RUSSIA'S FIRST MISSILE ATTACK

12 years ago, on July 11, 2014, near the village of Zelenopillya, Luhansk region, the Russian army carried out the first direct massive missile attack on the positions of Ukrainian servicemen.

On the night of July 11, border guards from the motorized maneuver group under the command of Colonel Igor Momot and a battalion tactical group formed from soldiers of the 24th and 72nd separate mechanized brigades and the 79th separate airmobile brigade, reached a strong point near the village of Zelenopillya.

The military was supposed to cover a section of the state border with Russia.

The camp where the Ukrainian military was stationed was periodically “surveilled” by Russian drones, one of which was shot down. That same night, a missile strike was launched on the positions of the Ukrainian military from the Tornado-G multiple launch rocket systems, a modified version of the Grad.

The shelling was carried out from Russian territory. According to eyewitnesses, after the Russian missile strike, mortar shelling began from the city of Rovenka, occupied by militants of the self-proclaimed "LPR".

During the shelling, Sergeant Serhiy Mudryi towed four fuel tankers in a Ural truck, saving the camp from even greater losses. Later, Mudryi evacuated the wounded in the same Ural.

Serhiy Mudryi was a contract sergeant in the 79th separate airmobile brigade. Before the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine, he served in a peacekeeping mission in Liberia. He participated in covering the state border during the occupation of Crimea in 2014, in the battles for Lyman, Izvaryne, and Savur-Mohyla. For his actions near Zelenopylya, he was awarded the Order of Courage, III degree. The day after the attack on Zelenopylya, Sergeant Mudryi had a daughter, Eva.

As a result of the Russian missile strike, 36 Ukrainian defenders were killed: 30 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and 6 border guards, including the commander of the motorized maneuver group, Colonel Ihor Momot.

Igor Momot was a career border guard officer. He began his military service in the Soviet army, where he participated in the war in Afghanistan and the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Since 1992, he has served in the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. He headed the Izmail Border Guard Detachment and the Training Center of the State Border Guard Service. With the beginning of Russian aggression in 2014, he created a motorized maneuver group of the State Border Guard Service and participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation. His subordinates fought in the area of ​​Dmytrivka, Marynivka, and Amvrosiivka in the Donetsk region. He was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously. The Training Center for Training Junior Specialists of the State Border Guard Service, which he once headed, was named in honor of Igor Momot.

The missile attack on Ukrainian military positions near Zelenopillya was the first direct, massive use of the Russian army against the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

We remember the acts of aggression and crimes committed by Russia, despite any statute of limitations.