Battle in Shakhtarsk Raion began on 16 July 2014 , when the Armed Forces of Ukraine began an attempt to cut off insurgent supply lines from Russia . Fighting broke out around the towns of Marynivka , Dmytrivka , Stepanivka , Shakhtarsk , and also the strategic hill of Savur-Mohyla . It later spread to the cities of Snizhne and Torez . While the battle was in progress , a civilian passenger airliner , Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 , was shot down near Hrabove . Amidst a wide counter-offensive by the insurgents and their Russian backers across Donbass , government troops were forced out of Shakhtarsk Raion on 26 August
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Battle in Shakhtarsk Raion