Ukraine buries unidentified soldiers months after eastern battle

Workers take part in a mass funeral ceremony to bury 57 unidentified members of Ukrainian military forces who were killed in the conflict in eastern regions, in the settlement of Kushuhum near Zaporizhia, Ukraine, August 7, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

ZAPORIZHZHYA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine buried on Friday 57 soldiers still unidentified up to a year after being killed in the eastern separatist conflict, highlighting the difficulties the country faces moving on from one of its deadliest military defeats.

Mournful chants drifted over the graves of the nameless soldiers, most of whom fell in the battle of Ilovaisk last August after Ukrainian forces found themselves encircled, outgunned, and vastly outnumbered by Russian-backed rebels.