Turning Point

Russia invaded Ukraine on the day before Independence Day last year, setting off a chain of events that led to Ukraine’s worst military defeat and a humiliating agreement in Minsk, Belarus, that has not brought peace or ended Russia’s war.

Four Russian tactical battalions numbering 2,000 soldiers, and columns of armored vehicles and artillery units invaded southeastern Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 23, 2014. An identical invasion force entered Luhansk Oblast over the holiday, according to a Defense Ministry report published on Aug. 20.

The Russians entered Donetsk Oblast from three directions, based on a map the Defense Ministry provided. Ukraine’s border guards on Aug. 23 reported a big column heading toward Ilovaisk, 25 kilometers east of Russian-occupied Donetsk and 45 kilometers from the Russian border, according to a parliamentary report in October.

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