Debaltseve
A railway hub from which, on 18 February 2015, the troops walked out under fire.
A town where six railway lines meet, and the site of the largest battle of that war in the winter of 2015. About 4,700 Ukrainian soldiers held the Debaltseve salient; against them, according to the General Staff, there were more than nineteen thousand. On 9 February the enemy took Lohvynove and cut the road to Artemivsk — the only supply route. On 12 February the Minsk agreements on a ceasefire from the 15th were signed, but the shelling of the town did not stop. On 18 February at 13:00 the General Staff ordered an organised withdrawal, and that walk out under fire became the first large evacuation of a grouping in this war. During the defence 136 soldiers were killed, 331 were wounded, seven were taken prisoner and eighteen remain missing. State awards went to 379 soldiers, 136 of them posthumously.
Temporarily occupied since February 2015. 18 February is the day of remembrance of the battles for Debaltseve.
Chronicle
- 25 January 2015 — The start of active fighting for the salient and the railway hub.
- 9 February 2015 — The enemy took Lohvynove and cut the road to Artemivsk — the only supply route.
- 12 February 2015 — The Minsk agreements on a ceasefire from 15 February were signed; the shelling of the town went on.
- 18 February 2015 — At 13:00 the General Staff ordered an organised withdrawal; 136 soldiers were killed during the defence.