a portion of the 2022 Eastern Ukraine offensive's Battle of Donbas
Separatist groups that support Russia move their troops toward Lisichansk.
Separatist forces supporting Russia move closer to Lysychansk
25 June until 3 July 2022 (1 week and 1 day)
Location Lysychansk, Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast
Result
Russian and LPR triumph
Territorial \schanges
Lysychansk, Novodruzhesk, Maloriazantseve, and Bila Hora are taken by Russian and LPR forces.
[2]
For a brief time, Russian and LPR forces totally dominate Luhansk Oblast[2]
Entities at War Russia
Ukrainian commanders and leaders Luhansk PR
Sergei Lapin[3]
Zamid Chalaev [ru] and Esedulla Abachev [3]
[4]
[5] Apti Alaudinov Brest Marchuk, Ivan [6]
Russian Armed Forces personnel involved
Russian National Guard's Ground Forces
Patch of the People's Militia of the Lugansk People's Republic (Chechnya Kadyrovites[7]).svg People's Militia of Luhansk
WG8 Wagner Group
Ukrainian Military
53rd Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces [9]
Regiment Kastu Kalinoski [6] [10]
Ukrainian National Guard
Fourth Rapid-Response Brigade[11]
4,500 troops, according to an unknown Russian claim[12].
losses and casualties
Unknown Ukrainian claim: One unit claimed 150 deaths[13].
Russian claim: 600+ taken, 120 killed (as of 1 July)
[14]
[15]
8+ people dead, 42+ wounded vte \s2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
In the larger Battle of Donbas of the Eastern Ukraine assault during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Battle of Lysychansk was a military conflict involving Russia and Ukraine.
[16]
[17] By May 2022, the two biggest cities in the Luhansk Oblast that were not under Russian control were Lysychansk and its twin city Sievierodonetsk. [18]
On May, Russian forces started an assault on Sievierodonetsk where a violent struggle followed until late June, when Ukrainian forces retreated out of the city.
[19] Russian forces then started attacking Lysychansk across the Donets River, which resulted in more fighting. [20]
The pro-Russian rebel Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) declared their forces had taken Lysychansk on July 2 despite Ukraine's early denials, following heavy Russian shelling and ground battles on the city's outskirts.
[21]
[22]
[23] Russia asserted control over Lysychansk on July 3. The general staff of Ukraine acknowledged that their soldiers had left the city "to preserve the lives of Ukrainian defenders." [24]
The entire Luhansk Oblast was taken by the Russian government, with Lysychansk being the final Ukrainian bastion in the area to fall. This has been referred to as the "liberation" of Luhansk Oblast by Russia. [25]
Contents
Background, Battle, Fall of Lysychansk, Post-Battle, and Casualties
5 Analysis
6 Reference Background The main articles are The Battle of the Siverskyi Donets, The Battle of Sievierodonetsk, and The Battle of Donbas (2022). (2022)
Text translated from the related article in Ukrainian may be added to this section to make it longer. (June 2022) Click [show] for critical translation instructions.
On June 16, 2022, first responders arrived at the scene of a Russian airstrike in Lysychansk.
The Donets River separates the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. The west bank's hilltop city of Lysychansk gave Ukrainian defenders a position of advantage. [26] Heavy artillery shelling by Russian forces on April 11 resulted in the destruction of four homes, one fatality, and three injuries. [27] By May 10, the sole Ukrainian strongholds in the entire Luhansk Oblast were Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk. [26] The three bridges that connected the two cities were demolished during the sievierodonetsk combat, giving Ukrainian soldiers a stronger defensive position against Russian attacks across the river. [28]
By the 23rd of June, Russia had made significant advances south of Lysychansk and won the battle at Toshkivka[29]. On June 22, Russian forces seized Loskutivka (UK), Myrna Dolyna (UK), Rai-Oleksandrivka (UK), and Pidlisne (UK). [30] [31] Russian soldiers allegedly completely took Hirske and Zolote the following day after cutting off and encircling the towns on June 23. [32] [33] By 25 June, Russia conquered Sievierodonetsk. [34] Following Russia's success in Sievierodonetsk and their breakthrough in the south, the Russian offensive's focus switched to Lysychansk.
