Battle of Donbas (2022) in the context of "2022 Kherson counteroffensive"

Ukraine's easternmost regions, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, have been the site of an ongoing theatre of operation since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The battle of Donbas was a major offensive in the eastern theatre that took place in mid-2022. By the culmination of the offensive in July 2022, Russian forces and their separatist allies had captured the cities of Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Rubizhne and Izium. However, in early September, Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive in the east, which recaptured the cities of Izium, Balakliia, Kupiansk, Sviatohirsk and the strategic city of Lyman. The counteroffensive stalled east of the Oskil river, and a campaign in eastern Kharkiv Oblast and western Luhansk Oblast has continued since, though Donetsk Oblast has remained the most active area of the frontline.

The Battle of Sievierodonetsk was a military engagement in the wider battle of Donbas of the eastern Ukraine campaign during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The city of Sievierodonetsk acted as the administrative center of unoccupied Luhansk Oblast prior to the invasion. By May 2022, Sievierodonetsk and the neighbouring city of Lysychansk were the only notable parts of the oblast that remained under Ukrainian control.