A Ukrainian soldier of the K2 battalion stood over the body of a Russian soldier lying in a trench on the front line near the town of Siversk, Donetsk region on 28 January 2023.

   A Ukrainian soldier of the K2 Battalion stands over a dead Russian soldier lying in a trench on the front line near Siversk, Donetsk Oblast, during the Russo-Ukrainian War, January 28. The Battle of Siversk was a battle of the Russian army, which was fought in the front line near Siversk.

　The Battle of Siversk was part of the Battle of the Donbass, a broad offensive in eastern Ukraine that began on July 3, 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces ceased their attack on Siversk and its surroundings on July 28; throughout August there was a lull in the fighting, and with the Kharkov counterattack, Russian forces withdrew from positions around Siversk after September 8.

    Since July 2022, Russian private military companies, consisting primarily of Wagner units, have been attacking Bakhmut, an important transportation hub in the Donbass. Wagner has sent some 50,000 fighters, including some 40,000 prisoners. The U.S. Treasury Department designated Wagner, a Russian private military company operating in Ukraine, an international criminal organization on January 26, 2023.

　Ukrainian military fortifications prevented the Russian invasion of Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Toretsk, and Siversk. The front line was located a few kilometers from Siversk. Like other residential areas in this direction, Siversk was bombarded by Russian troops.

      On January 27, 2023, the town of Chasov Yar in the Bakhmut district of Donetsk Oblast was also hit by shelling; two people were killed and five more wounded. Cars as well as residential and administrative buildings were damaged. on January 28, the Russian military launched a missile attack on the city of Konstantinovka, Donetsk Oblast. A residential area caught fire and four high-rise buildings, a garage, a hotel, and a civilian vehicle were damaged. At least three people were killed and two injured. After the shelling of Konstantinovka, Ukrainian authorities called on NATO to supply long-range missiles to the capital, Kiev.

　Conversely, on January 28, 2023, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that 14 people were killed and 24 wounded in an attack on a hospital in the village of Novoaidar in the annexed Lugansk region. Military personnel and local residents were being treated at the hospital facility. The hospital came under fire from a HIMARS missile system. Ukrainian authorities did not comment on the Russian Defense Ministry's statement. TASS news agency published photos of the destroyed hospital.

Warning: A Ukrainian soldier of the K2 battalion stood over the body of a Russian soldier lying in a trench on the front line near the town of Siversk, Donetsk region on 28 January 2023.(Photo by AFP/Anatoly Stepanov)