Battle of Marinka

The Battle of Marinka was a short battle in the War in Donbass in and around Marinka, Donetsk Oblast. It involved the Ukrainian 28th Guards Mechanised Brigade, 30th Mechanized Brigade, 43rd Artillery Brigade and 93rd Mechanized Brigade.

The battle

According to the Ukrainian military, fighting around the government-held town of Marinka began at 3 a.m. in the morning of 3 June when separatists launched an offensive with tanks and 1,000 fighters. The DPR stated that this attack was in response to the heavy Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk, Horlivka, Staromykhailivka and Yenakiieve on the night of June 2 to the morning of June 3. They added that those shellings killed 15 people in DPR-held territory near Marinka. The separatist attack began with artillery fire, followed by an infantry and tank assault as the sun came up. The fighting lasted nearly 12 hours before stopping, but resumed again soon after. The fighting had also spread to Krasnohorivka, and both towns were in flames as bloody and chaotic street battles took place. Rocket and artillery fire was also exchanged.

By the end of the day, the rebels gained control over a portion of the town, with a Ukrainian member of parliament saying 70 percent of Marinka was DPR-held. The situation in Marinka stabilized during the early evening as a cease-fire took hold. The Ukrainian military stated that the cease-fire restored their control of the town and both the Donetsk People's Republic's Defence Minister Vladimir Kononov and the Ukrainian military confirmed to the OSCE that Marinka was under Ukrainian control. Fighting in and around Marinka left 20 separatists and four soldiers dead, while 99 separatists and 39 soldiers were wounded. An additional 9 civilians had been killed with a further 30 wounded.

Kyiv Post quoted Ukrainian military commanders who said that if the separatists had captured Marinka and Krasnohorivka it would have created a choke point for the Ukrainian forces at Pisky and Avdiivka (north and northwest of Donetsk). Ukrainian soldiers who fought in the battle told Kyiv Post that they believed the battle was intended to test their capabilities. This view was echoed by Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer.

Aftermath

On 4 June, an AP reporter briefly visited the town and confirmed it was under government control, with troops conducting mop-up operations. In the same day, according to the DPR, Ukrainian government artillery and mortar fire continued to hit multiple DPR-held cities, including Donetsk, leaving 16 separatist fighters and five civilians dead, while 86 fighters and 38 civilians were wounded. The following day, the Ukrainian president claimed the military had recaptured Marinka, after expelling the separatists, and captured 12 "saboteurs", including one Russian citizen. His claim was not independently confirmed. The rebels denied they attacked Marinka and described the fighting that took place at the town as them counter-attacking.