[27] On 24 February 2022, the Russian Armed Forces and the DPR and LPR launched a full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory across numerous fronts, including in the Donbas.

A diplomatic official in Moscow described the announcement to Reuters as a "face-saving move," arguing that Russia had launched the war with much more ambitious aims than just the Donbas.

On 6 April, an Izium government official told CNN that intercepted radio communications revealed Russian plans "to capture the Donetsk region from the north".

[43][45] In mid-April 2022, Western defense and intelligence officials told Financial Times that Russia's main targets were the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, described as holding the key to control over Donbas.

"[55] However, Russian forces achieved a three-to-one numerical superiority over their Ukrainian counterparts by 25 April, according to the BBC and the Financial Times, citing Western experts.

[58] The Ukrainians continued a campaign of targeting Russian ammunition depots and logistics sites in Donetsk province with air strikes and, reportedly, U.S.-supplied M142 HIMARS or M270 rocket artillery systems.

[61] President Zelenskyy, in his nightly public address, also hailed the impact Western-supplied artillery pieces were reportedly having on Russian logistics and strike capabilities.

[62] In late July 2022, Ukrainian soldiers and officers fighting in Donetsk offered anecdotal evidence of a significant reduction in Russian artillery fire.

[87][88] On the same day, however, pro-Russian Telegram channels claimed that Russian forces entered Dovhenke, but the ISW assessed that they were unable to secure the settlement due to heavy fighting, and suggested that a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the region had yet to begin.

Russian troops were seen to be using a new "cauldron" approach to their efforts, abandoning large encirclements in favor of smaller ones, which enabled them to make the first major gains of the battle.

[101][102] On 7 June, combined Russian and LPR forces launched an offensive through the forests south of Izium towards the city of Sloviansk, but were stopped at Bohorodychne and Krasnopillia.

[103][104][105][106][107][108][109] By capturing Bohorodychne and Krasnopillia, Russian and separatist forces would be able to push southwards to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, two of the last major Ukrainian-held cities in Donetsk Oblast.

[114] By 22 May, Russian forces managed to secure their route of advance and attempted to simultaneously push west towards Bakhmut and north to cut off-road links to Sievierodonetsk.

[125][126] In addition, Russia made a push to fully secure the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk, which by 14 June had become the last refuge for Ukrainian soldiers in the city.

As part of the encirclement, Russian forces claimed to have also seized Pryvillia, northwest of Lysychansk, after units made river crossings to the north and west of the town.

Ukrainian positions near Siversk, Bilohorivka, Vovchoyarivka, Berestove, Yakovlivka, Vidrodzhennia, Mayorsk, and the Vuhlehirska thermal power plant were shelled by artillery.

[140] The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) supported the Russian claim that Lysychansk had fallen on 2 July, suggesting the Ukrainian defenders likely "deliberately withdrew" from the city.

[21] Furthermore, the Russian defence ministry claimed to have captured and were in the process of clearing many settlements on the Lysychansk outskirts, including Verkhniokamianka, Zolotarivka, Bilohorivka, Novodruzhesk, Maloriazantseve, and Bila Hora.

The ministry predicted the fighting in Donetsk would continue to be "grinding and attritional," typified by massive artillery shelling leveling towns and cities amid slow ground advances.

[155] Haidai claimed that an attempt by Russian regular and reserve troops to expand a bridgehead on the Donets river had been stalled by a Ukrainian artillery attack.

The Ukrainian General Staff similarly expected future Russian assaults with the aim of creating more favorable conditions for an offensive from Izium to Sloviansk.

Russian troops had yet to reach Siversk despite trying to capture it since taking Lysychansk, and were said to be degrading their combat power in localized fights for small, "unimportant" settlements south and east of Bakhmut.

ISW assessed that Russian forces had prepared three directions of advance toward Bakhmut: southwest from Berestove and Soledar, west from Pokrovske, and north from Novoluhanske and the Vuhlehirska power station.

An LPR representative posted video footage of Wagner Group mercenaries in front of the entrance sign to Novoluhanske online, indicating that Russian troops had advanced into the town located roughly 25 km southeast of the Bakhmut outskirts.

Pro-Russian sources said Wagner mercenary fighters took part in storming the power station and the fighting lasted several days before the plant was fully controlled by 26 July.

[171] On 27 July, geolocated video footage posted online showed that Wagner mercenaries had reached Klynove, while pro-Russian Telegram channel Readovka claimed that Russian forces established control over Pokrovske.

[173][174] The Ukrainian military claimed to have neutralised 270 Russian and pro-Russian troops and destroyed seven tanks on 28 July, and that they successfully repelled all assaults on the Soledar-Vershyna front.

[173][174] The Ukrainian military claimed to have neutralised 270 Russian and pro-Russian troops and destroyed seven tanks on 28 July, and that they successfully repelled all assaults on the Avdiivka-Pisky front.

That same day, Russian forces also unsuccessfully tried to bypass Barvinkove from the east with the intention of cutting the E40 Izium-Sloviansk highway, a key supply route for Ukrainian troops.

[206] Russian ground offensives relaunched on 21 August south and southeast of Izium, aiming to recapture villages retaken by Ukraine in the previous weeks.