 |
| First Battle of Lyman | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the battle of Donbas in the Russian invasion of Ukraine | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Russia |  Ukraine | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 100+ killed, 200–300 captured [5] Per Russia: 500 captured [8] [9] [10] | ||||||
| 192+ civilians killed [11] | |||||||
The First Battle of Lyman was a military engagement during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as part of the battle of Donbas in the wider eastern Ukraine offensive. It began on 23 May and ended on 27 May 2022.
A month into the Russian invasion, Russia claimed to control 93% of Luhansk Oblast, [12] leaving Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk as strategically important Ukrainian holdouts in the area. Russian plans to capture Sievierodonetsk hinged upon its successes in the nearby cities of Rubizhne to the north and Popasna to the south. [13] By 6 April, Russian forces had reportedly captured 60% of Rubizhne, [14] and shells and rockets were landing in Sievierodonetsk on "regular, sustained intervals". [15] The next day, forces of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade conducted an offensive which reportedly drove Russian forces 6–10 kilometers away from the other nearby town of Kreminna. Russian forces reportedly seized Rubizhne and the nearby town of Voevodivka on 12 May 2022. [16]
South of Lyman, the battle of the Siverskyi Donets occurred mid-May 2022, with Ukraine repelling multiple Russian attempts to cross the river. [17] Russian forces suffered an estimated 400 to 485 dead and wounded during the attempts. [18] [19]
Russian forces intensified offensive operations around Lyman and made gains on 23 May. Russian forces launched an assault on the northern part of Lyman and took at least partial control of the city. [20] Russian forces additionally intensified artillery strikes against Avdiivka and took advantage of their previous capture of Novoselivka to advance on Avdiivka and gain highway access toward Slovyansk. [21] The Russians intensified its attacks towards the city center the next day, starting street fights. With the support of artillery and aviation, on 25 May, Russian forces continued the offensive towards the settlement of Lyman, capturing about 70% of the city's territory. Ukrainian forces withdrew to the southern settlements of the city, offering fierce resistance, while some soldiers surrendered during the siege. [22]
After conducting a final evacuation of civilians and leaving supplies for those who decided to stay, the last Ukrainian forces evacuated Lyman on the afternoon of 26 May, destroying the last remaining bridge behind them. [23] Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said that the city had been captured by Russian forces, [2] a statement confirmed by the Institute for the Study of War. [1]
The next day, however, Ukrainian Defence Ministry said that the battle for control of the city was still ongoing, [2] and their forces were continuing to hold the southwestern and northeastern districts, while other Ukrainian officials acknowledged most of Lyman, including the city center, was under Russian control. [24] In addition, the United Kingdom also assessed most of the town had come under Russian control by 27 May. [25] Both Russian-backed separatist forces and the Russian military made separate claims of victory on 27 and 28 May. [3] [26] Early on 30 May, the Ukrainian military acknowledged Russian forces had consolidated in Lyman and were preparing to attack towards Sloviansk. [4]
It was reported that during the fighting, a battalion of Ukraine's 79th Air Assault Brigade suffered more than 100 killed, while between 200 and 300 soldiers were captured. [5]
Russia gained a strategic railroad hub, and indirectly sped up the battle of Sievierodonetsk, and pushed Ukrainian forces to the right bank of Siverskyi Donets river until early September.
The second battle started on 10 September during Ukraine's counteroffensive. By 30 September Ukrainian forces had closed in on the city and cut off the only road left supplying the occupying forces. [27]
Luhansk Oblast, also referred to as Luhanshchyna (Луга́нщина), 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.
Sievierodonetsk, also spelled Severodonetsk, is a city in Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located to the northeast of the left bank of the Donets river and approximately 110 km (68 mi) to the northwest from the administrative center of the oblast, Luhansk. Sievierodonetsk faces neighbouring Lysychansk across the river. The city, whose name comes from the above-mentioned river, had a population of 99,067, making it then the second-most populous city in the oblast. Since June 2022, it has been militarily occupied and administered by Russia.
