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Donbass

See also: War in Donbass and Timeline of the war in Donbass

The War in Donbass is an armed conflict in the Donbass region of Ukraine. From the beginning of March 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, together commonly called the "Donbass", in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and the Euromaidan movement. These demonstrations, which followed the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, and which were part of a wider group of concurrent pro-Russian protests across southern and eastern Ukraine, escalated into an armed conflict between the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR respectively), and the Ukrainian government. Prior to a change of the top leadership in August, the separatists were largely led by Russian citizens. The SBU claimed key commanders of the rebel movement during this time, including Igor Strelkov and Igor Bezler were Russian agents. Russian paramilitaries are reported to make up from 15% to 80% of the combatants.

August military intervention

In early August, according to Igor Strelkov, Russian servicemen, supposedly on "vacation" from the army, began to arrive. In late August 2014, according to NATO officials, Russia moved self-propelled artillery onto the territory of Ukraine. Russian soldiers were captured in Donetsk Oblast; Russia claimed that they had crossed over by accident. Russia was reported to have shelled Ukrainian territory, and Russian military forces were reported to have entered Ukraine near Novoazovsk. On 24 August 2014, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko referred to the conflict as Ukraine's "Patriotic War of 2014" and a war against "external aggression". The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine labeled the conflict an invasion on 27 August 2014.

On 27 August, two columns of Russian tanks entered Ukrainian territory in support of the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk and engaged Ukrainian border forces, but US officials were reluctant to declare that Russia had begun invading Ukraine. NATO officials have stated that over 1000 Russian troops are operating inside Ukraine, but termed the incident as an incursion rather than an invasion. The Russian government denies these claims. NATO has published satellite photos which are claimed to show the presence of Russian troops within Ukrainian territory. The pro-Russian separatists have admitted that Russian troops are fighting alongside them, stating that this was "no secret", but that the Russian troops were just soldiers who preferred to take their vacations fighting in Ukraine rather than "on the beach". The Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic stated that 3000 to 4000 Russian troops had been fighting in separatist ranks and that most of them had not returned to Russia, having continued to fight in Ukraine.

The 76th Guards Air Assault Division entered Ukrainian territory in August and engaged in a skirmish suffering 80 dead. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that they had destroyed three of the units tanks and seized two armored vehicles. The Russian government denied the skirmish took place. After the denials Vladimir Putin awarded the Division one of Russia's highest awards, the Order of Suvorov for the "successful completion of military missions" and "courage and heroism".

For at least one week prior to the invasion, Russia had been shelling Ukrainian units from across the border, but instances of cross-border shelling from Russia had been reported since mid-July. At the time, Russian government spokesman denied these allegations. On 13 August, members of the Russian Human Rights Commission stated that over 100 Russian soldiers had been killed in the fighting in Ukraine and inquired why they were there. On 28 August, members of the commission called the presence of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil "an outright invasion". On 28 August 2014, Ukraine ordered national mandatory conscription.

The two Russian tank columns captured the southeastern city of Novoazovsk on the Azov sea, and Russian soldiers began arresting and deporting to unknown locations all Ukrainians who did not have an address registered within the town. Pro-Ukrainian anti-war protests took place in Mariupol which was threatened by Russian troops. The UN Security Council called an emergency meeting in regard to the situation.

Around 29–30 August, Russian tanks destroyed "virtually every house" in Novosvitlivka, according to Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko. On 2 September, after Ukrainian forces agreed to surrender Ilovaisk, they were bombarded by Russian forces while they evacuated through a "green corridor." The assault on the troops who were marked with white flags was variously described as a "massacre." At least 100 were killed.

On 3 September, Ukrainian President Poroshenko said he had reached a permanent ceasefire agreement with Russian President Putin. Russia then denied the ceasefire took place, denying being party to the conflict at all. Ukraine then retracted its previous statement concerning the potential ceasefire.

Also on 3 September OSCE for the first time reported "light and heavy calibre shootings from the east and south-east areas which are also bordering Ukraine". In this report, it is also stated that the OSCE Observer Teams have also seen an increase of military-style dressed men crossing the border in both directions, including ones with LPR and Novorossiya symbols and flags, and wounded being transported back to Russia

November escalation

On 7 November, NATO officials confirmed the continued invasion of Ukraine, with 32 Russian tanks, 16 howitzer cannons and 30 trucks of troops entering the country. On 12 November NATO reiterated the prevalence of Russian troops; US general Philip Breedlove said "Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defence systems and Russian combat troops" were sighted. The Lithuanian Mission to the United Nations denounced Russia's 'undeclared war' on Ukraine. Journalist Menahem Kahana took a picture showing a 1RL232 "Leopard" battlefield surveillance radar system in Torez, east of Donetsk; and Dutch freelance journalist Stefan Huijboom took pictures which showed the 1RL232 traveling with the 1RL239 "Lynx" radar system.

Burnt-out remains of tanks and vehicles left after battles appeared to provide further evidence of Russian involvement.

