VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED INCLUDES GRAPHIC AND VIOLENT CONTENT THAT SOME VIEWERS MAY FIND DISTURBING
THE FILM WAS SHOT FROM 2014 TO 2022. THE TERRITORIES OF THE DPR AND
LPR WERE SUBJECTED TO DAILY SHELLING FROM UKRAINE THE ENTIRE TIME.
THE FILM CREW WANTED TO DRAW THE ATTENTION OF THE UKRAINIAN AUTHORITIES TO THE
SHELLING AND THE DEATHS OF CIVILIANS IN DONBASS, BUT THE GOVERNMENT DIDN’T RESPOND.
[ Woman ] Our house is on fire!
[ Man ] Careful!
[ Poroshenko ] The anti-terrorist operation can't and won't last 2 or 3 months
[ Woman ] Mummy! [ Woman 2 ] Let's go
[ Woman 3 ] They say there are terrorists here, what terrorists?
Are we terrorists?
[ People shouting ] Down with the jailbird! Down with the jailbird!
[ GEO ] Donetsk region, May 2021
[ Tatyana, Ilovaisk resident ] Those who wanted to go have gone
Why should I leave my own home? I was born here; I grew up here
Why must I give up what I've worked for?
I didn't go into any other house, it's my home, I earned what's here
Why chuck it all and go elsewhere?
It's mine!
My house
I know every bush, tree, all these firs... I knew it all when I was little
I remember this park. Just give it all away? No!
[ GEO ] Ukrainian tanks, Donetsk region, August 2015
[ Man ] Smoke, white smoke. Where are they?
[ Vladimir Kononov, DPR minister of defense, 2014-2018 ] When someone comes with a gun to kill you, you don't have to think,
'Should I shoot?' 'Is it self-defense?' You don't think about consequences
It's not a person who's come to kill you, it's an enemy
It's a non-human, who came to take your and your family's life
So there was no moral dilemma there, whether I should do it or not
[ Man ] Easy!
Hold the girl
[ Man ] Quickly! [ Man 2 ] Go back
[ Man 2 ] Everyone, into the basement! Quick! The basement, quickly!
[ Man ] Hold the girl
[ Woman ] My head! [ Man ] Hold the girl! Carefully!
[ Woman ] My head!
[ Man ] A knife, get me a knife! Get me a knife [ Woman ] There's blood
[ Rodion Miroshnik, LPR representative at Donbass peace talks ] Up to the last moment, it never entered my head that there could be war
I mean, it was beyond belief. The way we grew up… We never saw war
In 24 years of Ukraine's independence, there was no military action on its soil
We just couldn't get our heads round it,
it was unbelievable how anyone could take a gun and shoot their own
We couldn't believe it until the very last moment,
until they started pointing guns at us, until they started bringing in...
heavy weapons, newly formed units and so on
[ Iryna Farion, people’s deputy of Ukraine, 2012-2014 ] Break the chains
and the enemy...
evil…
[ Arseniy Yatsenyuk Ukrainian member of parliament, 2007-2014 ] Is it just?
Is it fair?
[ GEO ] Mariupol, Donetsk region, May 9, 2014
[ VO ] 2014 was a watershed in the history of modern Ukraine.
The country's agricultural west and industrial east
have always differed in outlook, language, and traditions.
Conflicts and contradictions existing for decades
turned into civil strife and then into war.
[ Codename ‘Bonya’, Donetsk people’s republic militia ] They don't just hate us
I mean, they don't even see us as Kremlinites
or third-class citizens, but something lower
East and West Ukraine have never been friends, let's put it that way
My child used to go and play football in West Ukraine.
They weren't even seen as children
[ People shouting ] No blood! No blood!
[ VO ] The Euromaidan movement,
which began as a struggle for Ukraine's integration into the European Union,
rapidly veered towards nationalist thinking,
and radical groups began to play a leading role in Maidan.
[ Man ] Ukraine! [ People ] Above all!
[ Man 2 ] Glory to the nation! [ People ] Death to enemies!
THE GOVERNMENT WON'T LET US LIVE OUR LIVES! WE WON'T LET THEM RULE!
[ Man ] Bandera…
[ People ] Glory! Glory!
[ People shouting ] Ukraine for Ukrainians!
[ Man 3 ] Glory to the nation!
[ Man 4 ] Knife the Muscovites! Knife them!
