Ukraine marks 9th anniversary of Ilovaisk tragedy

On Tuesday, August 29, the Day of Remembrance of the Fallen Defenders of Ukraine is marked by Ukraine. Nine years ago, russian troops shot heavy weapons at a convoy of Ukrainian soldiers during their exit from the encirclement near Ilovaisk. Every year on this day, the whole country commemorates the defenders of Ukraine who were killed in the fight for the country's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

The Ilovaisk tragedy occurred in 2014, when, after large-scale battles, servicemen of the ATO [anti-terrorist operation] forces were surrounded near Ilovaisk, Donetsk Region. On August 29, the general staff of the russian federation ordered the firing of heavy weapons on a column of Ukrainian soldiers as they exited the encirclement.

According to the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, 366 Ukrainian soldiers were killed during the hostilities, 429 were severely wounded, and 300 were captured.

The battles near Ilovaisk became one of the key moments of the war in eastern Ukraine. Taking advantage of the defeat at Ilovaisk, russian units advanced to the west and captured the Telmanove and Novoazovsk Districts of the Donetsk region. The heavy losses prompted the Ukrainian leadership to conclude the Minsk agreements on a temporary ceasefire and the beginning of a political settlement.

In December 2019, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine accused the russian federation of war crimes during the battles for Ilovaisk and Debaltseve. At the same time, two generals of the russian armed forces were informed of suspicion in the case of the battles near Ilovaisk.

In March 2023, a year after the full-scale invasion of the russian federation, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) eliminated the russian officer Dmytro Lysytskyi, one of the organizers of the Ilovaisk tragedy.

The Day of Remembrance of the Fallen Defenders of Ukraine was included in the calendar of commemorative dates by the relevant decree of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in 2019.

"In order to honor their memory with dignity, I signed a decree establishing the Day of Remembrance of defenders of Ukraine who died in the struggle for independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine," the head of state emphasized in his speech on Independence Day in 2019.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in August 2017, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office completed the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of soldiers near Ilovaisk, Donetsk Region, in August 2014.

In the Dnipropetrovsk Region, 36 bags with personal belongings of soldiers who died in the Ilovaisk tragedy were found.