Ilovaisk tragedy - The Day of Remembrance of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine, August 29
Ukraine celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the Fallen Defenders on August 29 (photo: Getty Images)
Ukraine celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the Fallen Defenders today, on August 29. It was exactly nine years ago on this day that Russian forces opened fire on a column of Ukrainian soldiers with heavy weaponry as they were trying to break out of the encirclement near Ilovaisk.
Annually, on August 29, the entire country commemorates the defenders of Ukraine who lost their lives in the struggle for independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the country.
The Ilovaisk Tragedy
The date of August 29 is associated with the memory of the Ilovaisk tragedy in 2014 when Ukrainian armed forces became surrounded under Ilovaisk in the Donetsk region after intense battles.
During the fighting on August 18-19, 2014, the Ukrainian military gained control of a significant part of the city of Ilovaisk. In response, Russia dispatched eight battalion-tactical groups consisting of Russian military personnel to that area.
Between August 24 and 25, 2014, Ukrainian Forces found themselves encircled by Russian Armed Forces and pro-Russian militants. Following this, from August 26 to 28, negotiations began between the Ukrainian and Russian sides regarding the establishment of safe corridors for the Ukrainian military to exit the encirclement. However, on August 29, 2014, the General Staff of the Russian Federation ordered the shelling of a column of Ukrainian troops with heavy weaponry during their attempt to break out of the encirclement.
The critical balance of forces between the Ukrainian military and units of the Russian Armed Forces and pro-Russian militants led to significant losses on the Ukrainian side. According to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, during the hostilities, 366 Ukrainian servicemen were killed, 429 were wounded to varying degrees, and 300 were taken captive.
The battles near Ilovaisk became one of the key moments in the war in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost the initiative and shifted from offense to defense. Exploiting the defeat near Ilovaisk, Russian units advanced to the west and seized the Telmanove and Novoazovsk districts of the Donetsk region. Heavy losses prompted the Ukrainian leadership to negotiate the Minsk agreements for a temporary ceasefire and the start of a political resolution.
What happened next
In December 2019, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine accused Russia of committing war crimes during the battles for Ilovaisk and Debaltseve. Two Russian Armed Forces generals were informed of suspicion in the case related to the Ilovaisk battles.
In March 2023, the Ukrainian Armed Forces eliminated Russian officer Dmitry Lysitsky, who was one of the organizers of the Ilovaisk tragedy.
The history of Ukraine's Day of Remembrance for Fallen Defenders
The Day of Remembrance for Fallen Defenders of Ukraine was established as an official memorial date in Ukraine by a presidential decree signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2019.
"With the aim of dignified remembrance of their memory, I have signed a decree to establish the Day of Remembrance for the Defenders of Ukraine who gave their lives in the struggle for independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine," the President stated in his address on Independence Day in 2019.
