Savur-Mohyla

It was originally a tumulus (kurgan) – mohyla means "tumulus" in Ukrainian and according to one interpretation the word savur comes from Turkic sauyr, meaning "steppe mound shaped like horse bottom".

During World War II, Savur-Mohyla was the focal point of intense fighting, when Soviet troops managed to retake control of the height from German forces in August 1943. In 1963, a memorial complex was unveiled on the top of the hill to honour the fallen soldiers,[1] comprising an obelisk with a steel-and-concrete statue of a Soviet soldier, four steel-and-concrete sculptures built along the slope leading up to the obelisk (each memorializing infantrymen, tankmen, artillerymen and airmen involved in the battle), and walls inscribing the names of fallen soldiers in the battle.

In 2014, during the first months of the military conflict between Ukrainian troops and Donbass pro-Russian separatists, the Savur-Mohyla height was captured by the pro-Russian fighters. On 23 July 2014, pro-Russians forces shot down two Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-25 (NATO reporting name "Frogfoot") ground-attack aircraft flying at 17,000 feet (5,182 meters) over Savur-Mohyla, using an advanced anti-aircraft system.[2][3]

On 28 July 2014, after intense fighting, the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that they recaptured control of Savur-Mohyla from the pro-Russian fighters.[4] However, commander of the pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Girkin, denied Savur-Mohyla had been lost, saying fighting was continuing.[5] Following its capture by the Ukrainian 25th Airborne Brigade on 9 August 2014,[6] the DPR recaptured the hill on 26 August 2014.[7][8] During the fighting, the hill changed sides between the Ukraine and DPR about 8 times.

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  Red Army soldiers near Savur-Mohyla during World War 2
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  Monument to Soviet infantrymen in World War 2
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  Monument to Soviet tankmen in World War 2
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  Monument to Soviet pilots in World War 2
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  Soviet soldier statue next to the former obelisk
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  Ukrainian soldiers near the memorial before the Battle of Shakhtarsk Raion in June 2014
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  Ukrainian soldiers fire multiple 2S5 Giatsint-S at DPR positions at Savur-Mohyla, July 2014 (provided by neo-Stalinist movement Essence of Time)
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  Ukrainian soldiers bombing DPR positions in Savur-Mohyla, July 2014 (Essence of Time)
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  Ukrainian BM-21 rockets exploding at Savur-Mohyla, July 2014 (Essence of Time)
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  Large memorial to World War 2 Soviet soldiers in August 2015
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  Close-up of the memorial
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  Another view of the memorial
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  Saur-Mogila in 2015 with notable damage a year after the War in Donbass battle
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  HD view of the path and visitors
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  Aftermath of the monument to Soviet infantrymen
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  Aftermath of the monument to Soviet tankmen
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  Aftermath of the monument to Soviet artillerymen
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  Aftermath of the monument to Soviet pilots
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  Soviet pilot statue collapsed in front of rubble
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  More pilot statues amongst the rubble
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  A memorial considerably damaged after the battle
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  Path to the destroyed obelisk
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  Outside view of the former obelisk
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  Rubble inside of the former obelisk
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  View of the area in front of Savur-Mohyla
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  A DPR Vostok Battalion flag dedicated to Oleg Grishin's squad called the "Medvedevtsy"
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  Cemetery of DPR fighters that died for the capture of the hill, with an old bell