Ukraine Crisis Update: June 5, 2015
June 5, 2015 - Hugo Spaulding![](https://understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumb-wide/public/Ukraine%20SITREP%206-5-2015_high_0.png?itok=M3vYXD8y)
Russian-backed separatists launched an offensive maneuver on June 3 after several weeks of military buildup and an expansion from concentrated shelling to attacks across a coordinated front. Separatist combined arms forces stormed Ukrainian military positions bordering the western city districts of Donetsk. Ukraine’s military claimed to have repelled the initial maneuver.