by Chris Covert exclusively for SouthFront
Ukrainian military units fired more than 500 artillery rounds at separatists forces in Donetsk on Monday, according to Russian language news accounts.
Ukrainian media says that rebel forces attacked a number of locations on Donetsk, totaling including small arms attacks, 47.
Both sides accuse the other of preparing for an offensive.
According to data supplied by the Donetsk ministry of defense, Ukrainian forces fired a total of 117 each 152mm and 122mm artillery shells, and 401 each 120mm and 82mm mortar shells onto rebel positions.
Locations along the line of contact struck by Ukrainian artillery include Spartak, the Petrovsky district of Donetsk city and near Gorlovka.
In the south, Ukrainian artillery hit Dokuchaevsk, Kominternovo and Sahanka.
According to an news report posted in lb.ua, rebel forces fired artillery and mortars at Ukrainian positions in southern Donetsk at Shirokino, which was hit with rebel 116 each 122mm artillery rounds. Another 170 each 82mm and 120mm mortar rounds also were fired on Ukrainian positions at Shirokino. A Ukrainian marine rifle company has occupied Shirokino since the late spring of 2015, when rebel forces as part of a ceasefire deal, abandoned the town.
Lugansk fighting
According to the same lb.ua article, rebel artillery continued to hit Ukrainian positions on the line of contact. The news report did not specify where rebel artillery struck.
Ukrainian artillery struck a residential building and a churchyard in Stakhanov on Monday, according to an official Lugansk news release.
The overnight artillery attack which started at 0330 hrs did not cause casualties. A total of five residential buildings were damaged. A repair shop was damaged as well, as was property on a church cemetery.
Stakhanov was last struck by Ukrainian artillery August 2nd. Three unidentified individuals were wounded in that attack.
Plotnitsky attack Aftermath
The Lugansk Prosecutor General, Aleksandr Aleksandrov said on Monday that two criminal cases have been filed in the attack on Lugansk president Igor Plotnitsky, according to an official Lugansk government news release. The news release did not name either of the two suspects, only that they are wanted for the attack.
Plotnitsky was seriously wounded last Saturday morning when a roadside bomb detonated as his transport convoy passed by. Despite the seriousness of his injuries, Plotnitsky is expected to survive his wounds.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
The journalism of Chris Covert
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Bomb attack sends Plotnitsky to the hospital
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| Foto via korrespondent.net |
Igor Plotnitsky, president of the Luganks People's Republic was wounded in a bombing attack on Saturday morning, according to Russian language news accounts.
Plotnitsky is reported in serious condition, but he is expected to survive the attack.
According to a news account on korespondent.net, the attack took place at 0750 hrs in Lugansk city at the intersection of Karpinski and Vatutin when the Toyota SUV he was riding in passed a roadside directional bomb packed with about 15 kilograms of explosives.
Though speculation as to the culprits has been muted in Lugansk official media, Ukrainian officials have denied involvement in the attack, themselves speculating that the attack may be part of a larger power struggle within Lugansk.
Adviser to Ukrainian president Igor Poroshenko, Alexander Motuzyanik said in a separate korrespondent,net report that Lugansk officials have been involved in an internal power struggle for "cash" and resources. Other news reports say that recent statements by Plotnitsky regarding how his forces would respect the truce regardless of what happens in Donetsk may have deepened a rift between the two republics.
Motuzyanik also pointed to past attacks on commanders of military formations who have been killed through unknown circumstances. The best known, Alexei Mozgovoy, commander of the Ghost Brigade in Alchevsk was killed almost a year ago in a bomb and small arms attack. The involvement of Plotnitsky and his government was vehemently denied by both Lugansk and Donetsk officials at the time. Some of Mozgovoy's aids at the time opened fingered Plotnitsky in that attack.
The death of Mozgovoy, one in a line of several commanders who were killed in roadside attacks, did not set well with other formation commanders in Lugansk.
A number of other rebel formation commanders in both Donetsk and Lugansk have seen a violent end since the winter of 2015, many of them Cossacks, who had been angered by Lugansk's insistence on dealing with Ukrainian authorities by selling products for cash. The most famous of these, Colonel Pavel Dremov was killed in December, 2015, seven months after he made severe public criticisms of military commanders in the Debaltsevo defensive operation in February, 2015. Those remarks came rapidly on the heels of Dremov being awarded the rank of colonel and an honorific for his regiment.
Like Dremov, Mozgovoy has severely criticized the leadership of both Donetsk and Lugansk for the defensive operation in Debaltsevo.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
Thursday, August 4, 2016
20 Ukrainian casualties in friendly fire incident in Donetsk
by Chris Covert exclusively for SouthFront
A total of 20 Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded in a friendly artillery fire incident in Donetsk on Thursday, according to Russian language news reports.