[ Codename ‘Mexican’, Donetsk people’s republic militia ] What happened in Kiev...
How can that be seen as normal?
Half Kiev jumped, 'If you don't, you're a Muscovite,'
'Hang them all', I remember the calls
Everybody, me included, was outraged, naturally
At first, we watched it like the news, like some kind of show
Oh, a guy's fighting cops: 'ha-ha,' let them fight. Then I see...
law enforcement officers being killed, they literally threw fire bombs
[ GEO ] Kiev, January 2014
[ VO ] The regime change at Maidan was seen in south-eastern Ukraine as a coup d'état,
because the power that won in Kiev immediately imposed a new direction for the nation.
One of Ukraine parliament’s first decisions
was to cancel the special status of the Russian language.
Thousands joined the protests in the south-eastern regions.
Donetsk and Lugansk proclaimed themselves
People's Republics.
[ People ] Russia!
Russia!
Hoist the Russian flag!
[ VO ] The protesters copied Maidan tactics.
That was fine and worked for the protesters in Kiev
but it didn’t work out well for the people of south-east Ukraine.
The new authorities responded with force.
In the spring of 2014 Kiev launched what they call an anti-terrorist operation.
[ GEO ] Donetsk region, Ukrainian fire, 2017
[ Miroshnik ] The constitution says: 'Regular armed forces cannot be used within the state'
But they didn't care, they gave the order
They ordered heavy weapons, tanks and special units to be sent to us
Not to West Ukraine, where the same things happened,
to Lvov, Ivano-Frankovsk, where SBU and police stations were seized,
where police and Berkut special police were
on their knees, radicals did what they liked,
but it started here
They had good radicals and good rallies, but ours were bad
So they mustered all the military might they could and sent it our way. So someone...
had enough...
I don't know what,
either idiocy or complete, how to put it...
a sense of total impunity, a sense that they could get away with it
But if they were to lose, they'd be held accountable
That may be why they were able to take that step,
to give the commands to shoot and to bomb
They needed the first step and took it
[ Man ] You are criminals
You are criminals
[ Man 2 ] Where are you shooting? [ Man ] Criminals! Shame on you!
[ ‘Mexican’ ] Okay, if Ukraine sees us as some kinds of terrorists,
so, start an anti-terror op, send in police, the Interior Ministry, internal troops...
But why use GRAD rockets to wipe whole villages from the earth?
Now, look at a map! A dozen villages and streets can only be found on maps
They're not there
They're just gone,
or have been left in ruins. That was the point of no return!
[ VO ] The new authorities did not send just the army to pacify the rebellious regions.
Far-right radical groups, hardened and proven on Kiev's Maidan,
became a major force in this effort.
In Odessa, nationalists rampaged through a pro-Russian activists' tent city
and hunted down those hiding in the nearby Trade Union building.
[ Woman ] Guys, please, don't!
[ Man ] Don't you touch her!
[ Man 2 ] What are you doing?
[ VO ] Then the building was set on fire.
Those who escaped the flames by jumping from windows were finished off on the spot.
[ VO ] A week later, armed radicals appeared in Mariupol.
[ GEO ] Mariupol, Donetsk region, May 9, 2014
[ VO ] Fearing uninvited guests, Donbass organized emergency self-defense squads.
The militia set up roadblocks.
The city of Slavyansk became a tense hotspot.
The militia controlled the city hall and the police department.
And locals had already elected a new mayor.
[ People ] Well done
[ GEO ] Slavyansk, Donetsk region, April 2014
[ Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, people’s mayor ] Before the war, I...
I was just a director at a hard soap factory
I also owned some trucks, I had a small freight business
I was born in this city, I grew up and lived here
I mean, people know me, I know them, and anyway, we...
we socialized!
We celebrated holidays and stuff together
There were many people I could rely on. I can safely call them my friends, undoubtedly
We wanted to secure our city against being invaded by pro-Nazi elements,
because Maidan had already spread
Well, spread in the sense that people from Maidan, who sided with Nazis, had already
received their orders and dispersed all over Ukraine
to organize their so-called cells
[ VO ] Kiev-controlled security forces and nationalist battalions
tried unsuccessfully to retake Slavyansk
and then began shelling the city on the regular basis.
At first, locals could not believe their own army would open fire on their homes.
Nevertheless, Kiev brought in and used heavy artillery.
