Russian version
Surviving Ilovaisk

Thousands of Russian soldiers fought at Ilovaisk, around a hundred were killed

By Oksana Grytsenko.
A handout photo provided on August 28, 2014 by the Unian Agency shows Russian paratroopers captured by Ukrainian forces near the village of Dzerkalne, Donetsk region, some 20 to 30 kilometres from the Russian border, attending a press conference in Kyiv.
Photo by AFP

During the battle for the Donbas town of Ilovaisk, large numbers of Russian regular army troops appeared in eastern Ukraine and clashed with Ukrainian army directly for the first time. The Russian army’s secret war against Ukraine was no longer a secret.

While the Kremlin denies sending its soldiers into Ukraine, the amount of evidence they left behind on Ukrainian soil  proves denials to be false. In addition, Russian troops were seen by hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers as they left encirclement in Ilovaisk, or when they were fighting them, or when they took them prisoner, or when the Russian troops took Ukrainian soldiers prisoner.

In the summer and early autumn of 2014, Russian and western media published numerous reports of Russian soldiers fighting near Ilovaisk, taking videos and photos from social networks, interviewing the soldiers themselves, or their family members, or sharing photos of their graves back in Russia.

The Russian authorities tried to silence the dead soldiers’ relatives, making all information about its troops in Ukraine a state secret, threatening soldiers and their families, and harassing local journalists and whistleblowers.

Nevertheless, several open data investigations have calculated that up to 10,000 soldiers fought in eastern Ukraine around the time of the Battle of Ilovaisk, and that 80 to 200 of them were killed.

Investigations

According to a Ukrainian open data investigator nicknamed Askai707, who has asked to remain anonymous, judging by his analysis of photos that Russian soldiers took on Ukrainian territory and then posted on social media, about 9,000 Russian troops participated in fighting in the Donbas in August-September 2014. He estimates that up to 4,000 Russian regular troops were involved in the Battle of Ilovaisk.

The Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead next to the Kremlin on Feb. 27, 2015, estimated in his report on Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, which was published after his killing, that at least 150 Russian soldiers were killed in the Donbas in fighting around Ilovaisk. Nemtsov and his team analyzed eyewitness testimony, as well as the number of coffins that were ordered by Russian armed forces at that time.

Nemtsov’s report also indicated that the Kremlin had silenced relatives of the slain Russian soldiers, paying them some 3 million Russian rubles (about $81,000) in compensation and making them sign non-disclosure agreements concerning the fates of their loved ones.

A handout photo provided on August 28, 2014 by the Unian Agency shows Russian paratroopers captured by Ukrainian forces near the village of Dzerkalne, Donetsk region, some 20 to 30 kilometres from the Russian border, attending a press conference the day before in Kiev. AFP

And Conflict Intelligence Team, a group of independent open source investigators based in Russia and Ukraine, analyzed life insurance data for Russian soldiers in 2012 to 2018 that was released by Russia’s defense ministry when it was holding a tender.

They found that in 2014, there were about 200 cases of deaths and from 500 to 800 injuries of Russian soldiers “which could not be put down to military service incidents in peacetime,” the group said in a report.

A recently leaked list Russian military losses, published by the military analytics website Sprotyv.info, which is close to Ukraine’s People’s Front party, indicates that more than 80 Russian soldiers were killed in Ukraine in August 2014, when the Battle of Ilovaisk was fought.

International open source investigative network Bellingcat pointed to a rapid rise in the number of medals “For Military Merit” awarded to Russian soldiers in 2014 to 2015. Most of the medals, 4,300, were granted from October 2014 by February 2015, the period after the Ilovaisk operation and the fighting for Debaltseve, when Russian troops from the regular army were also sent into Ukraine.

Considering that not every soldier won a medal, the Bellingcat investigators concluded that more than 10,000 Russian soldiers fought in eastern Ukraine from the summer of 2014 to early 2015.

Open data investigator Askai707 also managed to collect complete personal data about individual Russian soldiers who fought at Ilovaisk.

He found ample evidence that at least nine Russian military units participated in the battle and that at least 26 Russian soldiers had been killed there.

Below are details of some of the Russian soldiers involved in the Kremlin’s military intervention in eastern Ukraine. They were gathered by Askai707 and given to the Kyiv Post, and include links to current and archived reports that provide supporting evidence.

Russian paratroopers from Kostroma

At least four Russian airborne units were involved in the Battle of Ilovaisk, and at least 15 Russian paratroopers were killed there.

Ten paratroopers from the 331st Airborne Regiment based in Kostroma were captured by Ukrainian soldiers near the village of Dzerkalne, south of Ilovaisk, on Aug. 24.

In interviews, the Russians said they were the crew members of three airborne combat vehicles that had been shelled by Ukrainian troops. They were separated from their military column after one vehicle was damaged and slowed down. Two other armored vehicles waited for it, and eventually they were spotted by a Ukrainian anti-tank unit and were attacked.

