Ukrainians commemorate 6th anniversary of Ilovaisk tragedy

On Aug. 29, hundreds of Ukrainians came to the memorial wall for soldiers killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine in the eastern Donbas. The conflict, which the Kremlin started after invading and annexing Crimea in 2014, has killed nearly 15,000 people and displaced 1.5 million.

The commemorations took place in Kyiv on the Day of Remembrance of Ukraine’s Defenders and the 6th anniversary of the catastrophic Battle of Ilovaisk, in which Russian troops ambushed and killed at least 366 retreating Ukrainian soldiers. Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine conducted a memorial prayer near the Mikhailivksiy Cathedral.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Dmytro Razumkov, and other government officials commemorated Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war with Russia-backed separatists in the Donbas region at a memorial site near Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.