Barely two weeks after the last Ukrainian soldiers in the port city of Mariupol surrendered to the Russian army in hopes of a prisoner swap, Ukraine may lose yet another major center in the Donbas— the city of Sievierodonetsk. Reportedly, there is fighting in the streets, and Russian soldiers are said to have advanced to the city center. Sievierodonetsk and neighboring Lyssychansk are the last major cities in the Luhansk area — the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are known collectively as the Donbas — still controlled by Kyiv. According to Ukraine's General Staff, Russia is intent on capturing Sievierodonetsk. Ukrainian troops defending the region risk being trapped, as they were in Mariupol.

Sievierodonetsk is also known for the fact that the first attempt to divide Ukraine was made there almost 20 years ago. On November 28, 2004, the so-called All-Ukrainian Congress of Deputies of All Levels convened in the city, attended mainlyby representatives of the pro-Russian Party of Regions. The party, formed in the Donbas, dominated the region. Against the backdrop of the pro-Western Orange Revolution protests in the capital Kyiv, it threatened to declare autonomy, with Kharkiv as its center and including eight eastern and southern Ukrainian regions as well as Crimea and Sevastopol.

Sievierodonetsk and neighboring Lyssychansk are of strategic importance because this part of the Donbas connects with other regions of Ukraine. The main focus is on the highway connecting Lysychansk with Bakhmut in Donetsk region. It is used to supply the Ukrainian military. It was also used to evacuate civilians before the route became too dangerous because of shelling. Capturing Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk would allow the Russian army to reach the region's administrative border. From there, the Russian army could advance further west toward Kramatorsk, another administrative center in the Donetsk region. Kramatorsk is one of the last major industrial cities still fully controlled by Kyiv in the Donbas.