The Associated Press reported 80 unmarked military vehicles on the move in rebel-controlled areas. Three separate columns were seen, one near the main separatist stronghold of Donetsk and two outside the town of Snizhne. Several of the trucks were seen to be carrying troops.

OSCE monitors further observed vehicles apparently used to transport soldiers' dead bodies crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border — in one case a vehicle marked with Russia's military code for soldiers killed in action crossed from Russia into Ukraine on 11 November 2014 and later returned. On January 23, 2015 the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers warned about conscripts being sent to east Ukraine. NATO said it had seen an increase in Russian tanks, artillery pieces and other heavy military equipment in eastern Ukraine and renewed its call for Moscow to withdraw its forces.

Allegations of Russian involvement

Russian born separatist commander Arseny Pavlov, Donetsk, 25 December 2014

At the beginning of the insurgency, the prime ministers of Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk were Russian citizens; they were succeeded by Ukrainian citizens by August. Many of the separatist fighters are Russian citizens, with many claimed to be former military personnel. The SBU claims key commanders of the rebel movement during this time, including Igor Strelkov and Igor Bezler, are Russian agents. American and Ukrainian officials said they had evidence of Russian interference in Ukraine, including intercepted communications between Russian officials and Donbass insurgents. In 2015 NATO spokesman Robert Pszel stated in an interview for Dozhd TV that the alliance has sufficient evidence to make "28 member states of the alliance have no doubts about military involvement of Russia" in the Donbass conflict.

Separatist leaders like Aleksey Mozgovoy visited Moscow and were evasive about who was supplying their weapons. There is also evidence that indicates the Buk missile system, widely believed to have been used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on 17 July, came from Russia. In late August, NATO released satellite images which it said showed evidence of Russian operations inside Ukraine with sophisticated weaponry, and after the setbacks of Ukrainian forces by early September, it was evident Russia had sent soldiers and armour across the border and locals acknowledged the role of Putin and Russian soldiers in effecting a reversal of fortunes.

A significant number of Russian citizens, many veterans or ultranationalists, are currently involved in the ongoing armed conflict, a fact acknowledged by separatist leaders. Carol Saivets, Russian specialist for the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology described the role of Russian soldiers as 'almost certainly' proceeding with the blessing and backing of the Russian state, "even if the Russians are indeed volunteers rather than serving military men". Recruitment for the Donbass insurgents was performed openly in Russian cities using private or voyenkomat facilities, as was confirmed by a number of Russian media.

In an interview with French television channel TF1 and Radio Europe1, Russian president Vladimir Putin said: "There are no armed forces, no 'Russian instructors' in Ukraine—and there never were any."

The well-organised and well-armed pro-Russian militants have been described by Ukrainian media as resembling those which occupied regions of Crimea during the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. The former deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Admiral Ihor Kabanenko, claims the militants are Russian military reconnaissance and sabotage units. Arsen Avakov stated the militants in Krasnyi Lyman used Russian-made AK-100 series assault rifles fitted with grenade launchers, and that such weapons are only in issue in the Russian Federation. "The Government of Ukraine is considering the facts of today as a manifestation of external aggression by Russia," said Avakov. Militants in Sloviansk arrived in military lorries without license plates. Russian Novaya Gazeta reporter after visiting separatist artillery positions in Avdeyevka wrote that in his opinion "it's impossible that the cannons are handled by volunteers" as they require a trained and experienced team, including observers and adjustment experts.

A US State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, says there is a "broad unity in the international community about the connection between Russia and some of the armed militants in eastern Ukraine". The Ukrainian government released photos of soldiers in eastern Ukraine, which the US State Department says show that some of the fighters are Russian special forces. US Secretary of State John Kerry said the militants "were equipped with specialized Russian weapons and the same uniforms as those worn by the Russian forces that invaded Crimea." The US ambassador to the United Nations said the attacks in Sloviansk were "professional," "coordinated," and that there was 'nothing grass-roots seeming about it'. The British foreign secretary, William Hague, stated, "I don't think denials of Russian involvement have a shred of credibility, [...] The forces involved are well armed, well trained, well equipped, well co-ordinated, behaving in exactly the same way as what turned out to be Russian forces behaved in Crimea." The commander of NATO operations in Europe, Philip M. Breedlove, assessed that soldiers appeared to be highly trained and not a spontaneously formed local militia, and that "what is happening in eastern Ukraine is a military operation that is well planned and organized and we assess that it is being carried out at the direction of Russia."

Pro-Russian protesters in Donetsk, 9 March 2014

A Russian opposition politician, Ilya Ponomarev, said "I am absolutely confident that in the eastern regions of Ukraine there are Russian troops in very small amounts. And it's not regular soldiers, but likely representatives of special forces and military intelligence." Later in July, after shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, he said that "Putin now understands that he has passed weapons to the wrong people". He also said that even if Moscow does not supply more weapons to the Donbass insurgents, there would still be enough supporters of the insurgency in the Russian military to continue such shipments unofficially.

