Negotiations with Russia deadly dangerous – Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief on 10th anniversary of Battle of Ilovaisk

On the 10th anniversary of the Battle of Ilovaisk, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has remembered all the fallen Ukrainian defenders in the war with Russia and emphasised that negotiations with them are a deadly dangerous matter. 

Source: Syrskyi on Facebook

Quote: "Ilovaisk is not only a tragic event in Ukraine's history but also a chapter of Ukrainian resilience, an act and a feat of Ukrainian soldiers. Let us remember that despite the losses and the enemy's deceit, our warriors did not surrender but continued to break through the trap and fight. 

This day will always remind us of the treachery and deceitfulness of the Russian aggressor, of the fact that any negotiations with terrorists and murderers are deadly dangerous and that they cannot be trusted."

Details: Syrskyi thanked Ukrainian mothers and fathers "for their children who gave their lives for Ukraine's independence and the freedom of the entire Ukrainian people". 

"Your children are true heroes. Their sacrifice is not in vain and is eternally etched in the memory of our nation," Syrskyi concluded.

Background:

• The fighters of Ukrainian forces were surrounded near the city of Ilovaisk in Donetsk Oblast after fierce fighting at the end of August 2014. 
• Russian leader Vladimir Putin called on the militants to open a humanitarian corridor for the Ukrainian servicemen who were surrounded, to allow them to leave the combat zone without interference on the night of 28-29 August. However, the Russian military attacked the corridor through which, as agreed, the Ukrainian fighters were supposed to exit.
• Ukrainian forces suffered some of the heaviest losses since Russia's invasion of Donbas in the Ilovaisk tragedy. Officially, 366 soldiers were killed, around 450 were wounded, 300 were captured and 84 went missing.
• On 14 August 2017, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General's Office published the results of the investigation into the events in Ilovaisk in August 2014. According to these findings, the primary culprit for the Ilovaisk tragedy was the Russian military command.
• On 13 September 2019, Viktor Chumak, the new Chief Military Prosecutor, announced a new investigation into the causes that led to the Ilovaisk tragedy. 
• Following this, Petro Poroshenko, the fifth President of Ukraine, was repeatedly summoned for questioning in the "Ilovaisk case".
• In 2020, the Prosecutor General's Office asserted that the sole factor causing the deaths of Ukrainian soldiers in Ilovaisk was Russia's direct invasion.
• Since 2019, the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine is marked annually on 29 August.

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