The Russian cross-border artillery shelling of Ukraine happened in July–September 2014 amidst the

war in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

to prevent the defeat of the self-declared

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

and

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...

People's Republics. The

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

performed a series of artillery strikes targeting Ukrainian troops in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

Background

In late June 2014, Ukrainian forces launched a major operation to restore control of the Russo-Ukrainian border. The success of this operation threatened the very existence of Russian-supported DPR and LPR statelets.

History

On 11 July 2014, a Ukrainian camp in Zelenopillya village near Ukrainian-Russian border was shelled by a modern Russian 9K51M "Tornado-G"

M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS) is an American-developed armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher. The U.S. Army variant of the MLRS vehicle is based on the chassis of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The first M270s wer ...

, and Ukrainian forces suffered heavy casualties. A massive and unexpected artillery attack killed 37 and wounded over 100 soldiers. On 13 July 2014, Russia claimed mortar shells fired from Ukrainian territory landed in the courtyard of a private home in the border town of

in the

Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblast, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of and a populati ...

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 ...

. The shelling killed one civilian and injured two others. Russia said it would be considering "surgical strikes" that target Ukrainian military positions near the border, but there would not be a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian artillery shelled Ukrainian territory repeatedly during the following days. Live videos had captured Grad rockets fired from inside Russia. According to

Bellingcat Bellingcat (stylised as bellngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 20 ...

's investigation, they counted at least 1,353 artillery craters in just three locations alone: in

Amvrosiivka Amvrosiivka or Amvrosievka ( uk, Амвросіївка, ; russian: Амвросиевка) is a city and was the administrative center of Amvrosiivka Raion in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. , the population was approximately It is currently occupie ...

city (14 July 2014), location between

Dolzhanskaya Dolzhanskaya (russian: Должанская) is a rural locality (a ''stanitsa'') in Yeysky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern ...

-Capital mine and the village of (16 July to 8 August 2014), and

Khmelnytskyi Khmelnytskyi ( uk, Хмельни́цький, Khmelnytskyi, ), until 1954 Proskuriv ( uk, Проску́рів, links=no ), is a city in western Ukraine, the administrative center for Khmelnytskyi Oblast (region) and Khmelnytskyi Raion (dist ...

(25 July 2014). On 24 July 2014, the

American government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

stated that it had evidence that the Russian military was firing on Ukrainian territory from across the border. A spokesman for the US

Department of Defence Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

stated that there was "no question" as to Russia's involvement in the attacks on

Ukrainian Armed Forces , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly know ...

. On 27 July, U.S. officials confirmed Russia had shelled Ukrainian territory. At the time, Russian government spokesman denied these allegations. On 28 July, US State Department published satellite photos showing heavy artillery shelling Ukrainian positions from Russian territory. The shelling had escalated at least one week prior to a Russian invasion by stealth in August 2014. According to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

reports, Russian military shelled Ukrainian positions across the border from mid-August, and by 22 August, Russian artillery and personnel had crossed the border into Ukraine itself.

References

{{War in Donbas 2014 in Ukraine War in Donbas Military operations involving Russia Donetsk People's Republic Luhansk People's Republic