According to the information from Wikipedia, the fights for Ilovaisk were the heavy combat actions in the area of Ilovaisk between Ukrainian armed forces units on the one side and the armed formations of the self-proclaimed Donetsk people’s republic on the other one. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian version of the same article mentions Russian occupational forces as participants of the combat operations against the Ukrainian servicemen.

With the example of another OSINT study we will show that each mistake and even the least harmful selfie can become another evidence collected for the future tribunal.

We were able to identify another Russian serviceman in Donbas. That is a paratrooper Akylbek Kuvanov from Orenburg. On his social network profile (archive) he published a picture of himself sitting at the wheel of the crushed military jeep.

It is clearly seen that this is not a standard military equipment since it has additional armor elements on it. This vehicle also stands out because of its color pattern.

This exactly vehicle was used by the ‘Donbas’ battalion in Ilovaisk. Thanks to its vivid look it could be easily found on different videos and pictures.

We have questioned fighters from the ‘Donbas’ battalion, many of whom still fight on the East. As a result we were able to reconstruct the whole story of this ‘cart’.

The SsangYong utility vehicle was given to the battalion by volunteers, who have painted it in the field camouflage. The vehicle was used in a combat even before the Ilovaisk battle, however, during the first attack on the town an enemy’s sniper shot at the windscreen. After that it was decided to add the MAZ suspension springs in order to enforce the armor.

Those front mount rods are usually used to put spring blocks on them. Machine gunner’s place had been armored with the use of armor plates above the usual steel plates nearly at the same time.

The vehicle was pasted over with ‘Donbas’ signs.

It was last seen on August 30, 2014 in Chervonosilske, which is near the town of Ilovaisk. The Ukrainian units were fighting through this territory and even captured several Russian paratroopers and tankmen. The video with them was then published by the Ukrainian Security Service. It is interesting that Akylbek Kuvanov has Yevgeniy Sardaryan among his friend in the social service. In the video by the Ukrainian Security Service Yevgeniy Sardaryan is the last one to speak. He says: “Yevgeniy Ashotovich Sardaryan, born in 1994, the 31st brigade, military unit No. 73612”.

It seems like the 4th squadron was successfully training the way to surrender in Ukraine in order to get a merit certificate in future.

Let’s now return to the vehicle, owned by the ‘Donbas’ battalion, which helped us to reconstruct the picture of the presence of the Russian servicemen in Donbas. The vehicle was taken to the safe place in Chervonosilske, where it had its flat tire replaced. However, the vehicle was left somewhere in the suburbs. It was decided to leave the vehicle behind and get out from encirclement without it, since the vehicle could become a good aim for Russian army.  

The Russians have entered the village soon after that. Some of them even had themselves pictured near the road signs of Chervonosilske. Others seemed to like the combat ‘cart’ of the ‘Donbas’ battalion.

Original article by Anton Pavlushko translated by Max Sviezhentsev, edited by Oleksandr Klymenko