As pro-Russian separatists opened up a new front along Ukraine’s southern coast, threatening the city of Mariupol, they also surrounded a mixture of regular Ukrainian army and pro-government militias in the town of Ilovaisk. To the southeast of Donetsk, Ilovaisk had been the scene of heavy fighting that eventually tipped in favor of the separatists. With Ukrainian forces having little choice, they surrendered and were assured they could leave the city through a safe “green corridor.” But the separatists seemed to have reneged on the promise of safe passage, and several Ukrainian columns were caught in devastatingly brutal ambushes, leaving hundreds dead and dozens taken prisoner.
VICE News stumbled upon one of the many Ukrainian ambulance convoys sent to retrieve the dead and wounded from an ambush site at Novokaterynivka, finding a scene of absolute horror and panic.
