Battle of Marinka

According to the Ukrainian military, fighting around the government-held town of Marinka began at 3 a.m. in the morning of 3 June when separatists launched an offensive with tanks and 1,000 fighters.[5] The DPR stated that this attack was in response to the heavy Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk, Horlivka, Staromykhailivka and Yenakiieve on the night of 2 June to the morning of 3 June.[12] They added that those shellings killed 15 people in DPR-held territory near Marinka.[5] The separatist attack began with artillery fire, followed by an infantry and tank assault as the sun came up.[1] The fighting lasted nearly 12 hours before stopping, but resumed again soon after.[5] The fighting had also spread to Krasnohorivka, and both towns were in flames as bloody and chaotic street battles took place. Rocket and artillery fire was also exchanged.[1][13] By the end of the day, the rebels had gained control over a portion of the town, with a Ukrainian member of parliament saying 70 percent of Marinka was DPR-held.[1]

The situation in Marinka stabilised during the early evening as a cease-fire took hold.[13] The Ukrainian military stated that the cease-fire restored their control of the town[1] and both the Donetsk People's Republic's Defence Minister Vladimir Kononov and the Ukrainian military confirmed to the OSCE that Marinka was under Ukrainian control.[13] On 4 June, an AP reporter briefly visited the town and confirmed it was under government control, with troops conducting mop-up operations.[14]

Fighting in and around Marinka left 20 separatists and four soldiers dead, while 99 separatists and 39 soldiers were wounded.[7][9] An additional 9 civilians had been killed[11] with a further 30 wounded.[5] On 4 June, according to the DPR, Ukrainian government artillery and mortar fire continued to hit multiple DPR-held cities, including Donetsk, leaving 16 separatist fighters and five civilians dead, while 86 fighters and 38 civilians were wounded.[10] The following day, the Ukrainian president claimed the military had recaptured Marinka, after expelling the separatists, and captured 12 "saboteurs", including one Russian citizen. His claim was not independently confirmed.[15]

The Kyiv Post quoted Ukrainian military commanders who said that if the separatists had captured Marinka and Krasnohorivka it would have created a choke point for the Ukrainian forces at Pisky and Avdiivka (north and northwest of Donetsk).[16] Ukrainian soldiers who fought in the battle told Kyiv Post that they believed the battle was intended to test their capabilities.[17] This view was echoed by Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer.[18] The rebels denied that they had attacked Marinka and described the fighting that took place at the town as them counter-attacking.[19]