In August, Ukraine solemnly marked the third anniversary of the battle of Ilovaisk, which took place on August 7-September 2, 2014. It was the bloodiest battle of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
The battle for this strategically important city located between Donetsk and Luhansk was aimed at cutting off supply lines between the two cities held by Russian-backed insurgents. Ukrainian government forces were on the move during the summer of 2014 and were successfully retaking areas that had not been under Ukraine’s control. They entered Ilovaisk on August 18, and battles in the streets ensued; there were reports that the city was now under government control. However, soon afterwards, Ukrainian forces were encircled by combined “separatist”-Russian forces. Indeed, on August 24, regular Russian forces were reported in the area, and their numbers increased over the next few days in what was a massive invasion that, according to Ukrainian government reports, included nine battalion-tactical groups: 3,500 personnel, up to 60 tanks, up to 320 infantry fighting vehicles, up to 60 artillery pieces, up to 45 mortars and five anti-tank guided missile systems. (It was also in Ilovaisk that one of our own, Ukrainian American Mark (Markian) Paslawsky, was mortally wounded on August 19. The West Point graduate and former U.S. Army Ranger was a volunteer with the Donbas battalion known by the nom de guerre “Franko.”)
On August 27, the U.S. State Department said reports from eastern and southeastern Ukraine “indicate that a Russian-directed counteroffensive is likely under way” against government forces in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Reports noted “columns of Russian tanks, multiple rocket launchers and armored vehicles pushing toward communities in southeastern Ukraine” and “heavy fighting and shelling near the city and airport in Donetsk.” Washington said it was “concerned by the Russian government’s unwillingness to tell the truth, even as its soldiers are found 30 miles [50 kilometers] inside Ukraine.”
In a 2015 article – titled “Putin’s Ilovaisk teachery forgotten?” – Halya Coynash of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group described the battle: “Attempts by the Ukrainian military to regain control of the city of Ilovaisk from fighters linked to the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic began on August 7, 2014, and went badly wrong, with government forces becoming encircled by the militants.” After days of shelling, by August 28 “the situation was dire.” The Ukrainian forces decided to surrender the city and negotiated a retreat. Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a humanitarian corridor to give the Ukrainian soldiers a safe route out. “Government forces began leaving in a column of 60 vehicles, with the first carrying dead and wounded soldiers and flying a white flag. The agreement was a trick, and the vehicles immediately came under attack with the use of mortar fire and heavy ammunition,” Ms. Coynash wrote. Hundreds were killed on that day, August 29.
What she, and others, have described was a savage war crime.
According to information released this year by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) of Ukraine, investigators have determined that 366 soldiers of Ukraine’s forces were killed, 429 wounded and 300 captured when the convoy was attacked. And many more were killed during the nearly monthlong battle of Ilovaisk (some sources give a figure of up to 1,000 killed). In mid-August the PGO submitted evidence of war crimes to the International Criminal Court at The Hague. It is hoped that justice will be served and that the perpetrator of the Ilovaisk massacre of surrendering troops – the Russian Federation – will face charges.
Today, three years after what has become known as the “Ilovaisk kettle” (“Ilovaiskyi kotel” in Ukrainian, a reference to the encirclement by the enemy), Russia continues its aggression. Speaking at the 2017 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on September 11, U.S. Ambassador Michael Kozak stated, “The Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine reflects a stark disregard for the Helsinki principles. The conflagration that Russia ignited and continues to fuel is far from frozen. To date, 10,000 people have been killed, 24,000 have been wounded or injured. An estimated 1.7 million Ukrainian citizens have been forced from their homes. The Russian proxies in Donetsk and Luhansk – kept in power by the forces that Russia leads, arms, trains and fights alongside – threaten and intimidate the local population. In Crimea, Russian authorities target Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians and others who oppose the occupation. …”
Ambassador Kozak also underscored: “Even while under attack, the Ukrainian people are unwavering in their commitment to realize a future of dignity and prosperity through greater integration with Europe.”
And the people of Ukraine remember their fallen heroes. Each August 29, they place flowers and candles at a memorial erected in Kyiv in honor of those killed in the battle of Ilovaisk.