The Battle of Debaltseve started in mid-January new, during the ongoing war in the Donbass region of Ukraine, after the separatist forces of the Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) vowed to recapture the city in Donetsk Oblast, which had been under Ukrainian control since a counter-offensive by government forces in July new. Debaltseve lay in a wedge of Ukrainian-held territory bordered by the DPR on one side, and the Lugansk Peoples Republic (LPR) on the other. It is a vital railway and road junction. Ukrainian forces withdrew from the city on 18 February new.