The battle lasted for hours until midday, eventually leaving five Ukrainian soldiers dead and another seven wounded. Ukrainian President Poroshenko echoed much of the information from the Ministry of Defense, adding a claim that Ukrainian forces killed eight and wounded eleven Russian-led separatist forces in the battle.

The LNR press service, in contrast, claimed that Ukrainian forces launched an offensive against separatist positions in Zholobok from the direction of Krymske at around 7:50am. In a rare underestimate of Ukrainian casualties, the LNR spokesperson stated that four Ukrainian soldiers died and only three were wounded during the incident.

With the available information, it is not possible to confidently assess who attacked whom, as with nearly every incident, both the Ukrainian government and Russia-led separatist press services will accuse the other of initiating the offensive. However, two “insider” accounts pointed to the LNR’s 4th Brigade initiating the skirmish.

On the LostArmour.info discussion board, one of the most active areas for in-depth research into the war in the Donbas, the well-known user “Wayne Howell” shared what he claimed to be insider information about the attack. This Russian user previously fought in eastern Ukraine and has a number of contacts with are still active in fighting along the front lines of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.

Regarding the August 23rd battle. Very succinctly and pared down, and I don’t know more than what I’m writing about, so don’t ask further questions. Our guys attacked, the fourth brigade [of the LNR]. We decided to dislodge the Ukrops [derogatory term for Ukrainian soldiers] from the position that we previously lost. They went out in the morning, attacked them, knocked them out. Then, Ukrainian artillery joined in [the battle]. It started to lay into this position and from where our guys attacked from. Our artillery quickly joined in and started to lay into the Ukrops. As a result, the position that was attacked by both artilleries was shot to shit and as of yesterday it was a tie, and will likely remain as such because there’s nothing left to fight for there. Among our ranks, ten wounded and no dead.

(Source: LostArmour / Wayne Howell)

An account from Ukrainian military insider Yuriy Butusov both contradicts and corresponds with the account of “Wayne Howell”, but generally agrees with the main events of the day. In particular, both agree that the Russia-led separatists initiated the fight with an assault group from the LNR’s 4th Brigade, and both sides traded artillery fire for hours.

“August 23rd at 5:55am, the enemy started its powerful artillery attacks. And in the course of this artillery activity, the enemy used smoke rounds to blind our observers. Already in the course of the artillery activity we suffered losses. One of the soldiers at the observation post was wounded and went to the rear. The tank fire was especially dangerous, as up to three enemy tanks were firing in the battle. Simultaneously with the shelling, an assault group with sixteen people went on the attack. The distance was short, the fire stuck to the ground, and the smoke screen did not let our nearest units to strike at the attackers. As a result, the group of Russian mercenaries burst onto the position right after the shelling was over. None of the remaining three Aidar fighters were captured — all stuck to fighting, and they were pelted with grenades. (…) Soon, our guys got a direct hit on the stronghold of the 4th Brigade [of the LNR] on the other side of the [Bakhmut] route — ammunition exploded at the enemy’s position. Then, a direct hit on the position that the enemy occupied. And then the enemy assault group retreated. For several hours, artillery fire was exchanged, and the battle lasted all of four-and-a-half hours.

Aftermath

Nazar Prihodko, the spokesperson for the Right Sector-aligned Ukrainian National Assembly — Ukrainian People’s Self-Defense, shared the names and photographs of four of the soldiers who died in the August 23 attack. All four of these soldiers were from the Aidar Battalion. The fifth casualty was a man named Heorhiy Olkhovsky of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade.

(Source: Facebook / Nazar Prikhodko)

There have been no names of Russian or separatist fighters who have been confirmed or rumored to have died in the skirmish.

Currently, the situation in Zholobok is pretty much where it was before — Russia-led separatists control the village along the Bakhmut Route, and Ukrainian forces surround it in trenches that were dug long ago, as both sides occasionally trade artillery fire after nightfall.