Battles for Ilovaisk: Commemoration

August 28, 2016, Kyiv.

The plot is dedicated to commemorating the fallen soldiers during the withdrawal from the Ilovaisk Cauldron on Sofiivska Square in Kyiv.

In the video: a child at the commemoration event, different plans of the square; a flash interview with the families of the fallen and soldiers who participated in the battles for Ilovaisk; journalist Viktoria Roshchina talks about the defense of Ilovaisk, archive footage.

Comments: a Kyiv resident, a schoolgirl Sofia Naida; a soldier of the Donbass battalion, a participant in the withdrawal from Ilovaisk Oleg Nikishyn; the mother of the fallen soldier Svitlana; the widow of the fallen soldier Svitlana Lytvytska; the commander of the Donbas volunteer battalion Semen Semenchenko.

Journalist — Viktoria Roshchina.

Background: The battles for Ilovaisk in August 2014 were one of the most tragic events of the Russian-Ukrainian war, when Ukrainian troops, largely formed from volunteer battalions, found themselves surrounded and suffered heavy losses while withdrawing from the so-called "green corridor". In total, more than 360 servicemen and volunteers were killed, hundreds were wounded or captured, and for a long time official statistics did not reflect the real number of deaths from volunteer units. The problem of their legal recognition and social security for the families of the deceased remained unresolved for years, which caused a public outcry and the gradual adoption of decisions to include volunteers in the system of state honors and compensations.