General Prosecutor’s Office: Ilovaysk Tragedy Was Sparked by Russia’s Military Aggression

The only reason for the tragic events next to the town of Ilovaysk, Donetsk region, is the direct large-scale invasion of Ukraine’s territory by the Russian Federation Armed Forces.

The press service of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine made public such conclusions based on the results of the investigation into the Ilovaysk tragedy circumstances, causes, and consequences.

“According to the experts’ conclusions and the other collected evidence, the only factor that led to the tragic events near the Ilovaysk town was the Russian Armed Forces military aggression. In the night of 23 August 2014, the biggest direct invasion of Ukraine’s territory and further commission of war crimes by the aggressor country’s armed forces took place,” the statement reports.

Investigators found that the Russian Armed Forces and pro-Russian militants surrounded Ukrainian soldiery and volunteers. At that time, the aggressor had 3,500 personnel, about 60 tanks, 320 armoured vehicles, 60 guns, 45 mortars, and five anti-armour missile systems.

On 26-28 August, the Ukrainian and Russian sides held talks on creating a safe corridor for the defenders of Ukraine to leave the encirclement.

“On 29 August 2014, the Russian military shot down a column of Ukrainian servicemen together with three captured Russian paratroopers during the anti-terrorist operation units’ withdrawal near Starobesheve, Agronomichne, Mnogopillya, Chervonosilske, Chumaky, Novodvorske, Osykove, Novokaterynivka in the Donetsk region. The Russian militants executed this by direct instruction and order by the Russian Federation’s Armed Forces General Staff command, disregarding  the Art. 37 of the 1949 Geneva Convention Additional Protocol,” the statement told.

As a result of the tragedy near Ilovaysk, 366 Ukrainian servicemen were killed, 429 were injured and 300 were detained.

According to the General Prosecutor Office of Ukraine, 110 people have already been prosecuted for the commitment of these crimes, including 68 Russian citizens, among them 21 high-ranking officials, on the Russian military aggression investigation results. These people are on the wanted list.

Evidence of war crimes committed by the Russian military was also submitted to the Prosecutor Office of the International Criminal Court for the consideration of the opening of criminal proceedings.

Investigators of the Security Service Main Investigation Department continue to collect evidence and identify all the perpetrators.

Bohdan Marusyak