Battle in Shakhtarsk Raion

Began on 16 July 2014, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine attempted to cut off insurgent supply lines from Russia. Fighting broke out around the towns of Marynivka, Dmytrivka, Stepanivka, Shakhtarsk, as well as the strategic hill of Savur-Mohyla. It later spread to the cities of Snizhne and Torez. While the battle was in progress, a civilian passenger airliner, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, was shot down near Hrabove. Amidst a wide counter-offensive by the insurgents and their Russian backers across Donbas, government troops were forced out of Shakhtarsk Raion on 26 August.