Members of the Ilovaisk Brotherhood organization are holding a rally on Independence Square in Kyiv on Monday, to demand punishment of the culprits behind Ilovaisk and other military tragedies, which have happened during the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in Donbas.

About 100 people are standing on the staircase between Khreschatyk sidewalk and Independence Stella, on the central square of the Ukrainian capital city, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports.

The protesters are criticizing high-ranking officers of the Ukrainian General Staff and the Defense Ministry for the poor planning of the Ilovaisk operation, and demand that the culprits be punished.

The Ilovaisk Brotherhood was founded in November 2014, to unite people who had survived the so-called 'Ilovaisk pocket', and families of the deceased and the missing, the organizers said.

The protesters are now walking towards the Ukrainian Presidential Administration's building in order to deliver their demands to the national administration.

According to the official statistics of the Ukrainian Main Military Prosecutor's Office, the events near Ilovaisk in Donetsk region in August 2015, killed 366 Ukrainian army servicemen and law enforcement officers, 429 were injured, and 128 were taken prisoner. The material damage suffered by Ukraine in the Ilovaisk operation stood at UAH 298.290 million.

The enemy encircled volunteer battalions and units of the Interior Ministry and the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Ilovaisk in late August 2014, which resulted to heavy casualties and capture of Ukrainian servicemen.

Only 1,050 Ukrainian servicemen were involved in the hostilities in Ilovaisk, Ukrainian Main Military Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios said, referring to a comprehensive examination.