UN report on 2014 Ilovaysk battle draws Ukrainian criticism

Authorities from the United Nations presented on Aug.
9 their conclusions on the August 2014 battle of Ilovaysk in Ukraine’s Donetsk
region that drew criticism from Ukrainian authorities for making no mention of
Russia’s role in the 402 confirmed deaths and 429 injuries. The report
identified serious human rights violations, and possibly war crimes, committed
by both Ukrainian armed forces and pro-Russian separatists, but not by Russian
armed forces, whose active participation in the killings was confirmed by the
Ukrainian government. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights recommended the Ukrainian government to continue ratifying the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and introduce amendments to
the criminal code to enable the criminal investigation of international crimes.

The UN report drew criticism the same day from
Ukrainian politicians for lacking objectivity and being politicized. “The United
Nations did not dare raise its voice and utter a few words towards Russia,
which is why I say it’s politically biased,” said of the report Anatoliy
Grytsenko, the former defense minister, during a television interview that day.
“Despite the same report quoting (Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr)
Zakharchenko, who confirms that 3,000-4,000 Russian soldiers are present, as
well as offering other statistics confirming the presence there of Russian
tactical battalions, the United Nations nonetheless shied away from pointing
the finger at Russia.”

Zenon Zawada: The UN
report on Ilovaysk indicates that the Russian government is gaining victories
on the international arena in promoting its narrative that it’s not directly
involved in Donbas and that full responsibility and authority for events there
is with the separatist forces. Even if this narrative is rejected by Western
authorities implicitly, they are nonetheless hesitating to implicate Russia in
crimes in Ukraine in their official declarations, falling in line with Russia’s
strategy. Yet the overwhelming evidence points to the Russian government
propping up the separatist regimes in Donetsk and Luhansk and being directly
involved in determining their decisions and actions.

As for the critical battle for Ilovaysk in August
2014, it’s widely accepted that the Ukrainian army would have triumphed over
the separatists If not for the presence of Russian soldiers. A victory could
have even ended any prospects for the Donetsk People’s Republic. Instead, the
Russian army resorted to deceptive tactics, also possible war crimes, to
slaughter hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and gain a crucial victory in creating
its separatist puppet states within Ukraine’s borders.