the National Guard.
The Battle in Shakhtarsk Raion began on 16 July 2014, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine attempted to cut off the Russian backed separatists’ supply lines from Russia. Fighting broke out around the towns of Marynivka, Dmytrivka, Stepanivka, Shakhtarsk, as well as the strategic hill of Savur-Mohyla. It later spread to the cities of Snizhne and Torez. While the battle was in progress, a civilian passenger airliner, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, was shot down near Hrabove on 17 July. Amidst a wide counter-offensive by the Russian proxy forces and their Russian backers across Donbas, government troops were forced out of Shakhtarsk Raion on 26 August.
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Dovzhansky is a land border crossing between Ukraine and Russia on the Ukrainian side, in the town of Dovzhanske, Sverdlovsk city municipality, Luhansk Oblast.
Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone, or ATO zone, was a term used by the media, publicity, the government of Ukraine, and the OSCE and other foreign institutions to identify Ukrainian territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (oblasts) under the control of Russian military forces and pro-Russian separatists. A significant part of ATO zone is considered temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
40th Motorized Infantry Battalion is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. It was originally formed as the 40th Territorial Defence Battalion Kryvbas in Kryvyi Rih.
This is a timeline of the war in Donbas for the year 2014.
The Battle of Artemivsk was a 2014 battle fought in the city of Artemivsk during the war in Donbas in eastern Ukraine as part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. It involved armed confrontation between the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard of Ukraine against pro-Russian militias fighting for the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Olena Viktorivna Mokrenchuk is a Ukrainian journalist, writer, historian, teacher, participant of the Revolution of Dignity. With the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, she was a volunteer, a military representative, a Major of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and National Writers Union of Ukraine.
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Ukraine 
Russia 
Donetsk PR 
Luhansk PR 
ATO Commander:
Chief of staff of the Anti-Terrorist Operation:
Yuriy Sodol
Olexiy Shandar
Mykhailo Zabrodskyi 
Mykola Lytvyn 
