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The Zelenopillia rocket attack took place on 11 July 2014 during the war in Donbas. The rocket barrage, which was launched from inside Russian territory by Russian[10][1] forces, killed 37 Ukrainian soldiers and border guards in a camp at Zelenopillia, Sverdlovsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast.[8]
Attack
In the early morning of 11 July 2014, Russian forces fired a barrage of 9K51M "Tornado-G"[11][12][13][9] rockets in 40 salvos beginning at 4:40 a.m. They targeted an armoured convoy of the Ukrainian Ground Forces from a distance of 15 kilometres (9.3 mi). The Ukrainian column was camped in a field near the village of Zelenopillia, situated along the main highway to Luhansk in Sverdlovsk Raion near Rovenky.[14] The town is located only 9 km (5.6 mi) from the Russia–Ukraine border. The Ukrainian armoured brigades were a part of a larger contingent of troops guarding the border against the illegal movement of military equipment from Russia into Eastern Ukraine.[13][15]
At least 19 soldiers were killed and 93 others were injured in the rocket strike.[3][16][17] Four Ural-4320 transport trucks full of troops were struck. According to one Ukrainian soldier's account, the 1st Battalion of Mykolaiv's 79th Airmobile Brigade was "almost completely destroyed" during the rocket onslaught.[5] Chief physician of a regional hospital, Serhiy Ryzhenko, reported the wounded to be in grave condition, with some undergoing traumatic leg amputations and loss of limbs.[18]
According to an investigation a year later, 30 Ukrainian soldiers and 7 border guards were killed and over 100 soldiers were wounded during that strike.[9][11] Ukrainian border guards Colonel Ihor Momot was among the fallen.[2] Materiel losses were equivalent to two battalions worth of equipment.[7]
Reactions
In response to the rocket strike, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko held an emergency cabinet meeting and issued a statement condemning the attack and vowing to "find and destroy" the pro-Russian rebels accountable. He also said for every Ukrainian serviceman's life the militants will pay with "tens and hundreds of their own".[3]
The United States Department of the Treasury instituted a new set of sanctions on Russia after reliable evidence emerged that the rockets were fired from within Russian territory. Videos by a resident of the rocket launchers firing at Ukrainian positions matched the very same Google Maps view of the same physical features inside Russian territory bordering Ukraine.[19]
