Official name for territory where the war in Donbass takes place
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(
May 2023
)
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Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone
(
Ukrainian
:
Зона проведення антитерористично? операц??
,
romanized
:
Zona provedennya antyterorystychnoyi operatsiyi
), or
ATO zone
[1]
(
Ukrainian
:
Зона АТО
,
romanized
:
Zona ATO
), was a term used by the media, publicity, the government of
Ukraine
, and the
OSCE
[2]
and other foreign institutions
[3]
to identify Ukrainian territory of the
Donetsk
and
Luhansk
regions (oblasts)
[4]
under the control of Russian military forces
[5]
[nb 1]
and pro-Russian separatists. A significant part of ATO zone is considered
temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine
.
[8]
History
[
edit
]
On 20 February 2018,
Ukrainian President
Petro Poroshenko
changed the status of the ATO zone from an anti-terrorist operation to "taking measures to ensure national security and defense, and repulsing and deterring the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts".
[9]
This allows the
Ukrainian military
to take charge of the zones instead of the Ukrainian secret service
SBU
.
[
citation needed
]
As such, the ATO was renamed to
JFO zone
(
Joint Forces Operation
(
Ukrainian
:
Операц?я об'?днаних сил, ООС
,
romanized
:
Operatsiya ob'yednanykh syl
).
[10]
Following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
, out-of-service ATO
veterans
have repeatedly been the target of Russian forces, for example of the
Redut PMC
.
[11]
According to captured fighters, with this they wanted to decrease the risk of them joining the defence of Ukraine. For this purpose, veterans were interrogated and tortured in order to find more, after which many were killed. Two
Redut PMC
fighters got convicted for committing such war crimes.
[12]
Military administrative division
[
edit
]
The official borders of the ATO zone were defined with a list of localities and their geographical coordinates, approved in November 2014 by Ukraine's parliament, the
Verkhovna Rada
.
[13]
The zone is conditionally divided into five sectors A, B, C, D, and M.
[14]
[15]
- Sector A – eastern and central parts of
Luhansk Oblast
- Sector B – central parts of
Donetsk Oblast
including
Donetsk
and
Makiivka
- Sector C – northern parts of Donetsk Oblast (cities
Bakhmut
and
Debaltseve
), and western parts of Luhansk Oblast
- Sector D – southern parts of Luhansk Oblast and eastern parts of Donetsk Oblast (after the 2014 Russian invasion on August 24, all Ukrainian forces were withdrawn)
- Sector M – southern parts of Donetsk Oblast (around
Mariupol
, hence the sector's identification)
Influence in culture and society
[
edit
]
Since 28 December 2015, the song "Brattia Ukraintsi" (Brothers Ukrainians) is the official anthem of ATO.
[16]
Further reading
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Russia's official position on the presence of Russian forces in Ukraine's
Donbas
region prior to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
was vague: while official bodies denied presence of "regular armed forces" in Ukraine, on numerous occasions Russia confirmed the presence of "military specialists" and used other
euphemisms
, usually accompanied by an argument that Russia "was forced" to deploy them to "defend Russian-speaking population".
[6]
[7]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Tomkiw, L.
Ukraine War Forces A Nation To Talk About A Taboo: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Archived
2015-10-03 at the
Wayback Machine
.
International Business Times
. 4 April 2015
- ^
"OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities assesses inter-ethnic situation in south-eastern Ukraine"
.
osce.org
. 10 November 2015.
- ^
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt and U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Daniel Baer Travel to Donetsk Oblast
Archived
2015-09-14 at the
Wayback Machine
.
United States Embassy in Ukraine
. 30 July 2015
- ^
Updated provisional order to enter and leave the uncontrolled territory for citizens of Ukraine and foreigners (individuals without citizenship) as of 28 September 2015 (Оновлений тимчасовий порядок в'?зду на неконтрольовану територ?ю та ви?зду з не? громадян Укра?ни та ?ноземц?в (ос?б без громадянства) станом на 28.09.2015 року)
. (official document)
Security Service of Ukraine
.
- ^
Miller, Christopher (30 January 2017).
"Anxious Ukraine Risks Escalation In 'Creeping Offensive'
"
.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
.
Archived
from the original on 2022-02-22
. Retrieved
2017-11-16
.
- ^
The Interpreter
quoted what Putin said during a live call-in session on 12 October 2016:
"When we were forced, I want to stress, forced to defend the Russian-speaking population in the Donbas, forced to respond to the desire of the people living in Crimea to return to being part of the Russian Federation, they instantly began to whip up anti-Russian policies and the imposition of sanctions."
"Putin Claims Russia Was 'Forced To Defend Russian-Speaking Population In Donbas'
"
,
The Interpreter
, 12 October 2016,
archived
from the original on 23 February 2022
, retrieved
8 January
2018
- ^
Oliphant, Roland (2015-12-17).
"Vladimir Putin admits: Russian troops 'were in Ukraine'
"
.
Daily Telegraph
.
ISSN
0307-1235
.
Archived
from the original on 2018-01-09
. Retrieved
2018-01-09
.
- ^
ATO zone: Day started with Grads shooting near Donetsk (Зона АТО: день начался с обстрелов Градами близ Донецка)
Archived
2015-08-22 at the
Wayback Machine
.
LIGA News
. 12 August 2015
- ^
"Goodbye, ATO: Ukraine officially changes name of Donbas war - KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice"
.
KyivPost
. February 20, 2018.
Archived
from the original on November 9, 2020
. Retrieved
September 4,
2018
.
- ^
"Old war, new rules: what comes next as ATO ends and a new operation starts in Donbas?"
.
Ukraine Crisis Media Center
. 4 May 2018
. Retrieved
14 April
2022
.
- ^
"≪Трошки пресували, звичайно≫. Чотирьох в?йськовослужбовц?в РФ засудили за катування колишн?х учасник?в АТО"
.
Судовий Репортер
(in Ukrainian). 24 December 2022. Archived from
the original
on 11 June 2023
. Retrieved
11 June
2023
.
- ^
"Long sentences passed on 'Redut' mercenaries fighting Russia's war against Ukraine with Finnish citizen's funding"
.
Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
. Archived from
the original
on 3 May 2023
. Retrieved
3 May
2023
.
- ^
Про затвердження перел?ку населених пункт?в, на територ?? яких органи державно? влади тимчасово не зд?йснюють сво? повноваження, та перел?ку населених пункт?в, що розташован? на л?н?? з?ткнення
.
Оф?ц?йний вебпортал парламенту Укра?ни
.
- ^
Map of the sectors
Archived
2017-10-19 at the
Wayback Machine
. depo.ua
- ^
Map of the sectors
Archived
2017-10-19 at the
Wayback Machine
.
Inform Napalm
.
- ^
A song of "Shablya" band officially became the ATO anthem. Video
Archived
2016-01-02 at the
Wayback Machine
.
Ukrayinska Pravda
(Zhyttia). 1 December 2015
External links
[
edit
]
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48°38′N
37°20′E
/
48.63°N 37.33°E
/
48.63; 37.33