Ukrainian authorities to declassify investigation files on the battle of Ilovaisk, a 2014 episode of Russia’s war in Donbas that ended in a catastrophic defeat during which at least 366 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, many while retreating.
The move may potentially shed more light not only on Russia’s full-fledged intervention but also on possibly criminal decisions of the Ukrainian command that led to the debacle, which forced a Ukrainian retreat and concessions of the first Minsk accords.
“The Ilovaisk incident inquiry follows two directions,” as Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova asserted on Aug. 5. “Russia’s organized invasion and the insidious murder of Ukrainian troops, as well as possible negligence by the Anti-Terror Operation military leadership.”
The years-long investigation has examined over 900 witnesses and studied over 1,600 documents, according to the official. In general, the criminal case contains over 300 volumes, including 70 restricted access chapters.
The Security Service of Ukraine has already made a request to the General Staff of the Armed Forces and other bodies, Venediktova added.
The declassified files are expected to be published on the Prosecutor General’s Office website.
The ill-fated battle unfolded in August 2014 as a large Ukrainian group of regular forces and paramilitaries closed in near the city of Ilovaisk, a key railroad hub of Donetsk Oblast.
After weeks of intense urban warfare, the Ukrainian forces were close to regaining the city from Russian-sponsored militants. But, according to the Ukrainian investigation, on Aug. 24, the Russian regular military forces crossed the state border and surrounded the Ukrainian group, effectively turning the battle’s tide.
Direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian command resulted in a deal that Ukrainian forces are allowed to leave the area disarmed via two pre-arranged routes.
Nonetheless, on Aug. 29, in a grave violation, the Russian war party effectively slaughtered the withdrawing Ukrainian convoys. Disorganized groups of survivors had to break through the death trap.
The Ilovaisk massacre remains the worst Ukrainian defeat and the biggest loss of life throughout the Russian war in Donbas. The debacle forced the Ukrainian leadership into what ended up being the first Minsk peace agreement signed on Sept. 5, 2014, under which Kyiv agreed to halt hostilities and make enormous political and economical concessions to Russian collaborators in Donbas.
According to the Ukrainian inquiry, the battle resulted in at least 366 Ukrainian fatalities, although the officially recognized death toll is widely questioned in Ukraine.
Part of Ukraine’s military community, including many Ilovaisk survivors, criticizes the Ukrainian command’s actions during the battle, particularly of then-time President Petro Poroshenko and Chief of General Staff Viktor Muzhenko, and Defense Minister Valentyn Heletey.
In October 2014, a parliamentary commission investigating the debacle put the blame on the officials, citing their ultimate failure to organize an adequate national wartime effort that precipitated the defeat.
In August 2021, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office also formally indicted Russian high-ranking military generals Sergey Istrakov and Mikhail Mizintsev, who had allegedly been involved in the Ilovaisk operation.
