| Battle of Ocheretyne | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Eastern Ukraine campaign of the Russian invasion of Ukraine | |||||||||
 Ukrainian soldiers in Ocheretyne after Russian shelling | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Russia |  Ukraine | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 10,000 | 3,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Heavy [4] | ||||||||
A battle took place in and around the village of Ocheretyne, Donetsk Oblast, in April 2024, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ocheretyne is a Ukrainian settlement in Donetsk Oblast located near the strategically important H20 highway. It is located 15 km north of central Avdiivka and about 35 km north-northwest of Donetsk city, the capital of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. [5] [6] Ocheretyne had a population of around 3,000 residents prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [7]
On 16 April 2024, Russian forces advanced towards the settlement, and fighting over the settlement began. [8] According to Forbes journalist David Axe, Russian troops numbered 10,000, including soldiers from the 15th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, 30th Motor Rifle Brigade, 74th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, elements of the 90th Guards Tank Division and special forces units. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops numbered only 3,000, including soldiers from the 23rd, 47th, 100th and 115th Mechanized Brigades, the 25th Airborne Brigade, the 3rd Assault Brigade and the 425th Assault Battalion. [9] The 115th Mechanised Brigade arrived in Ocheretyne in April 2024. According to Mykola Melnyk, a well-known company commander in the 47th Mechanized Brigade, the 115th Mechanised Brigade left their positions without permission, which led to a breakthrough by Russian forces within 48 hours. [10] On 23rd April 2024, Ukrainian media reported that the army's leadership in Kyiv had launched an investigation to find out the reason for the 115th Mechanized Brigade's unauthorized leave. On 23 April, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia Group of Forces claimed that Russian forces were using chemical weapons. However, Voloshyn did not specify what type of chemical weapons were being used. [11]
On 23 April 2024, Russian milblogers claimed that Russian forces have captured the settlement. [12] Later that day, the Ukrainians denied this, and claimed that while Russian troops had entered the village, it remained contested. They also claimed to have killed or wounded 20 Russian soldiers and destroyed seven armored vehicles in a strike the previous day. [13] On 26 April, Voloshyn claimed that Ukraine still controlled two-thirds of Ocheretyne. [14] He also claimed that Russian forces brought in additional reserves from the 55th Mountain Motor Rifle Brigade to break through the Ukrainian defenses. [15] On 27 April, a speaker of the Ukrainian defense forces stated that Ocheretyne was only partially captured by Russian troops and battles were ongoing. [16]
On 28 April 2024, The Guardian reported that Russian forces captured Ocheretyne and overran Soloviove and Novokalynove. [17] [18] The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed the capture of Ocheretyne on 5 May 2024. Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the status of Ocheretyne, and the settlement was not mentioned in the daily field report. [7]
The capture of Ocheretyne provided Russian forces the local high ground north of Avdiivka, allowing for further advances northwards and westwards into Donetsk Oblast, and a potential flanking advance west of the Toretsk-New York agglomeration.[ citation needed ]
After establishing a foothold in Ocheretyne, Russian forces expanded the buffer zone south of the salient, capturing the villages of Novobakhmutivka and Soloviove in quick succession by 1 May. [19] [20] Russian troops also advanced west of Ocheretyne, with clashes reported along the Novooleksandrivka-Sokil direction on 3 May. [21] The Russians were also advancing on a separate axis east of Ocheretyne, capturing Novokalynove and Keramik by 30 April, according to DeepStateMap.Live. [22] After capturing Ocheretyne and Keramik, the Russians further advanced northwards and captured Arkhanhelske by 5 May, according to DeepState. [23]
According to DeepStateMap.Live, the capture of Ocheretyne was the fastest penetration into Ukrainian territory by Russian forces in recent months. [24] The capture of at least parts of the village was attributed to a rotational error by Ukrainian military commanders that left the sector mostly undefended and led to Russian forces advancing five kilometers. [25] [26] Some observers blamed the 115th Mechanized Brigade, which had recently rotated into positions in Ocheretyne and was almost immediately overwhelmed by the Russian army's 30th Motor Rifle Brigade. [9] DeepStateMap claimed in a Telegram post that the leadership of the 115th Mechanized Brigade was "responsible for the collapse of the defense in the entire sector, allowing significant losses". [27] Other observers blamed recent delays in American military aid. [28]
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 population of 31,392 before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but it was reported as 1,600 in October 2023, and then "just over 1,000", mostly living below ground level.
