Information surrounding the fighting near Svitlodarsk first came to international attention on December 18 after the press center for the Ukrainian “Anti-Terrorist Operation” (ATO) confirmed rumors that Ukrainian forces had suffered significant casualties near Svitlodarsk. Five Ukrainian soldiers were killed, and another six wounded (two of them severely), after separatist forces began an hours-long attack early in the morning. The ATO press center also claimed to have inflicted 50 casualties on the separatist fighters, including 20 deaths.

December 18 Facebook post from the Ukrainian ATO press center.

However, the official number of casualties has been called into doubt by both separatists (one of whom claims that there are five times as many casualties as reported) and Ukrainian journalists. A correspondent from the Ukrainian news service TSN claims there were not eleven, but thirty Ukrainian casualties on December 18.

Many, if not all, of these wounded or killed soldiers served in Ukraine’s 54th Brigade, which has defended Ukrainian positions near Svitlodarsk throughout the year. On December 19, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s Military TV YouTube channel uploaded an interview with soldiers of the 54th Brigade, including a commander with the callsign “Tisa.”