The Ukrainian Armed Forces Lured The Occupiers Into A Trap In Donbas

Russians have to fight for literally every mine.

Since May 2022, the Donbas has remained Russia’s primary military target. Moscow has concentrated a significant portion of its forces and firepower in this industrial region. OSINT researcher Clément Molen analyzed the battle for Donbas from the perspective of its strategic significance.

The battle for Donbas has been ongoing for 13 years. Russia expects to capture the region’s last major cities—Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Druzhkivka, Dobropillya, and Lyman—in the coming years.

The fighting has inflicted serious damage on Donbas, destroying a significant portion of its mines and industrial infrastructure, and has also led to the deaths and displacement of a large number of residents. For three years now, the Russian army has been trying to advance through territory that Ukraine had well fortified in advance. Following a breakthrough in May 2024, Russian forces managed to slightly improve their position in the southwestern part of the region, near Pokrovsk. However, this did little to open up opportunities for them to go on and capture the entire Donbas.

Now Russian forces are literally having to fight for every city, town, and mine. This is exactly how the fighting unfolded in Toretsk, where battles lasted about a year; in Pokrovsk—also about a year; and in Konstantinovka—about a year.

For Ukraine, the remaining part of the Donbas is of paramount strategic importance, primarily because of the powerful defensive fortifications located there. These fortifications are holding back the further advance of Russian troops toward the agricultural regions of central Ukraine, as well as the densely populated and economically vital Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

The battle for the Donbas will likely remain one of the longest and bloodiest campaigns of the war. After the fall of one city, fighting will continue for the next. At the same time, there is no guarantee that Russia will not attempt to advance further.

In particular, Moscow may need control over the resources of the Dnieper River to rebuild the industry and mines of the Donbas.

The expert also published a map of the Russian offensive in the Donbas. The map shows territories captured by Moscow in 2024 marked in red, those captured in 2025 in orange, and those captured in 2026 in yellow.

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