The 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Kholodnyi Yar" is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces formed in 1992. It has been described as "one of the most brutally effective" of Ukraine’s front-line brigades.
The Donetsk People's Republic is a republic of Russia, comprising the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast, with its capital in Donetsk. The DPR was created by Russian-backed paramilitaries in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed in 2022. The entire territory of DPR is viewed as sovereign territory of Ukraine by nearly all UN member states.
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 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 2nd Battalion of Special Assignment "Donbas" is a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine under to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and formerly based in Severodonetsk. Originally created in 2014 as a volunteer unit called the Donbas Battalion by Semen Semenchenko following the Russian occupation of Crimea and possible invasion of continental Ukraine. The unit first formed in the spring of 2014 during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The unit was initially formed as an independent force, but has been since fully integrated into the National Guard as the 2nd Special Purpose Battalion "Donbas" within the 15th Regiment of the National Guard.
The Battle of Ilovaisk started on 7 August 2014, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine and pro-Ukrainian paramilitaries began a series of attempts to capture the city of Ilovaisk from pro-Russian insurgents affiliated with the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and detachments of the Russian Armed Forces. Although Ukrainian forces were able to enter the city on 18 August, they were encircled between 24 and 26 August by overwhelming Russian military forces that crossed the border, joining the battle. After days of encirclement, Ukrainian forces rejected the DPR's proposal to open a humanitarian corridor on the condition that they abandon their armored vehicles and ammunition, and on the morning of 29 August 2014 began to leave Ilovaisk with their weapons. The Russian side opened fire on the evacuating Ukrainian soldiers, many of whom died whilst trying to escape.
The Second Battle of Donetsk Airport was an engagement between the Ukrainian military and Russian military and its proxy forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) during the War in Donbas. An earlier battle in May 2014 had left Donetsk International Airport in Ukrainian control. Despite a ceasefire agreement, the Minsk Protocol, in place since 5 September 2014, fighting broke out between the warring parties on 28 September 2014.
The Separate Guards Motor Rifle Assault Battalion "Somalia" named after M. S. Tolstykh, often known as Somalia Battalion, is a military unit of Russian Ground Forces. Until January 1, 2023 it was part of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). It is attached to the 51st Guards Combined Arms Army. Its current commander is Timur Kurilkin.
The Sparta Battalion or 80th Separate Guards Reconnaissance Battalion "Sparta" named after A. S. Pavlov is a special purpose unit of the Russian Armed Forces. Until 2023, unit was part of Russian people's militia military unit of the Russian republic of Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine. The unit has been fighting against the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbas war and the 2022 Russian invasion. Formed in 2014, it was initially led by the Russian-born Arsen Pavlov until his death in October 2016, and then by Vladimir Zhoga, from Sloviansk, until his death in March 2022.
The Prizrak Brigade (Russian: Бригада «Призрак», romanized: Brigada "Prizrak", lit. 'Ghost Brigade'), founded by Aleksey Mozgovoy, is an infantry unit of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), one of the self-proclaimed breakaway states located in the Donbas. It has been officially designated Prizrak Mechanized Brigade and 4th Territorial Defense Brigade (Alchevsk). According to Amnesty International, the unit is one of the separatist units known for brutal treatment and torture of prisoners of war. Until January 1, 2023, it was part of the Luhansk People's Militia. It is attached to the 3rd Guards Combined Arms Army.
The Right SectorUkrainian Volunteer Corps or simply the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, was the paramilitary arm of right-wing Ukrainian nationalist party Right Sector. The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps was founded on July 17, 2014, as one of the "volunteer battalions", created as a response to the rise of pro-Russian separatism and the Russian intervention in the war in Donbas.
The Battle of Marinka was a short battle in the war in Donbas in and around Marinka, Donetsk Oblast which took place on 3 June 2015. Ukrainian forces fought the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) Republican Guard and Pyatnashka Brigade under Akhra Avidzba. The town of Marinka was briefly seized by the DPR forces before it was recaptured by the Ukrainians.
Pisky is a destroyed rural settlement in Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest from the center of the administrative center of the oblast, Donetsk, and about two kilometres (1.2 mi) from the western border of Donetsk airfield. Before 2014, the village was a former wealthy suburb of Donetsk. It had a population of 2,160 in the 2001 census, but most residents left during the war in Donbas, with only 9 people remaining as of 2019. In 2022, the village came under Russian occupation following a battle.
The combatants of the war in Donbas included foreign and domestic forces.
The 110th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, is a unit of the Russian Ground Forces.
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 Russo-Ukrainian War has seen foreign volunteers participate on both sides of the conflict. Most foreign fighters joined the conflict during one of two waves. The first wave happened from 2014 to 2019 during the War in the Donbas and consisted of approximately 17,241 foreign fighters. The second wave is considered by researchers to have been much larger and began in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
During May–July 2014, a series of military engagements took place for control of the village of Karlivka in Donetsk Oblast, in eastern Ukraine.
The 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive was a major offensive against Russian forces occupying Ukrainian territory with the goal of breaching the front lines. Efforts were made in many directions, primarily in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. In total, Ukraine recaptured 14 villages with a total pre-war population of around 5,000 but suffered heavy casualties in the process. Western officials have said that such losses were not unexpected for attacking forces. The counteroffensive was widely regarded as a crucial moment in the war but also as a failure for Ukrainian forces.
On 18 July 2024, Russian forces began an offensive with the goal of capturing the strategically important city of Pokrovsk. Pokrovsk serves as an important supply route and as a transportation hub for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukrainian soldiers on this part of the front are mostly made of poorly trained conscripts who reportedly had little to no training. Many Ukrainian conscripts had been reported to have deserted over the course of the offensive.
Donetsk People's Republic (2015–2022)
Russia (2022–present)
Russian Ground Forces (2022–present)
51st Combined Arms Army 