Klaus Zillikens, head of the OSCE mission in Donetsk, said that the mission has detected signs of "foreign agents" operating in Ukraine, but thus far there is no evidence to confirm that. According to Georgij Alafuzoff, the Director of Intelligence at the European Union Military Staff, even if there is a Russian military presence in Ukraine, it is not as large as it was in Crimea. He suggests the militants are mostly local citizens, disappointed by the situation in the country. Nick Paton Walsh, reporting from Donetsk for CNN, stated that the physical appearance of the militants is different from that of the unidentified troops, spotted throughout Crimea while it was in the process of secession.

David Patrikarakos, a correspondent for the New Statesman said the following: "While at the other protests/occupations there were armed men and lots of ordinary people, here it almost universally armed and masked men in full military dress. Automatic weapons are everywhere. Clearly a professional military is here. There's the usual smattering of local militia with bats and sticks but also a military presence. Of that there is no doubt." Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former American National Security Advisor, said that the events in the Donbass were similar to events in Crimea, which led to its annexation by Russia, and noted that Russia acted similarly.

The New York Times journalists interviewed Sloviansk militants and found no clear link of Russian support: "There was no clear Russian link in the 12th Company’s arsenal, but it was not possible to confirm the rebels’ descriptions of the sources of their money and equipment." Commenting on the presence of the Vostok Battalion within insurgent ranks, Denis Pushilin said on 30 May, "It's simply that there were no volunteers [from Russia] before, and now they have begun to arrive – and not only from Russia." Stephen Ennis wrote in his BBC news blog that, on the Ukrainian state television talk-show Shuster Live on 13 June 2014, the British journalist Mark Franchetti, who had just spent weeks with the Vostok Battalion, described the Battalion as largely untrained locals from eastern Ukraine, with a smattering of Russian volunteers. He also stated that the fighters in the Battalion who were now in the Donbass were "mainly normal, ordinary citizens who are absolutely convinced they are defending their homes – as they put it – against fascism". Franchetti stressed that he was not saying that there were no Russian troops operating in Ukraine, but that he did not come across any himself. He stated "I can only speak about what I saw with my own eyes".

In a meeting held on 7 July in Donetsk city, Russian politician Sergey Kurginyan held a press conference with representatives of Donbass People's Militia, including Pavel Gubarev, and said that Russia did provide significant military support for the separatists. During a discussion among the participants, Gubarev complained that the arms that had been sent was old, and not fully functional. In response, Kurginyan listed specific items, including 12,000 automatic rifles, grenade launchers, 2S9 Nona self-propelled mortars, two BMPs, and three tanks, that he knew had been supplied to the separatists by Russia. He also said he saw new, fully functional weapons unloaded at locations in Donbass which he would not "disclose as we are filmed by cameras". Kurginyan admitted that Russia had initially sent "4th category weapons", but since 3 June had supplied equipment that was fully functional. He also said one of his goals whilst in Donetsk was to ensure that military support from Russia was increased.

An An-26 military cargo plane was shot down over the Ukrainian village of Davydo Myilske near the Russian border on 14 July. It had been flying at an altitude of 6,500 metres. The head of Ukraine's Security Service Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, stated on 15 July that the SBU had "indisputable" evidence of Russian involvement in the attack. On 24 July, a week after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, over an area of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists, most likely by pro-Russian forces, the American government stated that it had evidence that the Russian military was firing on Ukrainian territory from across the border. A spokesman for the US Department of Defence stated that there was "no question" as to Russia's involvement in the attacks on Ukrainian Armed Forces. On 28 July it published satellite photos showing heavy artillery shelling Ukrainian positions from Russian territory.

In a battle at Donetsk airport more than 50% of the people killed were Russian citizens and were delivered back to Russia.A report for the independent news site Novaya Gazeta, reprinted in The Guardian, tracked down the widow of one Russian man who died during the fighting at Donetsk airport, and sought to shed light onto the obscure structures that organised the transfer of fighters to Ukraine. The report further highlighted the 'frustration of dealing with Russian officialdom apparently so keen to cover up all traces of those fighting across the border'.

Aleksandr Zakharchenko takes an oath of office as the Prime Minister of Donetsk People's Republic, 8 August 2014. In August too he said 1200 fighters trained in Russia for four months, crossed and were ready to fight. He said the reinforcements included 30 tanks and 120 armoured vehicles.

Alexander Zakharchenko, said 1200 fighters trained in Russia for four months, crossed and are ready to fight. Zakharchenko said the reinforcements included 30 tanks and 120 armoured vehicles. He later denied making the comments.

A convoy of military vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers, with official Russian military plates crossed into Ukraine near the insurgent-controlled Izvaryne border crossing on 14 August. The Ukrainian government later said that they destroyed most of the armoured column with artillery. Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen said this incident was "clear demonstration of continued Russian involvement in the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine". Surprisingly the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking to Russian ministers and Crimean parliamentarians on a visit to Crimea, undertook to do everything he could to end the conflict in Ukraine, saying Russia needed to build calmly and with dignity, not by confrontation and war which isolated it from the rest of the world. The comments came as international sanctions against Russia were being stepped up.

