Savur-Mohyla

Savur-Mohyla Memorial
Soviet Union
Savur-Mohyla Memorial, 2008
For Red Army soldiers fallen during World War II
Unveiled	1963
Location	near Snizhne
Designed by	Anatoly Ignashchenko

Savur-Mohyla (Ukrainian: Савур-могила), sometimes transcribed as Savur-Mogila or Saur-Mogila (Russian: Саур-Могила), is a strategic height in the Donets ridge near the city of Snezhnoye, located about 5 km (3.1 mi) from the border between Ukraine and Russia's Rostov Oblast.

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 Saur-Mohyla was the focal point of intense fighting. Only in August 1943, Soviet troops managed to retake control of the height from German forces. In 1963 a memorial complex was unveiled on the top of the hill to honour the fallen soldiers.

In 2014, during the long-time military conflict between Ukrainian troops and Donbass pro-Russian fighters, the Saur-Mohyla height was captured by the pro-Russian fighters. On 23 July 2014, pro-Russians 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 Saur-Mohyla, using an advanced anti-aircraft system.

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. However, commander of the pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Girkin, denied Savur-Mohyla had been lost, saying fighting was continuing. Followings its capture by the Ukrainian 25th Airborne Brigade on 9 August 2014, the DPR recaptured the hill on 26 August 2014. During the fighting, the hill changed sides between the Ukraine and DPR about 8 times.