Yavoriv military base attack | |||||
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Part of in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine | |||||
Aftermath of the missile strike | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
Russia | Ukraine | ||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||
Units involved | |||||
Russian Armed Forces | |||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
None | Per Ukraine: [1] [2] 64 killed, tens of missing and 134 wounded Per Russia: up to 180 foreign volunteers killed [3] |
The Yavoriv military base was attacked by Russian forces on 13 March 2022 as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The base is located near the city of Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast, less than 15 miles from the border with Poland. According to Ukrainian officials, the military facility was hit by 30 Russian missiles, with initial reports stating between 35 and more than 40 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 134 others were injured. The toll was later updated to 64 killed, tens of missing and 160 wounded. [2] [1] According to Russian officials, '180 foreign mercenaries' were killed. [4] [5] [6] [7]
As many as 1,000 foreign fighters had been training at the base as part of the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. [8] Air raid sirens sounded during the night and though automated air defense equipment arrested some incoming ordinance, several buildings including the headquarters were struck with cruise missiles carrying payloads of up to 500kg.[ citation needed ]
The Russian Ministry of Defence announced that it had destroyed "up to 180 foreign mercenaries and a large consignment of foreign weapons" and said that Russia would continue attacks on foreign fighters in Ukraine; the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said that it had not confirmed any foreigners among the dead. [9] On 14 March, British newspaper The Mirror said that at least three British ex-special forces volunteers may have been killed in the attack, with the total amount of dead volunteers potentially surpassing one hundred. [10]
The New Zealand Herald reported that the Russian missile attack targeted the weapon storage and the administrative building of the International Legion on Ukraine. The Ukrainian government offered the surviving volunteers passage back to the Polish border. [11]
Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov described the strike as a "terrorist attack on peace and security near the EU-Nato border". [6] A NATO official stated that there were no NATO personnel at the base, as all personnel had left the country prior to the invasion. [12]
OTR-21 Tochka is a Soviet tactical ballistic missile. Its GRAU designation is 9K79. Its NATO reporting name is the SS-21 Scarab. One missile is transported per 9P129 vehicle and raised prior to launch. It uses an inertial guidance system.
Yavoriv is a city in Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the Polish border. It serves as the administrative centre of Yavoriv Raion and is situated approximately 50 kilometres west of the oblast capital, Lviv. Yavoriv hosts the administration of Yavoriv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is approximately 12,785.
The Ukrainian Ground Forces, also referred to as the Ukrainian army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the eight branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They were formed from Ukrainian units of the Soviet Army after Ukrainian independence, and trace their ancestry to the 1917–22 army of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are the military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the President of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rada parliamentary commission. They trace their lineage to 1917, while the modern armed forces were formed after Ukrainian independence in 1991. As of 2024, it is the sixth largest and one of the best-funded armed forces in the world. The Ukrainian Armed Forces also operates one of the largest and most diverse drone fleet in the world. The Ukrainian Armed Forces is one of the most battle-hardened armed forces in the world.
The Territorial Defence Forces are the military reserve component of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are the special forces of Ukraine and one of the seven branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with headquarters in Kyiv.
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The International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine, or the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, is a military unit of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine composed of foreign volunteers. It was created on 27 February 2022 by the Ukrainian government at the request of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fight against the Russian invasion of the country.
The International Center for Peacemaking and Security, also known as the Yavoriv military base, is a military training facility of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the city of Yavoriv in western Ukraine, some 10 km from the border with Poland and 30 kilometers northwest of Lviv in Yavoriv district. The facility houses an International Center for Peacekeeping and Security within the framework of the Ukraine–NATO Partnership for Peace program and the National Military Academy Hetman Petro Sahaidatschnyj. The base covers an area of around 390 km2 and can accommodate up to 1,790 people. The course covers an area of 36,153 hectares; until the creation of the Yavoriv National Park, it was 42,000 hectares in size.
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The 2022–present bombing of Lviv and the Lviv Oblast began after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Lviv Oblast was attacked from March–November, and Lviv city from May–October 2022. The targets were both civilian and military, including electricity and railway infrastructure and a military base. Seven civilians were killed.
This timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine covers the period from 24 February 2022, when Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, to 7 April 2022 when fighting focused away from the north and towards the south and east of Ukraine.
This timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine covers the period from 8 April 2022, when the area of heavy fighting shifted to the south and east of Ukraine, to 28 August 2022, the day before Ukraine announced the start of its Kherson counteroffensive.
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On 15 November 2022, a missile struck Polish territory, in the village of Przewodów near the border with Ukraine, killing two people. The incident occurred during attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure by Russia. It was the first incident of a foreign missile hitting NATO territory during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Initially Ukraine accused Russia of striking Poland, while United States claimed that the missile was likely to have been an air defence missile fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile. This was later confirmed in September 2023 by the Polish Prosecutor's Office, which stated that the explosion was caused by an out of control air-defence S-300 missile.
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Russo-Ukrainian War:
This timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine covers the period from 12 November 2022, following the conclusion of Ukraine's Kherson and Kharkiv counteroffensives, to 7 June 2023, the day before the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive began. Russia continued its strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure while the Battle of Bakhmut escalated.