17 August, Ukraine accused Russia of sending more military equipment, including Grad rocket launchers, across the border and on to Nizhny Nagolchyk. Sergei Lavrov persisted in affirming that Russia was not sending any equipment across the border, and pointed out that an OSCE observer mission placed at border crossing points in the region had not identified any unlawful crossings of the border. Yet the OSCE mission that Lavrov pointed to as not having identified any unlawful crossings of the border had no mandate to check the long, unguarded sections of the border where crossings of men and equipment occur frequently.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Valeriy Heletey said on 21 August that the insurgents were using Russian-made weapons that had never been used or bought by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Injured insurgents are usually treated in Russia, with help from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. They are also questioned and registered by the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Russian domestic security and intelligence agency.

The official response of the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office of Russia, which confirmed the death of Pskov paratroopers. The circumstances of the death are designated as "state secret".

On 18 August Russian minister of defence Sergey Shoigu awarded Suvorov medal to Pskov Paratroopers Division. Russian media highlighted that the medal is awarded exclusively for combat operations and reported that a large number of soldiers from this division died in Ukraine just days before, but their burials were kept in secret.

According to NATO reports, Russian military has been shelling Ukrainian positions across the border since mid-August, and by 22 August, Russian artillery and personnel have crossed the border into Ukraine itself. On 25 August a column of Russian tanks and military vehicles was reported to have crossed into Ukraine in the southeast, near the town of Novoazovsk, and headed towards Ukrainian held Mariupol.

Lindsey Hilsum wrote in the Channel 4 news blog that in early September Ukrainian troops at Dmitrivska came under attack from BM-30 Smerch rockets from Russia. She wrote on 4 September that the word was that Ukrainian troops who have been shelling Luhansk for weeks were retreating west and that Russian soldiers with heavy armour were reported to have come over the border to back up the rebels. Ukrainian troops gave accounts of fighting the Russian army during the Battle of Ilovaisk.

Journalist Tim Judah wrote in the NYR blog about the scale of the devastation suffered by Ukrainian forces in southeastern Ukraine over the last week of August 2014 that it amounted 'to a catastrophic defeat and will long be remembered by embittered Ukrainians as among the darkest days of their history.' The scale of the destruction achieved in several ambushes revealed 'that those attacking the pro-government forces were highly professional and using very powerful weapons.' The fighting in Ilovaysk had begun on 7 August when units from three Ukrainian volunteer militias and the police attempted to take it back from rebel control. Then, on 28 August, the rebels were able to launch a major offensive, with help from elsewhere, including Donetsk—though "not Russia," according to Commander Givi, the head of rebel forces there. By 1 September it was all over and the Ukrainians had been decisively defeated. Commander Givi said the ambushed forces were militias not regular soldiers whose numbers had been boosted, 'by foreigners, including Czechs, Hungarians, and "niggers." '

Mick Krever wrote on the CNN blog that on 5 September Russia's Permanent Representative to the OSCE, Andrey Kelin had said it was natural pro-Russian separatists "are going to liberate" Mariupol. Ukrainian forces stated that Russian intelligence groups had been spotted in the area. Kelin said 'there might be volunteers over there.' NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen meanwhile said there are several thousand regular Russian forces operating in Ukraine. Lindsey Hilsum reported on the Channel 4 news blog about the total destruction of Luhansk International Airport which was being used as a base by the Ukrainian forces to shell Luhansk, probably because the Russians decided to 'turn the tide ' - the terminal building and everything around was utterly destroyed. Forces from Azerbaijan, Belarus and Tajikistan who were fighting on the side of the rebels allowed themselves to be filmed.

On 13 September it was reported Moscow sent a convoy of trucks delivering aid into Ukraine without Kiev's consent. This convoy was not inspected by Ukraine or accompanied by the ICRC. Top Ukrainian leaders have largely remained silent about the convoys after the ceasefire deal was reached. The aid is part of the 12-point Minsk agreement.

While Russia officially denies organized presence of their military units in Ukraine, there is a large amount of circumstantial evidence that suggests the opposite. Center for Eurasian Strategic Intelligence has estimated, based on "official statements and interrogation records of captured military men from these units, satellite surveillance data" as well as verified announcements from relatives and profiles in social networks, that over 30 Russian military units are taking part in the conflict in Ukraine. In total, there was over 8 thousand soldiers fighting there at different moments. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs says that the Russian separatist side enjoys technical advantages over Ukrainian army since the large inflow of advanced military systems in mid-2014: effective anti-aircraft weapons ("Buk", MANPADS) suppress Ukrainian air strikes, Russian drones provide intelligence and Russian secure communications system prevent Ukrainian side from communications intelligence. Russian side also frequently employed electronic warfare systems that Ukraine doesn't have. Similar conclusions about technical advantage of the Russian separatists were voiced by Conflict Studies Research Centre. Also, according to the Council's estimates the Russian separatists forces have around 36'000 troops (as compared to 34'000 Ukrainian) and out of that 8'500-10'000 are purely Russian soldiers. In addition to that, there are around 1000 GRU troops operating in the area. According to a military expert Ilya Kramnik the Ukrainian forces in total outnumber the Russian forces by a factor of two (20'000 Russian separatist vs 40'000 Ukraine).

