The Battle of Debaltseve was a military confrontation in the city of Debaltseve, Donetsk Oblast, between the pro-Russian separatist forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), and the Ukrainian Armed Forces, starting in mid-January 2015 during the war in the Donbas region. The Russian forces composed mostly of "Wagner Group" soldiers recaptured Debaltseve, which had been under Ukrainian control since a counter-offensive by government forces in July 2014. The city lay in a "wedge" of Ukrainian-held territory bordered by the DPR on one side, and the LPR on the other, and was a vital road and railway junction.
Separatist and Russian forces began a concerted effort to force Ukrainian troops out of the city on 16–17 January, sparking the battle. Heavy fighting went on until 18 February 2015, when Ukrainian forces retreated from Debaltseve to Artemivsk (present-day Bakhmut).
It was the last major battle during the 2014–2015 phase of the war in Donbas, as the Minsk II ceasefire took effect on 15 February 2015, although fighting continued in Debaltseve for several days after.
Background
Debaltseve came under the control of pro-Russian forces in April 2014. Ukrainian forces managed to recapture the city on 28 July 2014, and continued to hold on to it firmly until January 2015. On 12 August troops of the 25th Airborne Brigade and the National Guard of Ukraine were able to establish control over the nearby city of Vuhlehirsk. After the Minsk Protocol ceasefire agreement was signed on 5 September 2014, intermittent violations occurred around Debaltseve.
As the "LPR" and "DPR" forces commanded by Igor Girkin (who had FSB background) were largely formed of ex-soldiers and people with little military experience, they were losing to Ukrainian army counter-offensive. In response, Russian command made decision to send GRU military intelligence units to change balance of forces. Russian leadership insisted the fighting was done by "LPR/DPR militias" in spite of overwhelming evidence that Russian soldiers and weapons were transferred through the border from Russia. Only after the start of the full-scale war in 2022 and especially after death of Dmitry Utkin ("Wagner") in 2023, Russian media and obituaries started openly mentioning their military engagement in Donbas.
Events
Thousands of Ukrainian troops dug in at Debaltseve in January 2015. The city is a vital railway and road junction, and was sandwiched between DPR and LPR territories as a "pocket" or "wedge" of Ukrainian territory - a 15-mile salient into separatist-controlled territory. Most residents had left by this time, with shops closed, schools abandoned, and houses damaged. Intermittent shelling of the city was common in the months preceding the January 2015 escalation. Heavy shelling, however, began on 17 January, and continued through 20 January.
Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions in the area around Debaltseve on 22 January. Heavy shelling continued into the next day, while Ukrainian forces continued to hold their positions in the city. An empty school building was hit by a shell during the fighting. In retaliation, Ukrainian forces began an artillery barrage on separatist positions outside the city. On the following day, the DPR vowed to retake Debaltseve, which was surrounded by DPR and LPR-controlled territory on three sides. According to a report on 24 January, a Ukrainian checkpoint near the city came under direct attack by Russian forces. Russian forces attacked another Ukrainian checkpoint near Debaltseve on 25 January, but the attack was repelled. On the next day, such attacks continued, with heavy fighting taking place all around Debaltseve. A resident of the city told Reuters that Debaltseve had been almost completely surrounded by Russian forces, but that Ukrainian forces had managed to hold on despite constant attacks.
Separatist advance
Russian forces attempted to enter Debaltseve on 27 January, this time from the direction of Horlivka, but were repelled. On the following day, a DPR commander said that his forces had captured the highway that leads into the city, and that the city had been nearly completely surrounded. However, Ukrainian member of parliament Dmytro Tymchuk said that separatist forces had been forced to "scale back" their offensive in the Debaltseve area. According to him, an artillery counterattack by government forces had caused heavy losses amongst separatists that had been trying to cut off Ukrainian troops from Ukrainian-controlled territory. BBC News released a video that showed Russian forces caught in this shelling. Despite this, on 29 January separatists captured Vuhlehirsk, a town 13 kilometres (8 mi) west of Debaltseve on the highway to DPR-controlled Horlivka. The separatists broke through Ukrainian lines, overran a government checkpoint, entered the town, and then proceeded into its centre. Reinforcements were sent to aid government soldiers in Vuhlehirsk. According to an Associated Press report, the loss of this town made it much more difficult for Ukrainian forces to hold onto Debaltseve. Meanwhile, three civilians in Debaltseve proper were killed by what government forces described as "continuous" shelling by the Russian forces.
