Published on April 17, 2017
The Battle of Debaltseve started in mid-January 2015, during the ongoing war in the Donbass region of Ukraine, after the separatist forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) vowed to recapture the city in Donetsk Oblast, which had been under Ukrainian control since a counter-offensive by government forces in July 2014. Debaltseve lay in a “wedge” of Ukrainian-held territory bordered by the DPR on one side, and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) on the other. It is a vital railway and road junction. Ukrainian forces withdrew from the city on 18 February 2015.