In November 2014 Igor Girkin gave a long interview to the extreme right-wing nationalist newspaper "Zavtra" ("Tomorrow") where for the first time he released details about the beginning of the conflict in Donbass. According to Girkin, he was the one who "pulled the trigger of war" and it was necessary because acquisition of Crimea alone by Russia "did not make sense" and Crimea as part of the Novorossiya "would make the jewel in the crown of the Russian Empire". Girkin had been directed to Donbass by Sergey Aksyonov and he entered Ukraine with a group of 52 officers in April, initially taking Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and then other cities. Girkin also talked about the situation in August, when separatist forces were close to defeat and only a prompt intervention of Russian "leavers" (ironic term for "soldiers on leave") saved them. Their forces took command in the siege of Mariupol as well.

The speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament and Russian state television channels acknowledged that Russian soldiers entered Ukraine, but have referred to them as "volunteers". A reporter for Novaya Gazeta, an opposition newspaper in Russia, stated that the Russian military leadership paid soldiers to resign their commissions and fight in Ukraine in the early summer of 2014, and then began ordering soldiers into Ukraine. This reporter said to have knowledge of at least one case when soldiers who refused were threatened with prosecution. Russian opposition MP Lev Shlosberg made similar claims, although he said combatants from his country are "regular Russian troops", disguised as units of DPR and LPR. Shlosberg's newspaper also released transcript of phone conversations between Russian soldiers being treated in a Pskov hospital for wounds received while fighting in Ukraine. The soldiers reveal that they were sent to the war, but told by their officers that they were going on "an exercise". Despite denials that Russian soldiers are not being ordered to fight in Ukraine, in August Vladimir Putin awarded the Order of Suvorov, an award given for combat against a foreign enemy, to the 76th Guards Air Assault Division, a Russian military paratrooper unit, for "successful completion of military missions". At the time, Ukrainian officials reported that fighting between the 76th Guards and Ukrainian military had taken place but Kremlin dismissed these reports.

In response to internal criticism of the Russian government's policy of not officially recognizing Russian soldiers in Ukraine as fulfilling military service and leaving their families without any source of income if they are killed, president Vladimir Putin signed a new law in October entitling their families to a monthly compensation. Two new entitlement categories were added: "missing in action" and "declared dead" (as of 1 January 2016).

On 26 August 2014, a mixed column composed of at least 3 T-72B1s and a lone T-72BM was identified on a video from Sverdlovsk, Ukraine by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The significance of this sighting was that Russia attempted to maintain plausible deniability over the issue of supplying tanks and other arms to the separatists. Russia continuously claimed that any tanks operated by the separatists must have been captured from Ukraine's own army. The T-72BM is in service with the Russian Army in large numbers. This modernized T-72 is not known to have been exported to nor operated by any other country. Reuters found other tanks of this type near Horbatenko in October. In November, the United Kingdom's embassy in Ukraine also published an infographic demonstrating specific features of the T-72 tanks used by separatists not present in tanks held by Ukrainian army, ironically addressing it to "help Russia recognize its own tanks".

Alexandr Negrebetskih, a deputy from Russian city of Zlatoust who fights as a volunteer on the side of separatists, complained in an interview that "the locals run to Russia, and we have to come here as they are reluctant to defend their land" which results in his detachment being composed of 90% Russians and only 10% locals from Donetsk.

In November Lev Shlosberg published a response from a military attorney's office to questions he asked about the status of Pskov paratroopers killed in Ukraine in August. The office answered that the soldiers died while "fulfilling military service outside of their permanent dislocation units" (Pskov), but any further information on their orders or location of death was withheld as "classified". A political expert Alexey Makarkin compared these answers to those provided by Soviet ministry of defence during Soviet war in Afghanistan when USSR attempted to hide the scale of their casualties at any cost.

Numerous reports of Russian troops and warfare on Ukrainian territory have been also raised in United Nations Security Council meetings. In the 12 November meeting, the representative of the United Kingdom also accused Russia of intentionally constraining OSCE observatory missions' capabilities, pointing out that the observers are only allowed to monitor 2 kilometers of border between Ukraine and Russia, and drones recently deployed to extend their capabilities are being jammed or shot down.