According to a news release posted on the website of the Donetsk ministry of defense, the casualties took place in Avdievka when an artillery unit of the 12th Battalion of Ukrainian 26th Separate Artillery Brigade struck positions of the Ukrainian 58th Separate Mechanized Rifle Brigade. The reason for the incident was improper adjustment of an artillery fire.
Avdievka including the industrial zone to the west, has been a focus of Ukrainian forces since the strong, where Ukrainian forces moved into a gray zone near Yasinovataya, effectively cutting off civilian traffic from Gorlovka, though Gorlovka remains in the Russian backed Donetsk rebels' hands.
Since then artillery fire into Yasinovataya and the checkpoint that separates Donetsk city from Gorlovka has been under regular artillery fire. Rebels claim that most of the artillery that hits those areas come from artillery emplaced at Avdievka. Rebel forces routinely fire counterbattery attacks into Avdievka in an effort to destroy Ukrainian artillery units.
On Tuesday, according to a news account in lb.ua, rebel artillery units struck several locations along the line of contact, for a total of 38 incidents.
The report said that between 1100 hrs and 200 hrs, rebel artillery hit Ukrainian positions at Avidevka, Optynoye and Zaitsevo for a total of 85 shells. Among the weapons used were 120mm and 82mm mortars.
Over the same period, rebel reports say that Ukrainian fired artillery on several locations in Donetsk using a total of 334 artillery and mortar rounds. Locations hit include Vasilevka, Spartak, Yasinovataya, Zaytsevo, Gorlovka, the Donetsk airport and near the Volvo Center of western Donetsk city. The report said that a total of 154 rounds of 152mm and 122mm artillery were used by the Ukrainians and 180 rounds of 120mm and 82mm mortars.
Fighting in Lugansk
An Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) report on Wednesday confirmed that Ukrainian artillery originating from Popasnaya struck rebel positions in Stakhanov on Tuesday, according to a news release on the Lugansk government website.
The incident took place at around 0140 hrs and involved Ukrainian 152mm artillery. A total of two unidentified non combatants were wounded in the incident. A total of six rounds were fired, two of which hit near residential buildings.
A separate Lugansk government news release posted the following day said Ukrainian forces fired a total of 67 each 120mm and 82mm mortar rounds fell on rebel positions in the northwest area of the line of contact.
Ukrainian sources do not indicate any rebel activity in Lugansk for the same period of time.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
A total of 20 Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded in a friendly artillery fire incident in Donetsk on Thursday, according to Russian language news reports.
According to a news release posted on the website of the Donetsk ministry of defense, the casualties took place in Avdievka when an artillery unit of the 12th Battalion of Ukrainian 26th Separate Artillery Brigade struck positions of the Ukrainian 58th Separate Mechanized Rifle Brigade. The reason for the incident was improper adjustment of an artillery fire.
Avdievka including the industrial zone to the west, has been a focus of Ukrainian forces since the strong, where Ukrainian forces moved into a gray zone near Yasinovataya, effectively cutting off civilian traffic from Gorlovka, though Gorlovka remains in the Russian backed Donetsk rebels' hands.
Since then artillery fire into Yasinovataya and the checkpoint that separates Donetsk city from Gorlovka has been under regular artillery fire. Rebels claim that most of the artillery that hits those areas come from artillery emplaced at Avdievka. Rebel forces routinely fire counterbattery attacks into Avdievka in an effort to destroy Ukrainian artillery units.
On Tuesday, according to a news account in lb.ua, rebel artillery units struck several locations along the line of contact, for a total of 38 incidents.
The report said that between 1100 hrs and 200 hrs, rebel artillery hit Ukrainian positions at Avidevka, Optynoye and Zaitsevo for a total of 85 shells. Among the weapons used were 120mm and 82mm mortars.
Over the same period, rebel reports say that Ukrainian fired artillery on several locations in Donetsk using a total of 334 artillery and mortar rounds. Locations hit include Vasilevka, Spartak, Yasinovataya, Zaytsevo, Gorlovka, the Donetsk airport and near the Volvo Center of western Donetsk city. The report said that a total of 154 rounds of 152mm and 122mm artillery were used by the Ukrainians and 180 rounds of 120mm and 82mm mortars.
Fighting in Lugansk
An Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) report on Wednesday confirmed that Ukrainian artillery originating from Popasnaya struck rebel positions in Stakhanov on Tuesday, according to a news release on the Lugansk government website.
The incident took place at around 0140 hrs and involved Ukrainian 152mm artillery. A total of two unidentified non combatants were wounded in the incident. A total of six rounds were fired, two of which hit near residential buildings.
A separate Lugansk government news release posted the following day said Ukrainian forces fired a total of 67 each 120mm and 82mm mortar rounds fell on rebel positions in the northwest area of the line of contact.
Ukrainian sources do not indicate any rebel activity in Lugansk for the same period of time.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
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