Battle
Lysychansk was the final significant city in the Luhansk Oblast to be under Ukrainian hands following the fall of Sievierodonetsk. Separatist Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) military formations fought alongside Russian infantry with the aid of Russian artillery and aircraft. The Ukrainian National Guard's Rapid Response Brigade emphasised that Lysychansk's defensive positions were easier to defend than those in Sievierodenetsk.
June, whose month is June, whose month is June, whose month is June, whose month is June, whose month is June, NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System reportedly revealed "thermal anomalies" near the gelatin factory, correlating claims of military action there, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). [35] Although this claim could not be independently corroborated at the time, TASS claimed on June 26 that Russian and separatist forces had infiltrated the city from five different directions and were isolating Ukrainian units. While claiming that Lysychansk was being cut off from the south by heavy Russian fire and airstrikes, the Ukrainian military staff made no mention of separatists advancing inside the city. The situation in Lysychansk was described as "a tragedy" by a fleeing civilian who was questioned in Prokovsk. Civilian evacuations had been ordered. [36] [20]
According to a CNN story on June 27, as Russian military advanced into Lysychansk, residents were encouraged to flee right away. According to video footage recorded by citizens of the city, some residents were hesitant to leave their houses and were prepared to stay regardless of who held control of the city. 10,000–15,000 individuals were still present, according to the Lysychansk Military Administration of Ukraine, and just about 50 people were leaving daily. Meanwhile, LPR military leaders said they had blocked off two evacuation routes for Ukrainian forces from the city. [37] Around 10 kilometres southwest of the city centre, at Verkhnokamyanka, Russian forces invaded the Lysychansk Oil Refinery and established their positions, including artillery posts. [38] [failed to verify]
The LPR's envoy to Russia, Rodion Miroshnik, asserted on June 28 that Ukrainian forces in Lysychansk had started to leave the city. They were supposedly making a combat retreat to safer havens in Siversk, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk, according to the ISW theory. [39]
Serhiy Haidai, the Ukrainian governor of Luhansk Oblast, claimed on June 29 that Russian forces had infiltrated Lysychansk's surroundings but denied that there had been fighting inside the city, calling such reports "Russian propaganda." He continued by saying that the city was under attack from numerous sides. According to reports, Ukrainian Su-25 and Su-24m aircraft launched "up to 10 airstrikes" in the vicinity of Lysychansk, hitting fuel stores, armoured fighting vehicles, and logistical hubs for both Russia and the LPR. [40] According to the general staff of Ukraine, a Russian airstrike was launched on the Lysychansk Oil Refinery, where there were allegedly ground conflicts going on. [41]
The Kristall shopping centre was in ruins on June 30 in Lysychansk.
On June 30, the governor Serhiy Haidai reported a "height of battle" with "continuous" Russian shelling and recurrent ground attacks on the city's outskirts. According to the British Defense Ministry's daily intelligence briefing, the oil refinery is likely the focal point of the fighting, while Ukrainian forces within the city itself are still maintaining their positions. [42] According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russians were in control of the refinery's southeast and northwest after having "limited success" in their attacks on the refinery's vicinity. Russian attacks on the settlements of Vovchoiarivka and Maloriazantseve, as well as the village of Topolikva northeast of the refinery, were "partially successful"; the Topolivka-Lysychansk route was under Russian fire control. [43] According to a Sky News report, Russian shelling of Lysychansk was "shockingly indiscriminate" and detailed the situation there. According to a local police officer quoted by journalist Alex Crawford, 60 percent of the city is in ruins and that it is "unrecognisable." From a covert bunker, the "46th Battalion of the 24th Brigade" put up steadfast defence for the Lysychansk Oil Refinery. Due to the loss of utilities, residents of the city were forced to collect water from a nearby lake and wait for food deliveries from aid agencies. There is a "not small" pro-Russian separatist sentiment in the region, as evidenced by the fact that several locals Crawford spoke to blamed the Ukrainian and Western governments rather than Russia for their predicament. [44]
According to Rodion Miroshnik of the LPR, Russian forces have built a "large bridgehead" on the right bank of the Donets and have reached the Lysychansk heliport, and Lysychansk is under attack from four directions. They travelled south-westerly from there toward the city centre with a rather wide front. At the time, these assertions had not been independently validated. [45]
The Lysychansk-Bakhmut roadway was still being cut down when the Russian defence ministry announced on July 1 that its forces had taken the mine and gelatin plant outside the city as well as the northwest village of Pryvillia as part of their encirclement. According to the Russians, the Ukrainians were losing heavily in the area and were experiencing an increase in desertions, with over 120 soldiers dying in one village in a single day. [46][47]
Lysychansk's Fall
Damaged Lysychansk city council building on July 1, 2022
On July 2, governor Serhiy Haidai once more acknowledged the continuous, "high intensity" bombardment of Lysychansk, but he also emphasised that two Russian pushes toward Verkhniokamyanka and the gelatin facility had been thwarted.