In November, Armament Research Services published a detailed report on arms used by both sides of conflict, documenting a number of "flag items". Among vehicles they documented presence of T-72B Model 1989 and T-72B3 tanks, armoured vehicles of models BTR-82AM, MT-LB 6MA, MT-LBVM, and MT-LBVMK, and an Orlan-10 drone and 1RL239 radar vehicle. Among the ammunition, they documented 9K38 Igla (date of manufacture 2014), ASVK rifle (2012), RPG-18 rocket launchers (2011), 95Ya6 rocket boosters (2009) MRO-A (2008), 9M133 Kornet anti-tank weapons (2007), PPZR Grom (2007), MON-50 (2002), RPO-A (2002), PKP (2001), OG-7 (2001), and VSS rifles (1987). These weapons, mostly manufactured in Russia, were seen in the zone of conflict used by pro-Russian separatists, but never "were in the Ukrainian government inventory prior to the outbreak of hostilities". The report also points to an interesting case of the PPZR Grom MANPADs that are produced in Poland and were never exported to Ukraine. They were however exported to Georgia in 2007 and subsequently captured by Russian army during the Russian-Georgian War 2008. Also in November Pantsir-S1 units were observed in separatist-controlled areas near Novoazovsk, which were never part of UAF armament. Bellingcat maintains a dedicated database of geolocated images of military vehicles specific to each side of the conflict, mostly focucused on Russian military equipment found on the Ukrainian territory.

In December, Ukrainian hackers published a large cache of documents coming allegedly from a hacked server of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MID). The documents originate from various departaments coordinated by MID, like local police, road police, emergency services etc. Among those analyzed by activists there are for example documents describing Russian military casualties arriving on August 25 to hospitals in Rostov area after a battle "10 km northwest of the small village of Prognoi", which matches a battle in Krasnaya Talovka reported on the same date by Ukrainian side.

Cases of Russian soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine are widely discussed in local Russian media in the republics they originated from. Recruitment for Donbass is performed rather openly via veteran and other paramilitary organisations. Vladimir Yefimov, leader of one of such organisations, explained in details in an interview how the process works in Ural area. The organisation welcomes mostly army veterans, but also policemen, firefighters etc. with military experience. Cost of equipping one volunteer is estimated at around 350'000 roubel (around $6500) plus cost of the volunteer's salary from 60 to 240 thousands roubel per month depending on their experience. At the same time the volunteers are issued a document claiming that their participation is limited to "offering humanitarian help" to avoid Russian mercenary laws. They are travelling to conflict zone without weapons, which they are only being given at the destination. Often, Russian troops have travelled disguised as Red Cross personnel. Igor Trunov, head of Russian Red Cross in Moscow condemned these convoys as they make delivery of real humanitarian help more difficult.

According to a top U.S. general Russian supplied drones, and electronic jamming have ensured Ukrainian troops struggle to counter artillery fire by pro-Russian militants. "The rebels have Russian-provided UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that are giving the rebels the detection capability and the ability to target Ukrainian forces".

US Army commander in Europe Ben Hodges stated in February 2015 that "it's very obvious from the amount of ammunition, type of equipment, there's direct Russian military intervention in the Debaltseve area".

On 9 February 2015 a group of 20 contract soldiers from Murmansk raised an official complaint to the Russian ministry of defence when they were told they are going to "go to the Rostov area and possibly cross the Ukrainian border to fulfill their patriotic duty". The soldiers notified human rights activists and requested the orders in written form, which they were not given.

2015

In January 2015, an image of a BPM-97 apparently inside Ukraine, in Luhansk, provided further evidence of Russian military vehicles inside Ukraine.

Poroshenko spoke of a dangerous escalation on January 21 amid reports of more than 2,000 additional Russian troops crossing the border, together with 200 tanks and armed personnel carriers. He abbreviated his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos because of his concerns at the worsening situation.

In January Donetsk, Lugansk, and Mariupol were the three cities that represented the three fronts on which Ukraine was pressed by forces armed, trained and backed by Russia.

On January 29, the chief of Ukraine’s General Military Staff Viktor Muzhenko said 'the Ukrainian army is not engaged in combat operations against Russian regular units,' but that he had information about Russian civilian and military individuals fighting alongside 'illegal armed units in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.' On 28 January, OSCE reported from DPR controlled areas and remarked on presence in outskirts of Khartsyzk east of Donetsk, 'a column of five T-72 tanks facing east, and immediately after, another column of four T-72 tanks moving east on the same road which was accompanied by four unmarked military trucks, type URAL. All vehicles and tanks were unmarked.' It reported on an intensified movement of unmarked military trucks, covered with canvas. After the shelling of residential areas in Mariupol, NATO's Jens Stoltenberg said: "Russian troops in eastern Ukraine are supporting these offensive operations with command and control systems, air defense systems with advanced surface-to-air missiles, unmanned aerial systems, advanced multiple rocket launcher systems, and electronic warfare systems."'

Svetlana Davydova, a mother of seven, was accused of treason for calling the Ukrainian embassy about Russian troop movements and arrested on January 27, 2015. She was held at the high-security Lefortovo jail in Moscow until her release on February 3 with charges against her still pending. The Russian General Staff said details of the case constituted a "state secret."

