DPR victory Armed Forces of Ukraine: Internal Affairs Ministry: Post-Minsk II conflict Attacks on civilians Related Insurgents affiliated with the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), backed by Russian troops, opened a new front in the war in Donbas on 25 August 2014, when they attacked the Ukrainian government-controlled city of Novoazovsk in southern Donetsk.

[2] In line with this statement, an artillery barrage was launched at the coastal city of Novoazovsk, in southern Donetsk Oblast.

[3] According to the Mariupol city website, the Dnipro and Donbas battalions repelled the attack, and the "invaders" retreated to the border.

[8] The Ukrainian military spokesman Andryi Lysenko claimed two Russian tanks destroyed and 10 members of "an intelligence-sabotage group" captured.

[14][15] Whilst the Ukrainian government said they were in "total control" of Novoazovsk, town mayor Oleg Sidorkin confirmed that the insurgents had captured it.

To the north, close to Starobesheve, Ukrainian forces said that they spotted a column of 100 armoured vehicles, tanks, and Grad rocket lorries that was heading south, toward Novoazovsk.

[17] Despite this, some locals said that there were "little green men" outside the town, referencing a term used during the events that led to the annexation of Crimea by Russia to refer to the unmarked Russian forces that took over the peninsula in February 2014.