[ GEO ] Slavyansk, Donetsk region, May 26, 2014
[ Woman ] They don't want to [ Man ] Are you here alone?
[ Man ] Me? One more, with the wheelbarrow
[ Man 2 ] Show the old man. Come on in
[ Man 2 ] Show the old man. Show him from here
[ Man 2 ] You can show him beside me, here
Let people see they're no better than fascists, no better
[ Man ] They've been shelling us for an hour already
Look!
Film it, film it!
[ Man ] Hello, Sveta!
The flat is uninhabitable now
You see?
That's it, the flat's done. The slab's gone, with the window.
Got it. I don't know how we survived.
Just a miracle that we weren't buried under it.
[ Old lady ] You just can't sleep. The screaming and explosions
Oh, they're shelling again.
[ Man ] Comrades, the President of Ukraine
[ VO ] In the early summer of 2014,
there was still some hope, that conflict will be resolved peacefully,
that the bloodshed would stop
and that Kiev would start negotiating with the citizens of the south-eastern regions.
It’s what voters expected from the new Ukrainian president, Pyotr Poroshenko.
[ Miroshnik ] At first, Poroshenko showed he was ready
to negotiate, but then, totally changed his mind
No negotiation, only victory, full, final victory
But he had a chance to stop it. In June, there were 10 days without war
with the first Donetsk contact group meeting
They were trying to negotiate and create a model for living together peacefully,
how to protect our people, how to defend Donetsk and Lugansk,
and not to allow the Banderites and the totally hostile Ukrainian regime to go there,
how to prevent the killings, purges, and all that had become commonplace in Ukraine
And once Poroshenko had played around some,
Ukraine resumed bombing and shelling our cities
[ Woman ] Where do we run? There?
[ Woman 2 ] Is anyone there?
Can we hide here?
[ Man ] Can't hide here. You see what's going on!
[ Old man ] We're like a car, flying like a bike!
[ Man 2 ] Careful, his legs!
[ VO ] Shelling and bombing of civilian houses and residential areas by the Ukrainian Army
left the residents with no choice —
they had to defend themselves.
This time, with arms.
And so new recruits rapidly enlisted in the militia.
[ Kononov ] I didn't come to Lvov, Ternopol, or Chernovtsy, or wherever, and say...
'There, that's how it should be!' No!
They came to me and told me how I should live in my own house…
Where my family lives, my child, and my parents live. Excuse me...
I'm not alone in this, we're not a small number,
we're hundreds of thousands... millions,
who felt that way
Fighting isn't for everyone
but in Slavyansk everyone helped in the ways they could:
collecting intel, cooking...
bringing humanitarian aid, assisting with equipment,
bringing bandages, medicine, and so on, so we had a steady supply of these things
It was very hard
We had to get ammo and weapons to fight
[ Man ] Just to keep us on our toes...
[ Man ] No walking around! Stay put! [ Man 2 ] Do you think anyone...
[ Man 3 ] Maybe we should shoot it? [ Man ] Don't do anything
[ GEO ] DPR Militia, Slavyansk, Donetsk region, 2014
[ Military man ] Alright! The wizard's ready
[ GEO ] Battle between Ukrainian Military Forces and Militia, Donetsk Region, 2014
[ VO ] Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics militia squads
were far from being a proper army,
you could count militiamen with real combat experience
on the fingers of one hand.
The fight was unequal.
After two and a half months of battles,
the militia were forced to retreat and leave Slavyansk.
[ Man ] A hospital near the SBU, evacuation of the militia and the rest of the staff
We don't know what's next. We're staying in Semyonovka to guard the road for evacuation
We've been told to hold on to the last
We'll stay for a while. We don't know what's coming
[ Sergey Velikorodny, DPR deputy minister of defense, 2014-2018 ] When we got onto the road, I started to feel a little bit nervous
What made me nervous was an unpaved road between the fields
There on the road, I saw...
stuff, children's and adult's things…
burnt-out cars...
a discarded rocket launcher, and so on
Comps were down. We were out of contact, didn't know what was happening...
We had no other option. We couldn't go back to Slavyansk
We had to drive to our guys, and all we knew was that it was somewhere in Kramatorsk
So, we headed towards Kramatorsk
It was risky but we managed to get there
[ VO ] As soon as Kiev’s forces entered Slavyansk,
they begin violent purges in the city:
mass house searches and arrests.