Pictures released by Ukrainian security service (SBU) press service on August 26, 2014 purportedly shows Russian paratroopers captured by Ukrainian forces near the village of Dzerkalne, Donetsk region, some 20 to 30 kilometres from the Russian border.
AFP PHOTO

As a result of the attack, one Russian airborne combat vehicle was blown up and its driver-mechanic received serious burns.

“When my armored vehicle was shelled, it blew up. At that moment I realized it was not just a military exercise, not just some march, (and) I got scared,” one of the captured soldiers, Corporal Ivan Romantsev later said while being held prisoner in Ukraine. “We were sent to fight against people that we were not supposed to fight.”

Artem Kuzmin, the wounded driver-mechanic of this group, was sent back to Russian on Aug. 29. The other nine paratroopers from Kostroma were released in exchange for 63 soldiers from Ukraine’s National Guard in Kharkiv Oblast on Aug. 30, 2014, according to media reports.

Soldiers from the same Russian regiment were among those who shelled a Ukrainian military column on Aug. 29. They took many Ukrainian troops prisoner, and, according to the Ukrainian side, they also suffered serious losses.

There is strong evidence that at least five paratroopers from Kostroma were killed during the Battle of Ilovaisk, according to news reports and social media posts collected by to Askai707.

One of them, Sergey Gerasimov, was awarded the Medal for Bravery post-mortem.

Russian paratroopers from Ulyanovsk

Arseniy Ilmitov and Ruslan Akhmedov, soldiers from the 31st Airborne Assault Brigade based in Ulyanovsk, were captured by soldiers of the 51st brigade on Aug. 25, also near the village of Dzerkalne.

They were brought to Mnohopilliya, the headquarters of General Ruslan Khomchak, the head of the Ilovaisk operation. Both claimed they thought they had been on military exercises.

Ilmitov and Akhmetov were part of the deal that was to give safe passage to Ukrainian troops out of encirclement in Ilovaisk on Aug. 29. One went with each of the two Ukrainian military columns as guarantees that the Russians wouldn’t attack them.

After the Ukrainian columns were attacked by Russian forces there were rumors that the paratroopers being killed. But they survived and were exchanged on Aug. 29 under another deal that achieved the release of most of the captured Ukrainian soldiers, and the recovery of the dead and wounded.

Russian propaganda channel Life TV in October 2014 showed Akhmetov and Ilmitov back in Ulyanovsk serving in their military unit, proving this way that both indeed were Russian regular army soldiers when they were captured in Ukraine two months before.

Another two Russian paratroopers from Ulyanovsk were captured by Ukrainian forces in the village of Chervonosilske on Aug. 29. The Ukrainian survivors from the shelled military column took shelter in the village and found the Russians hiding in an abandoned house.

In a video filmed by Ukrainian soldiers in Chervonosilske, the Russian paratroopers named themselves as Nikita Terskikh and Yevgeniy Sardaryan.

Later that day, the Ukrainian soldiers ran out of ammunition and negotiated with the Russian officers for them to be let go in exchange for the captive Russians.

The soldiers of Russia’s 31st Airborne Assault Brigade also posted numerous photos from the war in Ukraine on social media.

According to an investigation by Askai707, this military unit lost seven of its soldiers in Ukraine. One of them, Ilnur Kilchenbayev, had a post on his Vkontakte page saying he was “killed as a hero for the sake defending peaceful people in Ukraine.”

Russian paratroopers from Ryazan and Stavropol

Russian soldiers from  137th Airborne Regiment based in Riazan gave away the fact that they were in Ukraine when they posted on social media photos of armored vehicles belonging to the Ukrainian Donbas volunteer battalion.

They included photos of themselves inside the Ukrainian vehicles.

Askai707 found information about one soldier of this regiment, Sergey Andriyanov, who was killed in Ukraine.

“This is not a secret to anyone. Everyone knows perfectly well that this happened in Ukraine,” Andriyanov’s girlfriend said in an interview with an independent Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta.

Russian soldiers from the 247th Airborne Regiment based in Stavropol posted photos of burnt-out Ukrainian armored vehicles on social media.

One of them even posted a video of the still burning Ukrainian vehicles, filmed through the observation window of his airborne combat vehicle.

The footage was shot on Aug. 29 near the village of Horbatenko, where there had been severe fighting.

Askai707 also found evidence that two Russian soldiers from the 247th Airborne Regiment had been killed in eastern Ukraine, both on Aug. 29.

“They shut off the truth with an iron door, everything is sinking into a hopeless lie,” wrote one person in comments in a post about the death of 24-year-old Denis Strakh.

Dmitriy Lisitsky, a captain of a company of Russian paratroopers from Stavropol, was decorated with the highest Russian military award, the Gold Star of Hero of the Russian Federation, in January 2015.

Russian artillerymen

Members of Ukraine’s Gruz 200 rescue group found near the village of Chumaky three burnt-out Kamaz military trucks, which most likely belonged to the Russian army as they were marked with the distinctive white circles used by Russian troops fighting in the Donbas.

