Ukrainian Institute for the Future -

August 29 marks the fifth anniversary of the Battle of Ilovaisk, a large-scale tragedy that happened during the war in the Donbas.

The Battle of Ilovaisk was the fighting in the city of Ilovaisk, Donetsk region, which resulted in the Ukrainian army suffering the greatest losses of this war. Hundreds of dead, missing and taken hostage, and all this due to not fulfilling agreements by the Russian side.

One of the main reasons for our defeat in Ilovaysk is following mindless and erroneous orders.

The seizure of Ilovaysk and attempt to hold it without further strengthening and aligning of the front is the same as sticking out the arm from the trainʼs window and watching it being torn off by the nearest pole.

The lessons learned from it can also include the need to reorganize logistics, which was very bad in that warfare, and the need for learning aspects of moving warfare.

What happened in Ilovaysk, may repeat, because none of the above was realized. No mistake is acknowledged, no lesson is learned. Even though later the same scenario occurred repeatedly, but already in Debaltseve.

Irakliy Jhanashiya, the UIF expert on national security and defence.

First published: Fakty