Knowledge Tree
Donetsk region
Also known as: Donetsk region, Donetsk
Facts (15)
Sources
War in Ukraine | Global Conflict Tracker - Council on Foreign Relations cfr.org Feb 24, 2026 15 facts
accountGeneral Oleksandr Syrsky ordered the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka, a town in Donetsk, to avoid encirclement after four months of fighting.
claimMoscow continues attempts to capture the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
claimRussia redeployed forces eastward to Donetsk and sent tens of thousands of reinforcements to the area in preparation for a February 2023 offensive.
accountA Russian airstrike on a residential area in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, killed one person and wounded two others.
claimUkraine launched a counteroffensive in June 2023 to break through Russian defenses in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia provinces, the latter of which forms a land corridor to Crimea.
measurementDuring the fall and winter campaigns of 2024, Russian forces seized over 4,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, primarily in the east and southeast, specifically in the Donetsk region.
claimRussian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to Luhansk and Donetsk for a function he described as peacekeeping.
claimPresident Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into the Luhansk and Donetsk regions under the guise of a peacekeeping function.
measurementRussian fall and winter campaigns seized over 4,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, primarily in the east and southeast, specifically in Donetsk.
claimThe United States imposed sanctions on the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to Russia's deployment of troops.
claimDespite Russian denials of military involvement in eastern Ukraine, both Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) reported the presence of Russian troops and military equipment near Donetsk, as well as Russian cross-border shelling.
claimThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Ukraine reported the presence of Russian troops and military equipment near Donetsk, as well as Russian cross-border shelling, during the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
accountPro-Russian separatists in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk held independence referendums in 2014, leading to armed conflict between Russian-backed forces and the Ukrainian military.
accountRussian forces are attempting to press forward around Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine by exploiting weakened air defense systems as part of Moscow's attempt to capture the Donetsk region.
claimVladimir Putin moved to illegally annex the Ukrainian territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia in February 2023.