Savur-Mohyla (Ukrainian: Савур-могила), often transliterated using the Russian spelling Saur-Mogila (Russian: Саур-Могила), is a strategic height in the Donets ridge near the city of Snizhne, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine.
The 277.9 m (912 ft) tall hill is better known for a big monument complex that was built in 1963 by Ukrainian architect Anatoly Ignashchenko to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Savur Mohyla during World War II.
History
It was originally a tumulus (kurgan) – mohyla means "tumulus" in Ukrainian and according to one interpretation the word savur comes from Turkicsauyr, meaning "steppe mound shaped like a horse bottom".[citation needed] Rosamund Bartlett writes, "Many popular legends had been spun about this particular kurgan, which had acted as a kind of frontier between the Russians and the Turks and Tatars in the mediaeval period; Saur appears in them either as an evil Turkish khan or a Cossack hero."[1]
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 at the top of the hill to honour fallen soldiers,[2] 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 inscrcribed with the names of fallen soldiers in the battle.
In 2014, during the first months of the military conflict between Ukrainian troops and Ukrainian Russian backed "Donetsk People's Republic" (DPR) militants in the Donbas, the Savur-Mohyla height was captured by Donetsk People's Republic fighters. On 23 July 2014, DPR forces shot down two Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-25 (NATO reporting name "Frogfoot") ground-attack aircraft flying at 17,000 feet (5,200 meters) over Savur-Mohyla, using an advanced anti-aircraft system.[3][4]
On 28 July 2014, after intense fighting, the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that they recaptured control of Savur-Mohyla from Russian troops.[5] Following its capture by the Ukrainian 25th Airborne Brigade on 9 August 2014,[6] the Russian militants recaptured the hill on 26 August 2014.[7][8] During the fighting, the hill changed sides between Ukraine and Russia about 8 times.
Destruction of the memorial
On 21 August 2014, the memorial's obelisk collapsed after enduring weeks of heavy indiscriminate shelling from Ukrainian armed forces.[7][9]
Reconstruction
On 4 September 2022, Russians announced completion of restoration works on the complex with official reopening to occur on 8 September. The memorial now includes monuments dedicated to the War in Donbass, including bass reliefs of Arsen Pavlov, Mikhail Tolstykh, and Vladimir Zhoga.
Gallery
Red Army soldiers near Savur-Mohyla during World War 2
Monument to Soviet infantrymen in World War 2
Monument to Soviet tankmen in World War 2
Monument to Soviet pilots in World War 2
Soviet soldier statue next to the former obelisk
Ukrainian soldiers near the memorial before the Battle of Shakhtarsk Raion in June 2014
Ukrainian soldiers fire multiple 2S5 Giatsint-S at Russian positions at Savur-Mohyla, July 2014
Ukrainian soldiers bombing Russian positions in Savur-Mohyla, July 2014
Ukrainian BM-21 rockets exploding at Savur-Mohyla, July 2014
Large memorial to World War 2 Soviet soldiers in August 2015
Close-up of the memorial
Another view of the memorial
Savur-Mohyla in 2015 with notable damage a year after the war in Donbas battle
HD view of the path and visitors
Aftermath of the monument to Soviet infantrymen
Aftermath of the monument to Soviet tankmen
Aftermath of the monument to Soviet artillerymen
Aftermath of the monument to Soviet pilots
Soviet pilot statue collapsed in front of rubble
More pilot statues amongst the rubble
A memorial considerably damaged after the battle
Path to the destroyed obelisk
Outside view of the former obelisk
Rubble inside of the former obelisk
View of the area in front of Savur-Mohyla
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saur-Mogila.
^Rosamund Bartlett, Chekhov: Scenes from a Life (Free Press, 2005), p. 45.
