On 13 April 2014, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine launched a large-scale anti-terrorist operation, which ultimately evolved into a war against the Russian army. The battle for Karachun and the fighting for Savur-Mohyla went down in history as among the bloodiest battles in Donbas at the beginning of the ATO.
The Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes documentary photographs by photojournalist Oleksandr Klymenko.
Karachun
The day after the ATO began, on 14 April, Mount Karachun near Sloviansk became one of the first hot spots of the conflict in Donbas. At the time, militants were fighting for this height with ATO forces in order to cut off Ukrainian TV channels, since a television tower stood there. Mount Karachun was strategically important for controlling the city of Sloviansk and the approaches to it. Russian military personnel and special forces understood this well and practically isolated this key height. The siege lasted for almost two and a half months. In the fighting for this land, the Ukrainian army sustained its first losses.
On 29 May 2014, Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter. That day, around noon, a general flew in on the rotorcraft, delivered ammunition and food to a checkpoint on Karachun, and then continued on. The aircraft returning from a mission in the combat zone was downed by Russian militants with a man-portable air-defense system.
Eleven fighters from a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and National Guard members, as well as Major General Serhii Kulchytskyi, were killed in the Mi-8 crash. He became the first general in Ukraine’s history of independence to die in the line of duty. A memorial to the crew was opened near Mount Karachun on the highway between Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Photojournalist Oleksandr Klymenko recalls that Mount Karachun was one of the first places he had to photograph at the outset of the Russia–Ukraine war. Three times, he managed to fly together with a Mi-8 crew to deliver military aid—including food and water—to Karachun’s defenders.
“The first time, I didn’t know where we were flying. When we came back, I realized it had been Karachun. We flew very low, so the militants wouldn’t shoot us down. The helicopter landed and everything was unloaded very quickly. But there was one man there who asked me to take a photo for memory. And I did. The next time, I was on Karachun already with the 95th Brigade. All in all, I was there on 4 June and 21 June 2014. From there, Sloviansk was clearly visible. When I flew to Karachun the second time, I met that man again—then we got acquainted. Later, he became one of those who raised the flag on the TV tower on Karachun. It was a well-known story. That paratrooper from the 95th Brigade was named Serhii Shevchuk,” the photographer recalls.
OleksanOleksandr notes that even then it was already clear to him that “this is no ATO—this is a real war: people were fighting, there was shelling, and there were traces of mortar shrapnel and bullets.”A view through a scope toward occupied Sloviansk in Donetsk region, 21 June 2014. Photo by Oleksandr Klymenko
The liberation of Slavyansk was a turning point in the de-occupation of a number of other cities and villages of Donbas. The fighting for Slavyansk lasted from April to July 2014. The Russian-backed militants left the city on the night of July 5, 2014. This enabled the Ukrainian military to establish control over Kramatorsk, Artemivsk, Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka during 5—6 July.The liberation of Sloviansk became a turning point in the de-occupation of a number of other towns and villages in Donbas. The battle for Sloviansk lasted from April to July 2014. Russia-backed militants left the city on the night of 5 July 2014. This enabled Ukrainian forces to establish control over Kramatorsk, Artemivsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostiantynivka over 5–6 July.
Karachun is also connected to the well-known “Markiv case.” On 24 May 2014, near this mountain, Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter Andrei Mironov were killed in a mortar attack. In 2017, Italian police detained Ukrainian National Guard servicemember Vitalii Markiv, who holds both Ukrainian and Italian citizenship, on a false suspicion of involvement in the killing of the Italian photojournalist. An Italian court sentenced him to 24 years in prison, but he was later acquitted.
Savur-Mohyla
In the fighting for Savur-Mohyla from 6 June to 29 August 2014, 49 ATO fighters were killed.
Savur-Mohyla in Donetsk region is a strategic burial mound 278 meters high, located in Shakhtarsk district of Donetsk oblast. On 7 August 2014, a group under the command of Colonel Ihor Hordiichuk, together with volunteers from Right Sector, took control of Savur-Mohyla. For a month, Ukrainian forces held the height in complete encirclement and under fire from Russian artillery.
