The Remembrance Day was established by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who signed the relevant decree last August. In accordance with the presidential decree, the date of commemoration has to be observed annually on August 29. This date has been chosen not by accident. On that day six years ago, the Battle of Ilovaisk (it is also known as the “Ilovaisk Cauldron”) claimed the lives of more Ukrainian soldiers than in all the years of the war in Donbas.

This August, the President attended events dedicated to the Day of Remembrance. His speech was focused on the Ilovaisk tragedy. Zelenskyy called for the law-enforcement agencies to make public results of the investigation so that people will be able to know the truth no matter how bitter it might be. “On that day, the Ilovaisk tragedy happened, the “Ilovaisk Cauldron”. We must not forget that day. We must not forget every name that has been mentioned today. For forty minutes, we have announced the names of our fallen boys. Regrettably, we cannot make this time shorter, but we can do, as a State, everything possible that this time will never increase. So, glory to our heroes, to our boys, glory to those soldiers who today defend Ukraine against Russian aggression at the frontline”, said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The President went on to say, “We can hardly hope that the wound like this day on the body of Ukrainian history, on the hearts of the parents of the killed will ever heal”. Zelenskyy stressed that the Ukrainian government should do everything possible so that “this wound has not closed”, so that no one will forget the names of the Ukrainian heroes who perished for Ukraine. “We ought to tell every day that there have been such tragedies in Ukraine, that there have been and there are such heroes in Ukraine who sacrifice their lives. Our main duty is to tell people the story of Ukraine, the story of our heroes”, concluded the President.

The ceremonial meeting commemorating the fallen defenders took place at the Bell of Memory on the grounds of the Defense Ministry. The meeting was attended by the President, Parliament Chairman Dmytro Razumkov and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. Speaker Razumkov said that the country would do its best so that the sacrifice of the fallen soldiers will not be in vain. “To pay tribute to those who gave their lives for Ukraine is the least that we can do. We will always remember them and will do everything possible that their ultimate sacrifice won’t be wasted and Ukraine will be able to defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty. May their memory be blessed”, said Razumkov.

The Prime Minister spoke about the battle near the city of Ilovaisk in Donbas. “August 29, 2014, became a tragic page in the history of Ukraine. In a bloody battle fought on sunflower fields near Ilovaisk, hundreds of our defenders were killed and more were injured, dozens disappeared without a trace. But due to their strong character and heroism Ukrainians managed to break through the clutches of the enemy. With a deep gratitude we bow our heads before them. Heroes do not die”, said Shmyhal.

On Saturday, August 29, the monument to the fallen in the Ilovaisk Cauldron was opened in the city of Kryvyi Rih. A day before, almost two hundred wives and mothers of the soldiers who were killed in eastern Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression gathered at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Kyiv. They brought pictures of their killed husbands and sons, their personal belongings that still have blood stains. They also brought bunches of sunflowers as the symbol of the Ilovaisk tragedy. These women put flowers and bloodstained sneakers at the fence of the Embassy.

On the occasion of the anniversary of the tragedy near the city of Ilovaisk, the Embassy of the United States in Kyiv called for Russia to withdraw its forces from Donbas. “We solemnly remember those who sacrificed their lives in Ilovaisk six years ago this week while defending Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia must fully implement its Minsk commitments, withdraw its weapons and the forces it leads, support the disbanding of the armed formations operating in eastern Ukraine, and return control of Ukraine’s internationally-recognized border to Ukraine”, stated the U.S. Embassy.

The American diplomatic office said that the United States would continue to maintain its related sanctions against Russia until it fully implements its Minsk commitments.

Here’s a bit of the story about the Ilovaisk Battle. In the middle of August 2014, the Ukrainian government forces and volunteer paramilitary battalions managed to take under their control the largest part of the city of Ilovaisk in the Donetsk Region. But when Russian regular army troops entered the war zone on August 23 to 24, a large number of Ukrainian soldiers and paramilitaries were trapped in the city. Later, the Russian military and pro-Russian militants announced that they agreed to allow Ukrainians to withdraw from the city. The humanitarian corridor was established and as the columns of government forces began to move out of the city they were fired on by Russians.

In accordance with official reports, 366 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the battle, almost 450 were injured, 300 were taken prisoners and 84 soldiers disappeared without a trace. At the same time, the temporary parliamentary commission formed to investigate all the circumstances of the Ilovaisk Battle said that the general losses of the Ukrainian troops stood at a thousand men.

On August 14, 2017, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine made public the results of the investigation of the tragedy. According to the conclusions made by the GPO, the tragedy was caused by the direct invasion of the armed forces of Russia and subsequent military crimes committed by the Russian army.

The Russian Federation does not want to recognize officially the fact of its invasion of Ukraine regardless of facts and evidence presented by Ukraine.

The newspaper Holos Ukrainy