The Battle of Toshkivka was an armed conflict around the city of

Toshkivka Toshkivka ( uk, Тошківка; russian: link=no, Тошковка) is an urban-type settlement in Sievierodonetsk Raion (district) in Luhansk Oblast of eastern Ukraine, at about 30 km WNW from the centre of Luhansk city. Population: H ...

, a mountainous municipality in the

Sieverodonetsk russian: Северодоне́цк , other_name = Severodonetsk , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = Severodoneck prapor.png , image_shield ...

district of the

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast ( uk, Луга́нська о́бласть, translit=Luhanska oblast; russian: Луганская область, translit=Luganskaya oblast; also referred to as Luhanshchyna, uk, Луга́нщина) is the easternmost oblast ...

, as part of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Background

On 24 February 2022,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

invaded

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, in a steep escalation of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...

, which had begun in 2014. The

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

caused Europe's fastest-growing

refugee crisis A refugee crisis can refer to difficulties and dangerous situations in the reception of large groups of Forced displacement, forcibly displaced persons. These could be either internally displaced person, internally displaced, refugees, asylum ...

since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, with more than 6.5 million Ukrainians fleeing the country and a third of the population displaced. On 8 May,

Serhiy Haidai Serhiy Volodymyrovych Haidai ( uk, Сергій Володимирович Гайдай; born 6 November 1975) is a Ukrainian entrepreneur and politician. He is the current head of the Luhansk Regional Military–Civil Administration since 25 ...

, governor of

, said on his Telegram channel that the Russians controlled only half of the city of Popasna, but later admitted Ukrainian forces had pulled out. By 12 May, Russian forces had defeated Ukrainian forces in the

Battle of Rubizhne The battle of Rubizhne was a military engagement that started on 15 March 2022 and ended on 12 May 2022 during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, as part of the eastern Ukraine offensive and the battle of Donbas. Background At around 15:0 ...

and established full control of the city, furthering their attempts at encircling Sievierodonetsk. Toshkivka is a village of 5,000 just south of the major city of

Lysychansk Lysychansk ( uk, Лисича́нськ ; russian: Лисича́нск ) is a city in the Sievierodonetsk Raion of the Luhansk Oblast in Ukraine. Prior to 2020 municipal classification reforms, it was incorporated as a city of oblast significa ...

, and with the nearby town of Ustynivka, was a strategic city for Ukrainian and Russian/pro-Russian forces in the Battle of Donbas. For whoever holds the town, there is access to Lysychansk and the other few towns in

west of the

Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Don ...

river.

Battle

The battle began on May 9, after Russian and LPR forces launched multiple attacks on the settlements of Toshkivka, Voevodivka, and

Nyzhnie Nyzhnie ( ua, Нижнє, pl, Butelka Niżna) is a village (''selo'') in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast, in south-west Ukraine. It belongs to Borynia settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The village is a sister settlement of Verkhne. B ...

, but were repulsed by Ukrainian forces. Nine tanks, one

Orlan-10 The Orlan-10 (russian: Орлан-10) is a reconnaissance, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the Special Technology Center (STC) in Saint Petersburg for the Russian Armed Forces. The Orlan-10 features a composite hull that reduces its ...

drone, and various other equipment on the Russian side were destroyed. After a few days of low-level fighting, the battle raged again on May 20 and May 23, although the Russian forces were unable to gain much ground. In an attempt to relieve troops fighting in the much larger battle of

Sievierodonetsk russian: Северодоне́цк , other_name = Severodonetsk , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = Severodoneck prapor.png , image_shield ...

, Russian forces launched an assault on Toshkivka, which partially succeeded. On June 21, both the Russian and Ukrainian Ministries of Defense stated that Russian and LPR forces were in control of Toshkivka, with the Ukrainian side stating that their troops had also withdrawn from the pocket enveloping the towns of

Hirske Hirske (), or Gorskoye (), is a city in the Sievierodonetsk Raion of the Luhansk Oblast (region) of Ukraine. Population: . History Starting mid-April 2014 pro-Russian separatists captured several towns in Donetsk Oblast; including Hirske. On ...

and

Zolote Zolote ( uk, Золотé; russian: Золотóе; lit. «Golden») is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast (region) of Ukraine. Population: . The town consists of villages that were merged to create Zolote. Currently these villages a ...

References

{{coord missing, Ukraine

May 2022 events in Ukraine June 2022 events in Ukraine Eastern Ukraine offensive Battles involving the Luhansk People's Republic History of Luhansk Oblast

Background

Battle

See also

References