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New evidence has been found which shows direct Russian military involvement in the Battle of Ilovaisk. the evidence was collected by Forensic Architecture, a London, England based research group.
The evidence that Forensic Architecture has found includes information on the use of a tank that was used only by the Russian military at the time of the battle in August 2014. Satellite images show multiple sightings of the Russian T-72B3 tank. The was reported by the Guardian.
Even in the face of a mountain of evidence to the contrary, Russia continues to deny any direct involvement in the war in Donbas in eastern Ukraine.
The Battle of Ilovaisk was one of the deadliest in the war when Russian forces and the separatists under Russian control encircled Ukrainian forces there. An agreement was reached to allow the Ukrainian forces to leave through a narrow corridor. However, as the Ukrainian forces were retreating, they were fired upon resulting a bloody battle.
25 members of the volunteer unit Donbas Battalion, which was supporting the Ukrainian Army at the time, survived the battle but were captured by by what they believe to have been a regular Russian military unit. These members claim that they were tortured while Russian prisoners and have taken their claim to the European Court of Human Rights, the ECHR, and will be using the evidence discovered by Forensic Architecture to bolster their case.
During the war in Donbas in 2014, the Ukrainian military, assisted by several volunteer battalions, made progress against the Russian supported separatists. By August 2014, the Ukrainian side was close to winning the war having nearly circled both the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
It was at this time that Russia appears to have sent in regular forces to attack the Ukrainian forces and push them back, including during the Battle of Ilovaisk, and opening a new front in the war along the Azov Sea and the port city of Mariupol, parts of which were briefly under Russian control until Ukrainian forces retook the city.
Russia also supplied the separatists with hardware, specifically the Buk missile system that was used to shoot down Malaysian Airlines flight 17 in July 2014 which killed all 298 onboard.
While Russia is a member of the Council of Europe and the ECHR operates in the Council, Russia has refused to pay most of the claims that have gone against them, including cases of torture in Chechnya. Currently, some 4,000 cases against Russia are being pursued in the ECHR.
To avoid having to make payments, Russia passed a law in 2017 which allows domestic courts in Russia to overrule ECHR decisions if they are considered to go against the Russian constitution.
Since Russia denies any involvement in eastern Ukraine, the surviving members of Donbas Battalion may never see restitution if the court case goes their way.