Everyone came under suspicion —
people were apprehended on the streets.
[ Military man ] Out of the car!
[ VO ] The Ukrainian forces and radical groups were beyond the law.
Vasily Prozorov, formerly highly placed with Ukraine Security Service,
smuggled documents out of the country that prove their crimes.
He was the first to reveal a secret jail at Mariupol Airport.
Ukrainian law enforcement called it ‘The Library’.
Officially, that jail never existed,
so they could do whatever they wanted with the prisoners.
[ Vasily Prozorov, former officer, Ukrainian security service ] What is 'The Library'? It's two cold storage areas: the large one's
about 3 by 2 meters
The other is about 2...
by 1.5 meters, so smaller
The refrigerators were off, so there were just two rooms with metal walls,
and sturdy lockable doors, like an industrial cold storage
They kept people there
But there was a boiler room next door and some utility rooms
This is where they interrogated people. Many were taken there by mistake
They 'worked', as it were...
I mean, there were tortures and violent interrogations
They broke people for sure!
Really!
You might walk into the boiler room, and the entire floor would be covered in blood
People were suffocating and scratching the walls with their nails
In summer 2014, I saw a person being waterboarded
At that time, the SBU's Mariupol staff didn't know how to do it properly
They were taught by fighters of the 'Dnepr' Battalion,
who'd been taught by Israelis
Mr Kolomoisky had invited them to come and train the 'Dnepr' Battalion fighters
Actually, it was a curious story
The Israelis, according to 'Dnepr', were Israeli Army or special forces
They took leave in Israel and trained the fighters of those battalions in Ukraine
And I witnessed one time how they waterboarded a person
It was terrible. They really broke that person
[ VO ] In 2022, after the start of the Russian
and Donetsk Armies joint operation in Ukraine,
they managed to drive Ukrainian forces out of Mariupol Airport.
Prozorov was then able to show the secret jail site
and the conditions prisoners had been kept in.
[ Prozorov ] This tiny room is where they kept women mostly. Men were in the large one
Now, it's just a food storage
The walls used to be covered with metal
They kept people behind these metal doors...
in these rooms
[ VO ] Mariupol resident Olga Seletskaya had been a prisoner in ‘The Library’.
[ Olga Seletskaya, Mariupol resident ] What I went through in that airport was horrifying, and very scary
When they took me there, I realised there was no way back...
no hope of getting out alive!
I realized that was the end, because almost no one that had been taken there
came back alive
They took you for interrogation, put a black plastic bag on your head
They put duct tape around it, so it wouldn't come off. They also cuffed you,
then took you to interrogation
They threatened to kill my children
But then...
when they realized I wasn't cooperating,
they turned to more sophisticated torture methods
They took me to a metal barrel
I felt it was metal with my skin
They submerged my head in water
I began to drown
Water got into my lungs, into…
I felt I couldn't breathe...
and began to pass out
They did it several times: pulling my head out and submerging it again,
until I completely passed out
[ VO ] Kiev started the war against the Donbass republics in 2014,
but the authorities didn’t take civilian casualties into consideration.
Ukrainian armed forces moved remorselessly towards their goal,
taking control of the rebel regions capitals — Donetsk and Lugansk.
[ GEO ] Lugansk, August 2014
[ Miroshnik ] They were terrible shots, really inaccurate
For example, they wanted to shell the old military building in the center,
but shelled a one-and-a-half-kilometer radius,
destroying houses instead
and a nearby clinic, a bus terminal...
I mean, they were firing indiscriminately, they didn't care!
Every single day started with clearing the roads for traffic,
blocked by burning cars, because they...
I don't know, hit a gas pipeline, or broke some power lines
There were holes in the houses...
People were burying the dead...
ambulances were taking those wounded in crossfires to hospital
Then, Lugansk turned into this, and plunged completely into full-scale war
That was it! Normal life had ended
A totally different one began with
different rules: to survive you had to act differently
[ Man ] What they've done to my place!
[ VO ] By this point, it did come down to survival.
Ukrainian forces didn’t just shell Lugansk,
they besieged the city.
[ Miroshnik ] It was a medieval approach, a vice-like grip:
cut the water supply, power, communications, and gas
Lugansk went without it all for about two months!