[48] After taking control of the "final key heights," the separatists with support from Russia asserted that they had completely encircled the city, but the Ukrainian National Guard insisted that this was not the case. Russian military reportedly arrived in Lysychansk's city centre after that. [49] [50]
Later on July 2, the separatists declared their forces had taken control of the city,[22] a claim that was corroborated by the ISW, which noted that the takeover probably took place after a Ukrainian force withdrawal. The ISW criticised Ukraine for its "outdated or incorrect" denial of the city's capture. [21] A defence blogger monitoring the conflict, Rob Lee, tweeted images of Chechen Rosgvardia soldiers outside Lysychansk's administrative building. The Soviet Banner of Victory was also captured on camera among the remains of the same structure, and citizens were seen putting it at the city's "Memorial of Remembrance For The Fallen Soldiers," which supported Russian claims of capture. [51] [52]
Oleksiy Arestovych, a counsellor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, acknowledged on July 3 that Lysychansk was in jeopardy of Russian capture. Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, claimed that the Russians were "stubbornly advancing" despite suffering losses as they attacked the city "with inexplicably cruel tactics." Sergei Shoigu, Russia's secretary of defence, notified Vladimir Putin that Russian and LPR soldiers had taken complete control of the city, which the LPR claimed had been "swept of Ukrainian nationalists." As part of its larger objective of taking the rest of the Donbas, observers remarked that with the fall of Lysychansk, Russia had accomplished its strategic goal of capturing the entire Luhansk Oblast. [53] [52] [54][55]
Later that day, on July 3, the Ukrainian General Staff announced that their troops had left Lysychansk,[56] but President Zelenskyy refuted claims that the city had been completely taken "We are unable to state with certainty that [Russian] forces are in charge in Lysychansk. On the outskirts of Lysychansk, fighting is taking place." [57] Governor Haidai acknowledged Lysychansk had fallen later that evening, and President Zelenskyy vowed to finally reclaim the city "due to the rise in the availability of modern armaments." [58]
Aftermath
Additional details: Combat in Donbas (2022) Operational stoppage in Russia (4–16 July)
Putin ordered a brief reprieve for the combatants who fought on that front when Lysychansk fell, and Russia afterwards asserted complete authority over the whole Luhansk Oblast. Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, refuted this claim and asserted that fighting was still taking on in towns and villages on the western fringes of Lysychansk, near Siversk. [59] [60] [61]
Serhiy Haidai stated Ukrainian soldiers entered Lysychansk's surroundings on September 10 in preparation for the city's liberation.
[62]
Despite the fact that this hasn't surfaced, [verification needed]. However, both Ukraine and the ISW assert that Bilohorivka is under Ukrainian authority. [63]
Casualties
150 civilians had been killed by combat and shelling in Lysychansk as of May 25.
[64]
At least 8 individuals were killed and 42 others were hurt when Russia attacked a water pipe on June 27.
[65] Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk Oblast, reported that several of the victims of the attack required surgery and lost limbs. Additionally, he stated that cluster bombs, the usage of which is prohibited by international law, were used to carry out this attack (although neither Russia nor Ukraine are party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions). Haidai claimed that the Russians had also been employing anti-personnel mines in the vicinity of Lysychansk. [66] Uncertain - discuss At the time, these assertions had not been independently validated.
There were still 15,000 civilians in Lysychansk on June 28. Before the invasion, the city had a population of 95,000. [66]
Analysis
According to BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale, Ukrainian defenders had initially hoped that Lysychansk's high ground would offer a naturally strong defence, but Russia's encirclement of the city from the south, north, and east, as well as its tactically superior firepower, forced Ukrainian troops to withdraw before the pocket was completely closed. Beale also highlighted that on July 3, Ukrainian officials were "unusually quiet" regarding fighting in the city, maybe for operational security concerns not wanting to announce any tactical retreat. [67]