Zelenopillia rocket attack

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]

Zelenopillia rocket attack
Part of the war in Donbas
Date 11 July 2014 Location Zelenopillia, Sverdlovsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, Eastern Ukraine 47°56′24″N 39°38′33″E Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Ukraine	Russia[1]
Commanders and leaders
Col. Ihor Momot †[2] (Head of State Border Service)	Unknown
Units involved
Ukrainian Ground Forces: 24th Mechanised Brigade[3][4] 72nd Mechanised Brigade[5] Airmobile Forces: 79th Airmobile Brigade[1] 1st Battalion[5] State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Border Detachment	Russian Ground Forces[6]
Strength
1 armoured group[7]	122-mm 9K51M "Tornado-G" batteries 2 Orlan-10 drones[7]
Casualties and losses
37 killed[8] 100+ injured[9] 2 battalions worth of vehicles and tanks lost[7]	1 Orlan-10 drone shot down[7]

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]

See also

• Outline of the Russo-Ukrainian War
• 2014 Russian cross-border shelling of Ukraine
• Novosvitlivka refugee convoy attack
• Volnovakha bus attack
• January 2015 Mariupol rocket attack