Timeline of the war in Donbas (2015)
This is a timeline of the war in Donbas for the year 2015. January–March 2 January: Ukrainian analyst Dmitry Tymchuk reported single tank incursions around Trokhizbenka, a tactic the rebels used previously against Donetsk airport and dubbed "roaming tank". According to him, single pro-Russian tanks supported by scouts and mortar fire to suppress antitank weapons shoot three or four rounds on a target before shifting its firing positions in order to attack the objective repeatedly. 3 January: Pro-Russian scouts in snow camouflage suits executed harassing fire on Ukraine's 92nd brigade positions near Shchastia using automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades. 4 January: Heavy shelling was witnessed by local residents in Donetsk city, where militias entrenched around the train station fired "Gvozdika" howitzer salvos on the airport. "Uragan" or "Smerch" artillery rockets were launched from Shchehlovskoho cemetery. Fourteen civilians were injured. 6 January: Heavy shelling was reported at Donetsk airport and other Ukrainian positions. The rebels fired mortars, artillery and multiple-rocket launchers. Ukrainian troops clashed with enemy scouts near Starolaspa, killing two militiamen and scattering the survivors. Some Ukrainian army units attended local churches in the front to celebrate Orthodox Christmas. 7 January: On Christmas Day, Donetsk airport and surrounding locations were once again shelled with mortars and multiple rocket launchers. 9 January: Heavy fighting erupted near Stanytsia Luhanska between the Ukrainian National Guard and rebel militias. Two guards were killed and eight wounded in the clashes, which lasted for two hours. The militias fired "Grad" rockets in the aftermath. According to Luhansk Oblast Governor Hennadiy Moskal, Krymske was struck by mortar fire and "Grad" rockets, while Shchastia became the target of mortars and artillery. Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces trade intense gunfire in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska. 11 January: Two industrial plants were damaged by artillery fire in Donetsk city and in nearby Avdiivka. In Donetsk, 364 workers were trapped inside "Zasyatko" coal mine after a shell hit a power substation, disabling four boilers and 63 transformers. Meanwhile, Avdiivka Coke Plant was repeatedly struck by artillery rounds that affected the fourth and the sixth floors of the main building and the coke and hydrodesulfurization compounds. 13 January: Volnovakha bus attack. At least 13 civilians were killed and 15 injured, after a "Grad" artillery rocket exploded near passenger bus at Buhas roadblock near Volnovakha. Initially separatists took responsibility for this incident, which they thought was a successful destruction of the Ukrainian roadblock. After the information about civilian bus hit the news, they denied having "even technical possibilities" to shell that area. OSCE experts inspecting the place of incident confirmed that it was caused by "rockets fired from a north-north-eastern direction". which coincides with the earlier analyses pointed to Dokuchaevsk as the shelling origin (the actual launching process was also allegedly filmed by local residents). 15 January: The rebels launched a major assault on Donetsk airport, killing two Ukrainian paratroopers and wounding seven, according to Ukrainian sources. The Ukrainian forces had lost by then two thirds of the new terminal. The pro-Russian