People joined long queues with plastic bottles to stock up on water...
so they could cook some food, or at least wash their hands and faces
It brought tears to the eyes: in late August trucks with aid came to Lugansk
They brought us food, medicine, diesel generators...
everything that Lugansk needed but didn't have
Those trucks were moving on burning roads,
where just before, there'd been fighting and the enemy had been repulsed
Those trucks broke the Lugansk siege
It was a sign that we wouldn't be abandoned
[ Woman ] So good humanitarian aid has arrived
We're so glad Russia's humanitarian aid has come
We're very grateful
Many thanks! Without Russia, we don't know if we would've survived this
[ GEO ] Saur-Mogila, Donetsk region, May 2021
[ VO ] For nearly two months there were fierce battles for the so-called Saur-Mogila,
a mount of vital strategic importance.
From the top you have a 40 kilometer view.
The Red Army fought the Germans here during World War II.
In memory of this, a memorial was built on Saur-Mogila.
In the summer of 2014, it was almost entirely destroyed.
[ Codename ‘Catfish’, Donetsk people’s republic militia ] The soldier's statue stood there. When their tanks were in a direct firing position,
they aimed at the symbol of the Soviet soldier, and not at us
They shot at his legs and other parts
So, their goal was to destroy the memory of World war II,
and Soviet victory over the Nazis
They shelled really hard!
They used anything from 82 to 152 caliber
Here, there are roads in the forest,
and they were shooting at our position
There was a cafe behind us, it wasn't damaged then
So, they were firing at us from all sides
Then, silhouetted against the sky, I saw someone standing next to…
the monument. All members of my squad were with me,
so it couldn't be any of them
But there was this stranger, and I realised he wasn't one of ours
They came between the cafe and the mound. We fought there, next to the monument
It was a hard fight. I had to draw their fire,
because we would've either died, or been captured
No one was willing to surrender...
So we fought to the last!
[ VO ] It wasn’t just Southeastern Ukraine’s big cities that came under fire.
Hundreds of villages areas became a warzone;
peace ended there overnight.
It was hard agreeing on humanitarian corridors with the Ukrainian military,
and they weren’t always respected.
People were often evacuated under a hail of bullets.
[ Darya Morozova, human rights commissioner, DPR ] On that road to Shakhtyorsk to Serditoe settlement,
nationalist regiments, and the Ukrainian Army
had adjusted their fire so well that their shells landed in the middle of the road
I was handling the exchange of prisoners of war,
so we communicated with all those regiments
Our convoy had either passed or hadn't arrived but shells had already dropped
I get a phone call, and one of their commanders asks,
'So, are you still alive?'
I used some pretty strong language! I can talk about it more calmly now
I said we were alive,
but just so they knew, I told them I had 20 babies with me,
and 60 kids in total
They knew there wasn't a single man, or soldier there, only civilians
So, it was a deliberate attempt to kill civilians, women and children
[ “Bonya” ] We were redeployed to Ilovaisk…
and...
fighting started in Ilovaisk just 3 or 4 days later
and Ilovaisk was tightly encircled a week later
[ Man ] Don't cry!
[ Man 2 ] What happened here?
[ Woman ] Our house has been blown up
Our Sasha is also in the militia in the suburbs of Shakhtyorsk
[ Man 2 ] When was the last shelling?
[ Woman ] This was blown up the day before yesterday, this was blown up earlier, this too
We've been hiding in the cellar this whole time
There's an old lady with a walker there, and one with crutches here
[ Man ] Are the shops open here? [ Woman ] I don't know; we don't go anywhere or…
[ Man ] What? Are they nuts?
[ ‘Bonya’ ] We tried to help the locals, as most of them are seniors
We were ordered to take the pharmacies under our control
because there might not be the right medicine there,
so we seized all the stuff from the pharmacies and divided it
We took what our men needed: bandages and painkillers, the things they needed
All the rest was properly assigned
Two girls went around and wrote down what people needed, full lists
They sorted the meds out half the night, and, the next day, they were distributed,
along with baby food, diapers, and so on
[ Tatyana ] On July 12, when the first houses burned down,
my sister and I were in a car taking a 40-litre pot of freshly made borsch…
to...
to the guards at the barracks
The borsch had just been taken off the stove, it had just come to a boil
The windows were open, a hot August day, and there was a whistle… Bang!
And pieces of shrapnel flew at the car
I was sitting closer to this side, with my right side facing where the shrapnel was coming from
My younger sister was next to me
I pushed her down, yelling 'Olga, get down!'