Both Ukrainian and DNR sides reported unknown sabotage groups firing at both sides of the conflict and also on residential areas, calling them a "third force". SBU published an intercepted call where DNR commanders report such group arrested with Russian passports and military documents. DNR confirmed that such groups were indeed stopped and "destroyed" but called them "Ukrainian sabotage groups working to discredit armed forces of Russian Federation".

Repatriation of Russian soldiers

The repatriation of Russians killed in action or taken as prisoners of war has become a controversial topic in the media due to the Russian state's denial of involvement in Ukraine. Many families have shown growing concern about the whereabouts of their children as Russian military officials only tell them that they are on "training exercises."

In early September 2014, Russian state owned television channels reported on the funerals of Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine during the War in Donbass, but described them as "volunteers" fighting for the "Russian world". Valentina Matviyenko, a top politician in the ruling United Russia party, also praised "volunteers" fighting in "our fraternal nation", referring to Ukraine.

After a series of military defeats and setbacks for the Donetsk and Lugansk separatists, who united under the banner of "Novorossiya" after a term Russian President Vladimir Putin used to describe southeastern Ukraine, Russia dispatched what it called a "humanitarian convoy" of trucks across the Russo-Ukrainian border in mid-August 2014. Ukraine reacted to the move by calling it a "direct invasion". Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council published a report on number and contents of these convoys, claiming they were arriving almost daily in November (up to 9 convoys on 30 November) and their contents were mainly arms and ammunition. In total, in November there were 1903 trucks crossing the border from Russia to Donbass, 20 buses with soldiers or volunteers, 402 armored personnel carriers, 256 tanks, 138 "Grad" launchers, 42 cannons and howitzers, 35 self-propelled artillery vehicles, 5 "Buk" launchers, 4 "Uragan" launchers, 4 "Buratino" flamethrowers, 6 pontoon bridge trucks, 5 "Taran" radio interception systems, 5 armored recovery vehicles, 3 radiolocation systems, 2 truck cranes, 1 track layer vehicle, 1 radiolocation station, unknown number of "Rtut-BM" electronic warfare systems, 242 fuel tankers and 205 light off-road vehicles and vans.

About the same time, multiple reports indicated separatist militias were receiving reinforcements that allowed them to turn the tables on government forces. Armored columns coming from Russia also pushed into southern Donetsk Oblast and reportedly captured the town of Novoazovsk, clashing with Ukrainian forces and opening a new front in the Donbass conflict.

On 25 August Security Service of Ukraine announced the capture of a group of Russian soldiers from the paratroopers military unit 71211 from Kostroma, who crossed Ukrainian border in the night of 23 August. The soldiers were stopped in Dzerkalne, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the border. SBU also released their photos and names. The next day Russian Ministry of Defence explained they crossed the border "by accident". There were also reports in Russian media, such as Pskovskaya Guberniya, that Russian paratroopers may have been killed in Ukraine. Journalists traveled to Pskov, the reported burial location of the troops, to investigate. Multiple reporters said they had been attacked or threatened there, and that the attackers erased several camera memory cards. On 31 August Russian media reported that ten Russian paratroopers captured inside Ukraine had returned home following a troop exchange. Ukraine said the soldiers were captured 20 km from the border with Russia and Russia claimed that the soldiers had crossed in Ukraine "by accident". The exchanged 64 Ukrainian troops captured inside Russia were said to have entered Russia to escape the upsurge in fighting. Russia claimed that the Russian troops had mistakenly crossed an unmarked area of the border while on patrol. Ukraine released videos of captured Russian soldiers which challenged Russia's claim that it has nothing to do with the conflict.

On 3 September Sky News team filmed groups of troops near Novoazovsk wearing modern combat gear typical for Russian units and moving on new military vehicles with number plates and other markings removed. Specialists consulted by the journalists identified parts of the equipment (uniform, rifles) as currently used by Russian ground forces and paratroopers. Russian state television for the first time showed the funeral of a soldier killed fighting in east Ukraine. State-controlled TV station Channel One showed the burial of paratrooper Anatoly Travkin in the central Russian city of Kostroma. The broadcaster said Travkin had not told his wife or commanders about his decision to fight alongside pro-Russia rebels battling government forces. "Officially he just went on leave," the news reader said.

Russian officials denies reports that Russian military units are operating in Ukraine (see War in Donbass), claiming instead they had been sent on routine drills close to the border with Ukraine and crossed the border by mistake. On 28 August 2014 Dutch Brigadier-General Nico Tak, head of NATO's crisis management center, said that "over 1,000 Russian troops are now operating inside Ukraine". Different sources estimate numbers of Russian soldiers killed during war in Ukraine between 30 and 3500, the majority killed since August 2014.