The 128th Mountain Assault Brigade is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
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.
Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, was the largest coke producer in Ukraine and is owned by the company Metinvest, which is in turn owned by Rinat Akhmetov, a Ukrainian oligarch. AKHZ also produced a variety of chemicals including benzine, coal tar, coal oil ammonium sulphate and coke gas. The plant consisted of 13 main and 30 auxiliary workshops as well as service structural divisions.
The Donetsk People's Republic is an internationally unrecognized 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 by Russia in 2022.
This page provides information on the most recently known control of localities in Ukraine during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, which started in 2014 and escalated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It includes all larger localities across the country, as well as some smaller localities close to current or recent lines of contact.
Ukraine's easternmost oblasts, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, are the site of a theatre of operation in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ocheretyne is a rural settlement in Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine now is in Russia. Its population is approximately 3,378. The town is the administrative center of Ocheretyne settlement hromada.
The battle of Avdiivka was a major battle between the Russian and Ukrainian Armed Forces for control of Avdiivka, a city in Donetsk Oblast, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After more than a year and a half of intermittent fighting along the city's outskirts, Russian forces launched an offensive to capture Avdiivka on 10 October 2023, resulting in what was considered one of the bloodiest and fiercest battles of the war.
The 55th Guards Mountain Motor Rifle Brigade is a mechanized infantry brigade of the Russian Ground Forces. It is located in Kyzyl, Tyva Republic, as part of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District.
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The 115th Mechanized Brigade is a brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces formed in 2022.
Ocheretyne settlement hromada is a hromada of Ukraine, located in Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast. Its administrative center is the town of Ocheretyne.
Stepove is a rural-type settlement in Ocheretyne settlement hromada, Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) northwest of the city Avdiivka. Before 2016, it was known as Petrivske (Ukrainian: Петрі́вське As part of decommunization in Ukraine in 2016, it was renamed to Stepove. In February 2024 it fell to Russian forces.
Lastochkyne is a rural-type settlement in Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Battle of Avdiivka and subsequent fall of the city to Russian forces placed the settlement in the frontline. It was captured by Russian forces on 24 February 2024.
As part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a battle has been taking between the Russian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces for control of the city of Chasiv Yar since 4 April 2024.
Semenivka is a village in Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Battle of Avdiivka and subsequent capture of the city by Russian forces led to the village eventually becoming a frontline settlement. While natural defensive lines including hills and a local water reservoir have aided Ukrainian forces in the defense of the village: a lack of proper man-made defenses, alongside shortages in personnel and equipment, have been cited by multiple Ukrainians as making the continued defense of the village particularly difficult in wake of simultaneous Russian attacks from positions in Berdychi in the northeast and Orlivka in the southeast. As of April 2024, the village is occupied by Russian forces.
Umanske is a village in Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Battle of Avdiivka and subsequent capture of the city by Russian forces led to the village gaining the potential to become a frontline settlement after closer villages like Tonenke were taken in the days following. Between 30 March and 1 April, one of the largest Russian assaults of the war took place from Tonenke towards the village, but was stopped after incurring losses. On 9 May 2024, the village became disputed by Ukrainian and Russian forces after geolocated footage provided evidence of Russian forces moving into the center of the village.
Novobakhmutivka is a village in Solovyivskyi Starostynske district, Solovyov village council of the Ocheretyne settlement hromada, Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. As of 2001, the population was 191 people.
The 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive was a major offensive against Russian forces occupying its territory with a goal of breaching the front lines. Efforts were made in many directions, primarily in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, among others. In total, Ukraine recaptured 14 villages in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, with a total pre-war population of around 5,000 but took heavy casualties. Western officials have said that such losses were not unexpected for attacking forces. The counteroffensive was widely regarded as a failure but also a crucial moment in the war.
On Sunday, Russia said the nearby village of Novobakhmutivka had fallen to its forces.