I later realized, had I pushed her a bit harder, I'd have drowned her in that hot borsch,
but, at that moment, I just couldn't believe it had all started
We got out and were shoved into a cellar that they had there
When they let us leave… I had a ladle and loaf of bread for the borsch
I had to feed them!
I came and said, 'Hey guys, soup's on!'
They said, 'Go away, idiot! They're shooting at us!'
What's war like?
Until you hear explosions or bullets whistling with your own ears, you don't understand
Booms over there, who cares?
They're shooting while I'm going to and from work
It'll all end eventually
[ Man ] When a car comes, they immediately hide under it
[ ‘Mexican’ ] Gradskoye only had 7 occupied homes, it was nearly empty
A poultry farm was destroyed in battle
and thousands of chickens were left scattered around…
tens of thousands
I remember soldiers knocking on doors, asking who was where, and saying to everyone,
'A poultry farm's been destroyed over there, and there's chickens running around!
Go get and eat them'
A local told us his home was hit by a shell and its roof was on fire
I'm a bit fatalistic towards inevitable losses: if a house or a tank burns, it burns
The most important thing is human life, whether a soldier's or a civilian's
I said, 'So what? You're OK!' He said, 'My dad's inside'
Where? In the house
Why didn't he leave? He can't walk and I can't lift him
I turned around in the cellar and looked at the guys, as if asking:
'Who's coming?'
My guys, Var, Muromets, and others stood up and said, 'Let's go!'
Where? There's shelling, stop! No, you stay here
Anyway, they ran out under mortar fire and carried the old man outside on some blankets
He couldn't walk and needed some medicine, so he was moaning and whimpering a lot
There was a real hospital doctor among my men, a medic-marksman in fact
He said, 'Commander, I've got diphenhydramine, let me give him a shot'
He jabbed him, and the old man slept like a baby through all the shelling
[ GEO ] Donetsk region, May 2021
[ VO ] The two people’s republics militias joined forces,
regrouped and prepared for the major combat operation in the summer of 2014.
The battle of Ilovaisk stopped the Ukrainian army’s offensive.
Troops sent by Kiev were trapped in the so-called “Ilovaisk cauldron”.
[ Velikorodny ] Thanks to the captured vehicles we had, GRAD multiple rocket launchers in particular,
practically every day, I sent 6 to 12 vehicles in that direction
with ammunition to perform combat missions
They inflicted serious losses, well done!
They helped create this Ilovaisk cauldron, capture troops, and so on, no question
They deserve a deep bow! Well done!
[ 'Mexican' ] The enemy was over there, and the circle around Ilovaisk was tightly closing
The cauldron began in Shakhtyorsk and expanded towards Ilovaisk
Ilovaisk was secured, the enemy was cut off from the main forces,
and this allegedly 'legendary' 'Donbass' Battalion was blocked,
the one Semenchenko fled from, crying, 'Hide me! They're killing commanders there'
Our task was to keep the circle closed and prevent an enemy breakthrough
[ Kononov ] A Ukrainian colonel phoned me at the time of the Ilovaisk cauldron
At first, he shouted,
'I'll be in Donetsk in two days, give up and leave'
And I asked, 'Where are you from? What's your home town?'
He said, 'Dnepropetrovsk'
'And I'm from Slavyansk', I said
'You've come to my home with weapons to kill me'
Do you think I'll back down? But you left Slavyansk
Look, I'm a soldier. I know.
I was a major back then, and he was a colonel
He said, 'I know you're a major, I'm talking to you as one officer to another…'
I said, 'No, first listen to me'
We talked in different ways
We could have tough conversations for as long as 4 hours
[ VO ] Fierce fighting took place in the city.
Staying true to their tactics the Ukrainian Armed Forces used heavy weapons extensively:
mortars, howitzers, and multiple rocket launchers.
But Kiev didn’t succeed in taking full control of Ilovaisk.
[ Woman ] They shelled us with whatever they had, URAGANs, GRADs, etc.
I was squatting in the cellar covering my ears because I was scared
I could hear the foundation walls shaking
It was really scary
She knew when a GRAD was fired
'Is that a GRAD?'
[ Girl ] This is Mum's and my bed, this one is Dad's
[ Girl ] D, E, F, G, H, I, S, T, U, V, W, X...