On 5 September Sergey Krivenko, a member of Russian President's Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, commented on the growing number of Russian soldiers getting killed in Ukraine saying that "the situation now is very strange, something unusual is going on; it could be described as massive dying of soldiers, which is not typical for time of peace; people from different military units are killed as result of shots, from loss of blood, all these reasons are documented; and the military command explains that it happened during training or provides no explanation at all"

Valentina Melnikova, head of the Russian Union of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers, has said that the Russian authorities were threatening the relatives of soldiers who had been killed in Ukraine, and forcing them to keep silent about their deaths. The Kremlin has tried to systematically intimidate and silence human rights workers who have raised question about Russian soldiers' deaths in Ukraine, in a war which officially Russia denies being involved in. In mid September, Ksenia Batanova, a senior producer for the news network Dozhd, was assaulted in an attack that fractured her skull. Dozhd is a channel that has covered the Russian involvement in Ukraine, and kept a running tally of soldiers' deaths at this time. Kremlin's pressure on this channel of independent information has intensified during the Ukraine crisis. The BBC reported on the death of a Russian soldier, Konstantin, killed 12 August 2014, who had three weeks previously been at home forty miles from Astrakhan. Telephone calls to his sister in the intervening weeks had spoken of Ukraine. The BBC team investigating this death was stopped and attacked by thugs and its video camera smashed. Russia continues to insist it sends no soldiers into eastern Ukraine. Lev Shlosberg, an MP who was beaten unconscious after investigating the deaths of twelve paratroopers, said, "A great many Russian servicemen have died in Ukraine and their families are outraged but they don't speak out because they are afraid for their lives." Boris Vishnevsky, of the Yabloko political party, and Lyudmila Ivakhnina of the civil rights group Memorial, said that gathering information about conscripts pressured to sign professional contracts is difficult because of the fear of reprisals.

Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia started actively questioning the government's policy of "secret war" after a number of Russian soldiers officially sent for "training" to Rostov area and died there for reasons never officially revealed to the families. These facts were further investigated by non-mainstream media in Russia. Russian Ministry of Defence used the tactics of always denying presence of any Russian soldiers in Ukraine and, when presented with undeniable evidence about specific people, admitting that they might have crossed the border "by mistake", or at that time were "on holiday", or their contracts were cancelled (but actually backdated). Soldier's Mothers also expressed their concern about families of killed soldiers, because if they have weren't officially sent to the war zone, the families will be not receiving social support and veteran's pension.

On 2 October 2014, RBC published The investigation by RBC: Where Russian soldiers in Ukraine are from and listed in it Russian military divisions, soldiers of which are assumed to have been secretly dispatched from Russia to Ukraine and used there.

On 1 March, Roskomnadzor (a Russian federal media oversight agency) blocked access to the pages of 13 "Ukrainian nationalist organizations" to users in Russia on Vkontakte, the most popular social network in Russia and second most popular in Europe (after Facebook). Yury Chaika, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, ordered Roskomnadzor to effect this block.

On 16 October 2014 the deputy chief of Security Service of Ukraine claimed that the service has released 16 out of 131 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation back home to their relatives who petitioned through a hotline.

According to soldiers’ rights advocates the families of Russian soldiers killed, having been sent to Ukraine, have been told to keep silent, and some families say they have not received the various compensations they are entitled to after a breadwinner in military service has been killed. Svetlana Davydova, a mother of seven, was arrested in 2015 and has been accused of treason for calling the Ukrainian embassy about Russian troop movements and is held at the high-security Lefortovo jail in Moscow. The Russian General Staff said details of the case constituted a "state secret."

Training facility

In a press briefing by the Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC), Andriy Parubiy stated that militants were trained in a military facility in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. "Near Rostov-on-Don, there is a big military base where terrorists are preparing for deployment into the territory of the Ukrainian state. This is confirmed not only by our intelligence, but also Russian prisoners who were detained, and they testify about this base," Parubiy said. He added that more than a thousand militants are trained by Russian instructors, and then they in small armed groups try to break into the territory of Ukraine. On 21 May, a Russian citizen with military experience was detained trying to enter the country, who upon investigation, was found to have recently trained in the Rostov facility.

According to Russian 'volunteer' insurgent organiser Aleksandr Zhuchkovsky, Rostov-on-Don acts as a staging area for the activity where soldiers live in hotels, rented flats and tent camps.

According to Jen Psaki, the United States Department of State is confident that Russia has sent tanks and rocket launchers from a deployment site in southwest Russia into eastern Ukraine, and NATO satellite imagery has shown that on 10 and 11 June main battle tanks were stationed across the border at Donetsk in a staging area in Rostov-on-Don.

In July 2014, Reuters published a logbook of an 9K38 Igla missile that was signed out of military storage in Moscow for a military base in Rostov-on-Don, and ended up with insurgents in Donbass, where it was eventually taken over by the Ukrainian forces.

After OSCE observers arrived at Gukovo border crossing on 9 August, they reported that there was a stream of multiple groups of people wearing military-style dress crossing the border between Russia and Ukraine, in both directions, some of them clearly identifying themselves as members of DNR militia. They also observed several ambulance evacuations of wounded supporters of the DPR and LPR.