The Savur-Mohyla mound rises significantly above the surrounding steppe. From its summit, territory within a 30–40 km radius is visible, making it possible to control a large section of the Ukraine–Russia border. From Savur-Mohyla one can see coal-mine spoil tips, a plant in Amvrosiivka, and the Sea of Azov. During World War II, a large-scale battle against Nazi forces took place here.
After pro-Russian forces took control of the height, they turned it into a fortified stronghold that allowed them to monitor supplies to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and adjust shelling of Ukraine’s Defense Forces from Russian territory. The intensity of the fighting for Savur-Mohyla increased throughout June and July 2014. To seize the height, the Ukrainian command involved, among others, units of the 79th Separate Airmobile Brigade and the 3rd Special Forces Regiment.
On 5 June 2014, south of the height, Ukrainian forces—with air support—fought pro-Russian formations that were trying to break into Ukraine from Russian territory near the Marynivka border checkpoint. The attack was repelled. However, on 7 June pro-Russian forces took Savur-Mohyla. Positional fighting for control of the height entered a protracted phase. Due to the high density of artillery fire, the Armed Forces of Ukraine could not take the mound. Yet in early August, the height came under Ukrainian control. About 70 people took part in the assault on Savur-Mohyla and, after a two-hour battle, they managed to seize the height and firmly entrench there on 8 August.
Savur-Mohyla lay deep in the enemy rear, making it extremely difficult to maintain control over it. For three weeks, Ukrainian fighters repelled Russian forces. During this time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine observed enemy movements and even adjusted the fire of Ukrainian artillery.
The fighters told Colonel Hordiichuk that holding the height so deep in the enemy rear was impractical, but he did not intend to withdraw without an order. On 24 August 2014, an order was issued to retreat from the mound. By that time, Savur-Mohyla was already tightly encircled. A vehicle from the 3rd Special Forces Regiment that arrived to evacuate the wounded was shot up by Russian mercenaries in Petrovske. Groups of Ukrainian servicemembers broke out of the encirclement without heavy equipment, on foot, moving toward the nearest Ukrainian units. Some were taken captive by the Russians.
On 1 September, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine acknowledged the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Savur-Mohyla. On 8–9 September, the bodies of Ukrainian servicemembers who died during the fighting at Savur-Mohyla arrived bearing signs of torture. The remains of captured fighters found at the site of a field camp near Savur-Mohyla were mutilated beyond recognition. At the time, civil-military cooperation officer Yurii Stoianskyi stated: “There were signs of torture—severed finger phalanges, arms twisted, pieces of bodies, and signs of strangulation.”
This material was produced with the support of The Fritt Ord Foundation.
Oleksandr Klymenko was born in Chernihiv region. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. From 1991 to 2024, he was a photo correspondent for the newspaper “Holos Ukrainy” (“Voice of Ukraine”). In 1992, he documented events in Transnistria, then in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, as well as in Lebanon, Kuwait, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. During the Revolution of Dignity, while at the very epicenter of events, Oleksandr was wounded. Since the start of Russia’s military aggression in 2014 in the east, he has photographed events at the front. Oleksandr is the author of several photo albums, including: “Ukraine. 10 Years of Progress” (2001), “Peacekeeping Activity of the Ukrainian Military. The First Decade” (2004), “Through Fire and Tears” (2009), and “Frontline Album” (2016). He also co-authored “Modern History of Ukrainian Journalism. From Maidan to Maidan” with Yurii Nesteryak and Yuliia Nesteryak (2022). He has held solo photo exhibitions at the UN Headquarters in New York (2012), at NATO Headquarters in Brussels (2012, 2013, 2014), in Lithuania (2015), Poland (2015, 2016, 2023), Luxembourg (2015), Norway (2023), and Latvia (2022); and he participated in group exhibitions about the war in Ukraine in the parliaments of the United Kingdom (2015) and Denmark (2014).
Worked on the piece:
Topic researcher, text author: Vira Labych
Literary editor: Yuliia Futei
Photo editor: Viacheslav Ratynskyi
