Pisky, Pokrovsk Raion

Pisky ( uk, Піски) is a village in Pokrovsk Raion (district) in Donetsk Oblast of eastern Ukraine, at about 10 km NW from the center of Donetsk and at about 2 km from the western border of Donetsk airfield. Before 2014, the village was a former wealthy suburb of Donetsk.The 93rd brigade: Part of the Red Army in WWII, it now fights against Russian-backed separatists
The Independent (13 June 2015) It had a population of 2,160 in the 2001 census, but most residents left during the 2014–2022 war in Donbas.

History

Russo-Ukrainian War

In the war in Donbas the village switched hands many times (between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces).We Can Win After All
The Ukrainian Week (6 August 2015) The village has been controlled by the Ukrainian army since 21 July 2014. According to an eyewitness, the Dnipro Battalion captured the settlement that day on its own initiative. Commander of Dnipro Battalion's squadron 5 Volodymyr Shylov claims they then ignored orders to leave Pisky. Since then the village has come under daily attack from the separatists.

Pisky was one of the hotspots of the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport, from September 2014 to January 2015.Shelling pierces ceasefire in Ukraine's ghost town of Pisky
Ukraine Today (26 Nov. 2015)

The conflict brought both civilian and military casualties to the village that had a population of 2,000 before the war in Donbas. In June 2015, only a dozen of the poorest civilians continued to live in Pisky, many of them shell-shocked and bearing injuries. By then, the village lay in ruins. On 27 August 2015 the village had six residents – according to observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. BBC News correspondent Fergal Keane reported on 8 February 2016 that 18 people lived in Pisky.Return to the village on Ukraine's frontline
BBC News (8 February 2016)

In late July 2022, Pisky became a battleground in a renewed Russian offensive during the Battle of Avdiivka. The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) claimed on 5 August that it had taken the control of the village, while the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine rejected these early claims. On 10 August, Russian forces used TOS-1 thermobaric weapons on Ukrainian positions in central Pisky. Meanwhile, Russian and DPR sources claimed that roughly 90 percent of Pisky had been captured. By 12 August, Russian sources claimed that Russian forces "controlled" the "situation" in Pisky, suggesting control of the village, though the Ukrainians did not confirm the loss of the front line settlement. Satellite imagery and combat footage posted online suggested the village had been "visibly leveled" by bombardment during the Russian assault.

On August 14, 2022, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov stated that "as a result of offensive operations by the allied forces, the settlement of Peski in the Donetsk People’s Republic has been completely liberated." The Ukrainian military denied the village had been captured and insisted that clashes were ongoing, and on August 16 fighting was still ongoing. On August 26, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed that the village had been captured by the DPR.

On August 31, 2022, the ISW announced that Russia had captured Pisky village in their Russian offensive campaign assessment.

References

External links

Weather forecast for Pisky

Media coverage

The elderly couple trapped on Ukraine's frontline
BBC News Online, 9 February 2016 (video 2:16, ''in English/Russian'')

Return to the village on Ukraine's frontline
BBC News Online, 8 February 2016 (video 4:49, ''in English/Russian'')

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Villages in Pokrovsk Raion