During the day on 30 January, shells hit a bus, and also a cultural centre in Kyibishevskiy district that was being used to distribute humanitarian aid. According to the BBC, many civilians became trapped along with Ukrainian troops in the city. Some escaped to Bakhmut, in Ukrainian-controlled territory at the entrance to Debaltseve pocket. A report by Russian television channel Vesti said that around 8,000 Ukrainian troops remained in Debaltseve, and that Russian forces were close to closing the pocket's entrance. Ukrainian territorial defence battalion commander Semen Semenchenko said that some Ukrainian soldiers continued to hold out in Vuhlehirsk, despite the fact that it was largely under DPR control. Spokesman for the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Andriy Lysenko said that reinforcements had arrived to relieve Ukrainian troops at Vuhlehirsk, and that the front line was holding. Over the course of the day, Ukrainian supply lines were nearly cut off, as Grad rocket fire made it difficult for armoured personnel carriers and lorries to travel on the 50-kilometre (31 mi) north–south highway between Bakhmut and Debaltseve. At least seven civilians were killed when a Grad rocket struck a block of flats in the city. The remaining residents of Debaltseve began to attempt to evacuate from the city amidst increasing fighting. Three buses per day were arranged to take people out of conflict zone to Bakhmut.
Closing the "kettle"
Twelve more civilians were killed by DPR shelling in Debaltseve on 31 January. Government forces continued to use artillery fire to cut off DPR reinforcements from entering Vuhlehirsk. A ground offensive to dislodge separatists from that town failed, resulting in the deaths of three members of the Donbas Battalion, and injuring battalion commander Semenchenko. Evacuation of civilians from Debaltseve continued amid harsh winter conditions. As of that day, the city had been without water, gas, or electricity for at least ten days. According to Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, at least 1,000 people had been evacuated from Debaltseve by 31 January. Ukrainian defence minister Stepan Poltorak confirmed that part of Debaltseve was under DPR control.
On the first day of February, the situation in Debaltseve rapidly deteriorated. According to the Kyiv Post, some units of the National Guard of Ukraine had been forced to flee as Russian forces pushed into the outskirts of the city. The situation in Debaltseve continued to worsen into 2 February. The New York Times reported that it appeared that the separatists could seize the Bakhmut highway "at any moment". The road had become nearly impassable, with multiple refugee-laden buses having been hit by artillery fire. Referring to the pocket of Ukrainian-held territory around Debaltseve as a "kettle", as became common, DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko said that anyone that attempted to leave "the kettle" would be in the "interlocking field of fire of our artillery". A report by aid workers in the combat zone said that 8,000 residents had escaped from the Debaltseve area by 2 February. One aid worker said that pro-Russian forces were deliberately targeting the buses being used to transport residents out of the city. An observer with Amnesty International said that the humanitarian situation in Debaltseve had become "catastrophic". In order to assist the remaining Ukrainian troops in Debaltseve, the Armed Forces sent a large column of reinforcements, including armoured vehicles and troop transports, from their base of operations at Kramatorsk to besieged Debaltseve.
A ceasefire between Russian and Ukrainian forces was agreed to for the day of 3 February. The stated intent was to allow remaining civilians to escape from the Debaltseve area. Shelling lessened until 13:00 EET, when salvos of Grad rockets were fired towards Debaltseve. Fighting continued into the next day. One resident of Debaltseve who had fled to Bakhmut said that there was "nothing left" in the city. Russian forces gained control of Vuhlehirsk on 4 February, allowing the separatists to increase shelling of the Bakhmut highway and Debaltseve. DPR and Ukrainian forces agreed to establish a humanitarian corridor on 6 February, in another attempt to allow the remaining civilians to escape from Debaltseve. Hundreds of civilians were able to flee. Fighting resumed on 7 February. Russian forces said that they had fully encircled the town by capturing the village of Lohvynove on 9 February, thus "closing the kettle". Only four Ukrainian soldiers had been stationed in the village at the time, allowing the separatists to capture it easily. Government forces said that fighting was still ongoing on the Bakhmut highway, and that the kettle had not been completely closed. By the morning of 10 February, it became clear that separatist forces had gained control of the Bakhmut highway, thereby cutting off government forces. Videos showed DPR militants and tanks moving along the highway. During the day, the Lviv police chief was wounded in an explosion on a road near the town. Ukrainian forces took heavy casualties from artillery fire into 11 February. Nineteen soldiers were killed and seventy-eight injured in twenty-four hours. Those that died had been fighting near Hostra Mohyla hill, close to Debaltseve. In addition, Russian forces assaulted the Debaltseve police headquarters, killing the city's chief of police.