Stanytsia Luhanska

Russo-Ukrainian war

Starting Mid-April 2014 pro-Russian separatists captured several towns in the Donbass region,^[3][4] including Stanytsia Luhanska.^[5]

On 2 July 2014 unspecified planes attacked the village and the village of Kondrashovka.^[6] The Ukrainian army denied the airstrike and blamed the damage on faulty shelling by the separatists.^[7] There is also a version that the air strike was caused by a Russian aircraft in order to discredit the Ukrainian army by accusing it of bombing residential areas.^[8]

On 21 August 2014, Ukrainian forces reportedly were clearing Stanytsia Luhanska from the pro-Russian separatists.^[5] The settlement remained under control of the Ukrainian authorities.^[9] It became situated on the frontline with forces representing the Luhansk People's Republic and became regularly the victim of shelling.^[10] An early 2017 agreement between the Ukrainian army and the separatist forces of the war in Donbass on the disengagement of forces in Stanytsia Luhanska failed to materialise.^[10][11] On 17 February 2022, the rebels shelled the town and a missile hit a school, injuring 3 people. They also left half of the town without electricity.^[12] On 26 February, the settlement was occupied by Russian Ground Forces as part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[13] The village council and civilian-military administration head, Albert Zinchenko, was reported as to be collaborating with the occupiers.^[14]