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Battle of Artemivsk
File:1404502196 img 6177.jpg Battle in the center of Bakhmut (July 4, 2014)
Date April 12 - July 6, 2014 Location  Ukraine Bakhmut, Donetsk Region Result Victory for the Armed Forces of Ukraine Establishment of full control over the city by the Armed Forces of Ukraine Successful defense of military warehouses
Belligerents
Ukraine	Russia  Donetsk People's Republic
Commanders and leaders
Vasyl Krutov Olexandr Trepak	/ Ihor Strelkov
Units involved
Ukrainian Ground Forces 3rd Special Purpose Regiment National Guard of Ukraine	Russian people's militias in Ukraine

Battle of Artemivsk was a conflict in the 2014 Russian-Ukrainian war in eastern Ukraine. Armed confrontation in the city of Artemivsk (since 2016 Bakhmut) of the Donetsk region and its surroundings between the 3rd Special Forces Regiment and Russian militias.

Prerequisites

During March–May 2014, pro-Russian demonstrations took place in many cities of the eastern, central, and southern regions of Ukraine. The reason for the speeches was the process of Russia's occupation of Crimea. The actions took place under Russian flags and with pro-Russian slogans, they put forward a wide range of demands — from the transition to a federal system of Ukraine to calls for the dismemberment of the territory of Ukraine and the repetition of the "Crimea scenario" with its incorporation into Russia.

Pro-Russian rallies in Artemivsk

On March 1, 2014, the first mass pro-Russian rally took place in the city. The organizers of the rally sounded openly separatist, calls for unification with Russia and holding a referendum. On the same day, the Russian flag was raised over the city council building.

Similar rallies continued until the second half of April 2014. The rhetoric and slogans did not change, but the number of participants in the actions became fewer and fewer. On April 13, 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched an anti-terrorist operation to restore control over the Donetsk region and the city of Artemivsk in particular.

The Ukrainian authorities organized the removal of weapons from military warehouses in early March 2014.

Course of events

April

On April 7, Ukrainian symbols were removed from the building of the Artemiv City Council.

On April 12, the authorities of the Donetsk People's Republic were declared separatists in Artemivsk. The Russian leaders of the invasion units were counting on a repeat of the "Crimean scenario.".

On April 19, the forces of the 3rd special purpose regiment reinforced the garrison of the small arms storage arsenal in the village of Paraskoviivka.

Oleksandr Trepak, together with several reconnaissance groups, went to the Bakhmut area (Artemivsk at that time). Together with special purpose units of the Military Law Enforcement Service, Kirovohrad residents guarded the Center for Armored Weapons Provision, located in Bakhmut (1282nd center for providing armored weapons and equipment — unit A2730) and the base for storing small arms in the village of Paraskoviivka (unit A-4176).

April 24, the first (unsuccessful) assault by separatists on the military unit located in Artemivsk took place.

May

On May 25, separatists succeeded in disrupting the holding of the presidential elections in the city.

June

On June 7, Volodymyr Chobotka, the commander of the armored forces base, was wounded and taken prisoner in the city. Pekar's group of 6 people left in a white civilian van to get him after an alarm went off. A group of militants drove off to meet them in the same looking civilian car. The deputy commander of the group of the 3rd regiment with the call sign, Merzavchik was the first to orientate himself - the militants' car was shot by machine guns. In a few seconds, three militants were killed, one was wounded and one was captured. Veles was the "commandant of the city of Artemivsk" among the killed militants. Pekar's group took away the weapons and documents of the militants.

A reconnaissance group of 8 special forces soldiers began an operation to search for and evacuate an seriously wounded officer. For this, it was necessary to seize a separatist checkpoint at the entrance to the city and hold it for around 3 hours to allow another group to evacuate a wounded man by helicopter. During the battle, the commander of the unit, Oleksandr Trepak, received a gunshot wound to the leg, but he refused to evacuate and for two days led the repulse of the militants' attacks on the Central Artillery Armament Base.

We well understood that the Russian mercenaries would try to take possession of armored vehicles and small arms, so we prepared reliable posts and secrets, morally prepared for the meeting of the "guests".

On June 20, a second assault by separatists took place on a military unit located in the city. Special forces repelled an attack on Ukrainian warehouses from Horlivka with the help of grenade launchers. The next offensive took place with the support of mortar fire, the T-64 tank and infantry went on the offensive, but this attempt was also unsuccessful. Ukrainian soldiers suppressed the mortar, cut off the infantry and hit the enemy's combat vehicle.

The battles for military warehouses in Artemivsk became one of the first cases of the use of T-64 tanks by Russian soldiers. For the first time, the defenders of the base learned about the presence of T-64 tanks in the armed forces during the night, from June 20 to 21, when a tank fired at the ATP building adjacent to the military part. After this incident, the Ukrainian military decided to step up and "reanimated" one T-64 and one BMP-2 from those in storage (a total of 260 T-64, T-80 and T-72 tanks, 270 armored personnel carriers, 227 BMPs, 129 BRM-1K).

The day after the attack on the checkpoint № 1 Ribgosp, June 27 In 2014, Russian militants carried out a large-scale (as at the time ) third attack on the base. At night, they fired military units stationed in the city from grenade launchers and small arms. Among the equipment they involved was a T-64BV tank. Defenders of the base fired at him RPG-18 and RPG-22, but failed to beat him and he was able to leave the scene of the battle alone. At the same time, the military unit A-4176 was stormed, where as a result of the battle, the T-64BV of Russian militants was lined up and captured. The tank removed from the militants was checked for affiliation: the serial is not in the register of Ukrainian tanks, and the installed battery belonged 205th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (Budionnovsk, Stavropol region, RF). It was one of three tanks spotted by the media in the arms of Russian occupiers at the time.

June 30 — the fourth assault by separatists of a military unit located in the city.

Losses

Pro-Russian forces lost the T-64BV tank with the number 5, it was taken by the trophy by Ukrainian fighters.

The flamethrower was also captured RPO-A Shmel Russian production with the inscription "From Russia with love". According to information from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, these weapons were also brought from Russia.

• RPO-A trophy flamethrower Shmel
• General View, June 2014
• Marking
• Second marking

Consequences

Successful repulsion of the attack by special forces fighters and military personnel A2730 and A4176 it was important, because the militants did not fall into the hands of huge reserves of weapons and ammunition, which were located in the Center for the provision of armored weapons in Artemisk and the storage base of small arms in the village of Paraskovyivka.

For successful performance of the combat task Alexander Trepak received the rank of Colonel, Order of Bogdan Khmelnytsky III. The servicemen of parts A2730 and A4176 were not mentioned or presented for awards.

References

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