Next, to them, the rescue mission also found a gunnery notebook belonging to the commander of the howitzer artillery battery of Russian military unit 62297.

This military unit is a part of the 1065th Artillery Regiment, which belongs to 98th Airborne Division, which is based in Kostroma.

In the town of Starobesheve, only about 1.5 kilometers from Chumaky, Russian propagandists found a packing list for anti-tank grenades that also belonged to 1065th Artillery Regiment.

Askai707 also found information about two gunners from the 1065th Artillery Regiment who were killed in eastern Ukraine.

One of them, Anatoly Travkin, was portrayed by Russian state media as a former soldier who fought in the Donbas as a volunteer during his vacation, a typical claim by Russian state propaganda back in 2014.

Russian tankmen

In the morning on Aug. 26, Ukrainian military sappers managed to capture a new Russian T-72B3 tank. Initially, they wanted to blow it up, but later decided to keep it, seeing as the vehicle was still in a good state.

“We found a Russian cap pierced with a bullet, some personal belongings, and a driver’s card issued in the name of Berezin. I understood it was a tank from Russia’s 6th tank brigade,” Colonel Mykhailo Kovalsky told the Kyiv Post, recalling his inspection of the tank.

“They were from the 3d tank company. Rashytov was the company commander, and junior sergeant Goncharov was the commander of that tank.”

Askai707 later found the social media profile of tankman Aleksey Berezin, and group photos taken in Rostov Oblast, next to Ukraine, by soldiers of Russia’s 6th Tank Brigade, based in the town of Mulino in Nizhehorodska Oblast of Russia.

On Aug. 29, soldiers from the  Donbas volunteer battalion hit one Russian tank with a grenade launcher and burnt out the second one. Photos of the two tanks were later shown on Ukrainian media.

The tanks also had circular white marking signs and belonged to Russia’s 6th Tank Brigade. Two tankmen from this unit were later captured by Ukrainian soldiers in Chervonosilske. In a video of their interrogation, they named themselves as Ivan Badanin and Yevheniy Cherov.

Askai707 has identified both tankmen in a group photo taken in Rostov Oblast.

On Aug. 30 tankmen from this Russian unit also took a photo of themselves by the entrance sign to Chervonosilske.

In the Battle of Ilovaisk, Ukrainian soldiers knocked out at least four Russian tanks from the 6th Tank Brigade, according to Askai707. At least three Russian tankmen from this brigade were killed in the fighting for Ilovaisk.

Russian soldiers from motorized infantry brigades

On the evening of Aug. 26 soldiers from the anti-tank unit of Ukraine’s 51st brigade stopped a Russian military column by the town of Mnoholipilliya. They knocked out three Russian multipurpose light armored transporters. At least one Russian soldier was killed in that engagement, and another one was captured, severely wounded.

The captured Russian told Ukrainian medics that his name was Aleksey Desiatnikov and named his military unit as Russi’s 8th Motorized Brigade, which is based in the village of Borzoi, Chechnya.

This Russian soldier was also taken in the Ukrainian military column that was destroyed near Chervonosilske. While some soldiers believed the Russian had been killed in that engagement, a list of wounded Russian soldiers published by Sproty.info lists Sergeant Desiatov, A.M. of the 8th Motorized Brigade being sent to be treated for severe burns in a hospital in Rostov-on-Don.

Servicemen from Russia’s 8th Motorized Brigade were also filmed by Ukrainian soldiers while they were leaving encirclement on Aug. 29. They had distinctive large white circles painted on the hatches of their vehicles.

Askai707 has discovered information about four soldiers from Russia’s 8th Motorized Brigade who were killed near Ilovaisk.

“He was killed in Ukraine. His tank was blown up,” it says on the profile of one of them, Khushvakht Kirgizov, on the Russian social network Odnoklassniki.

When leaving encirclement Ukrainian soldiers also filmed a tank that appeared to belong to Russia’s 18th Motorized Infantry Brigade based in Stanitsa Kalinovskaya in Chechnya. Soldiers from this brigade when fighting in Ukraine marked their vehicles with large white triangles.

A Kamaz truck with a white triangle was also used to transport captured Ukrainian soldiers on Aug. 30.

Russia’s 21st Motorized Brigade, which is based in the village of Totskoye in Orenburg Oblast, had two of its tanks destroyed by the village of Horbatenko, most likely on Aug, 29, when soldiers from the shelled Ukrainian military column fought back.

The Russian soldiers wrote about the lost tanks on Vkontakte, mentioning that two of their comrades had been killed there.

Askai707 found information about two soldiers from the 21st motorized brigade being killed near Ilovaisk, although according to Russia’s official version of events they died during military exercises in Rostov Oblast.

One of them, Vasiliy Karavayev, received a Medal for Bravery post-mortem. His mother said in an interview with the Russian media that she thought he had been killed in Ukraine.

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