Lysychansk, is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located on the high right bank of the Donets River, approximately 115 kilometres (71 mi) from the administrative center of the oblast, Luhansk. It faces Sievierodonetsk across the river. Its population before the Russian invasion of Ukraine was approximately 93,340.
Rubizhne is a city in Luhansk Oblast, in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Situated on the left bank of the Donets River near the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. Prior to 2020, it was a city of oblast significance, before the designation was abolished.
Avdiivka, is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The city is located in the centre of the oblast, just north of the regional centre, Donetsk. The large Avdiivka Coke Plant is located in Avdiivka. The city had a pre-war population of 31,392 ; but in October 2023, it was reported as 1,600 and then 'just over 1,000', mostly living below ground level.
Lyman, formerly known as Krasnyi Lyman from 1925 to 2016, is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Until 2016, it also served as the administrative center of Lyman Raion, though it was not part of the raion, being incorporated as a city of oblast significance. It still serves as the administrative center of Lyman urban hromada. The population was 20,066, down from 28,172 in 2001.
The eastern Ukraine campaign is a theatre of operation in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine affecting oblasts in eastern Ukraine: Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast and Kharkiv Oblast. The invasion is an escalation or intensification of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which had been waging between Ukraine and Russian proxies since 2014.
The battle of Rubizhne was a military engagement that started on 15 March 2022 and ended on 12 May 2022 during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, as part of the eastern Ukraine offensive and the battle of Donbas.
The battle of Avdiivka is an ongoing military engagement between the Russian Armed Forces and Russian-controlled Donbas militias on one side and the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the other. It is being fought over the city of Avdiivka, located in the Donbas region. Fighting started when violence erupted in the Donbas again on 21 February 2022, when Russian president Vladimir Putin recognized the Donetsk People's Republic. Days later, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Avdiivka was among the first places to be attacked.
The battle of Donbas was a military offensive that is 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 battle of Sievierodonetsk was a military engagement in the wider battle of Donbas of the Eastern Ukraine offensive during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The battle of the Siverskyi Donets was a series of military engagements which took place in May 2022, most notably from 5 to 13 May, on the Lyman–Sievierodonetsk front of the battle of Donbas. It was part of the wider eastern Ukraine offensive during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Sloviansk offensive was a series of military engagements in villages south of the town of Izium, including the villages of Bohorodychne, Dovhenke, and Krasnopillia between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the battle of Donbas that started following the Russian victory at the battle of Izium. This offensive was part of a longer-term Russian drive towards Sloviansk and of a larger attempted encirclement of Ukraine's Donbas.
The battle of Lysychansk was a military engagement between Russia and Ukraine in the wider battle of Donbas of the eastern Ukraine campaign during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. By May 2022, Lysychansk and its twin city of Sievierodonetsk were the two largest cities of the Luhansk Oblast not under Russian control. Russian forces launched an assault on Sievierodonetsk in May where a fierce battle occurred until late June, when Ukrainian forces withdrew from the city. Fighting then continued as Russian forces started to attack Lysychansk across the 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 battle of Siversk was a military engagement during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, as part of the battle of Donbas of the wider eastern Ukraine offensive, that began on 3 July 2022. Russian forces ceased launching assaults on and around Siversk on 28 July, with a lull in fighting throughout August. Due to gains made from the Kharkiv counteroffensive, Russian forces were unable to make further gains towards Siversk from September 8.
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 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 2 October 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 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.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Russo-Ukrainian War:
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Russian forces in eastern Ukraine captured the centre of the railway hub town of Lyman and encircled most of Sievierodonetsk, Ukrainian officials acknowledged on Friday, as Kyiv's forces fell back in the face of Moscow's biggest advance for weeks, though Ukraine insisted its forces were still holding firm at new defensive lines in the eastern Donbas region, Reuters reported. Ukrainian officials acknowledged that Russia had captured most of Lyman. But the defense ministry said forces were still holding out in northeastern and southwestern districts, blocking the Russians from launching an advance towards Sloviansk, a major city a half-hour drive further southwest.