A doll
It's a blue one
[ Woman ] It was a nightmare! Our home was shelled from all sides
Our people are dying
A shell hit between floors
Do you want to see our flats? They don't exist any more
[ Woman 2 ] We buried people in the courtyard [ Woman ] A man lay next to the beans a day and a half
[ Woman 2 ] When is this all going to end?
[ Codename ‘Cat’, Donetsk people’s republic militia ] The battalions coming at us were:
'Aidar',
'Dnepr',
'Donbass',
and 'Shakhtyorsk'
Those were the main battalions that came at us
They captured one part of Ilovaisk
Ilovaisk is divided by a railway
They captured one part,
but couldn't take the other, where we had our headquarters and other things
They lacked the strength and courage
Only our people had it
We were defending our homes, and they came as strangers
[ 'Mexican' ] I remember one time I was meeting with a friend at the monastery
He serves and helps out there, he's just an ordinary guy, not a soldier
And a nun recalled how they went to Ilovaisk to deliver humanitarian aid,
to collect the wounded and feed people...
The monastery was of great help, a deep bow to them
She said, 'What struck me most was...
it was summer and looked like autumn
There were no leaves on the trees
The branches were all over the ground and the road'
How is that? A landmine explodes and blows it all off
And if 6 explode within one square meter,
you're lucky if the trunk's left
It all gets knocked down
[ VO ] Ukrainian troops stuck to the practiced tactics all summer long.
They encircled large population centers, blocked them off and stormed them.
This approach didn’t work in Ilovaisk.
Ukrainian troops and nationalist battalions were surrounded.
Realizing the hopelessness of their situation,
the Ukrainian military entered into negotiations.
They asked for a passage out of the cauldron.
The militia agreed under just one condition.
Only those who would surrender their arms and
equipment would be allowed a safe retreat.
[ 'Cat' ] It happened like this:
They were cut off, surrounded, and they began to negotiate with us
There was only one condition: We'd give them a safe exit corridor
if they surrendered all their weapons and gear and left unarmed...
with no equipment
They decided they were omnipotent
They thought they could get out in tanks and armoured vehicles
with all their weapons and artillery
And they were blown to smithereens
What was the condition?
You're taking your weapons so you can attack us again?
That won't fly, gang
[ Kononov ] They needed to get out, and he called me:
Let us go. I already told you…
He replied, not rudely, 'The heck with you, I'm leaving anyway'
I said, 'Listen, I have another phone here
As soon as I see your convoy set off,
I'll open fire
You aren't fulfilling the condition we gave for using that corridor
He said, 'We're setting off,' and they did
I gave the order:
'Aim at the head, rear, and central vehicles…
Fire!'
And the shells flew
3 vehicles were blown up at once, then the 4th and 5th
'Halt', he said
'I warned you! I'll wipe you out!'
In short, after a long debate, they began to leave the vehicles
[ VO ] The Ukrainian Army was badly defeated in the battle of Ilovaisk.
This debacle of the hands of the Donbass militia forced
the Ukrainian authorities to the negotiating table.
In September 2014 a protocol was signed in Minsk
stipulating a ceasefire, prisoners release,
a special status for Donbass and a waiver of prosecution for militiamen.
The document was signed by the people’s republics’ leaders,
an OSCE ambassador and Leonid Kuchma,
former Ukrainian president.
[ Leonid Kuchma, Ukrainian representative at Donbass peace talks ] We all understand today…
Dear comrades, there's nothing but a dead end ahead
Let's decide now
This should be understood by both those who want to end the war and those who want war
There can be no way other than peace
It's not subject to discussion
Enough! You've fought enough
[ VO ] At the time many thought there was a chance to end the civil war.
[ Miroshnik ] When Minsk I was signed, we began to implement it
The Verkhovna Rada passed a law on special status and voted for an amnesty law
So, they began to fulfill those obligations believing that Minsk could work
But people like Poroshenko and Turchinov did their best to prevent their fulfillment
So, the Verkhovna Rada voted for amnesty, but
Turchinov, the speaker, never signed the law
Yes, that was illegal and criminal, but he couldn't give a damn
So, this whole gang began to work towards a new agenda and started applying changes
They're the ones that decided in December to abandon Ukraine's non-aligned status,
and began to boost expectations, saying:
'Let's try to strangle them militarily again'
[ VO ] But at the end of 2014
Kiev went on the war path again.
And fighting flared up in the South-East once more.
[ GEO ] Kiev, 2014