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According to data supplied by rebel officials in Donetsk, the OSCE never appeared in Gladosovo.
By Chris Covert
Russian backed rebels in Lugansk said Saturday that they suspect the Ukrainian forces will attempt further attacks similar to the attack on November 23rd, according to Russian language and Ukrainian news accounts.
According to the rebels' own briefing, which appeared on an official Lugansk rebel government website, the rebels found intelligence that the Ukrainian were preparing a number of probes into rebel positions across the P66 highway, which has been an issue between the two sides since early 2015.
According to Lugansk ministry of defense spokesman Lt. Colonel Andei Marochko, Ukrainian commanders were preparing to use night and winter weather to press their attacks.
Since 2016, Ukrainian commanders have changed their tactics to find and occupy gray zones between the two forces and then occupy them, and then reinforce them. The tactic seems to at first create a favorable tactical position, especially since rebel forces are dug in all long the line of contact, and must then either adjust to the new occupation, or change their own deployment strategy.
The day before the November 23rd attack on Frunze in far northern rebel held Lugansk, Ukrainian military spokesmen announced capturing of ground in a gray zone, according to a news account which appeared in the Ukrainian Russian language news outlet, korrespondent.net.
Rebel media only days before announced that Ukrainian forces occupied the village of Gladosovo, forcing residents by threat of arms to stay indoors. Ukrainian media said that the village of Travnevoye was taken as well. A video release on a private military channel showed very well equipped Ukrainian soldiers, passing out canned goods to civilian residents. The video also indicated that both villages are without power.
Donetsk rebel media said that some residents of Gladosovo were evicted, or were forced to quarter Ukrainian soldiers. Ukrainian military media has denied the charges.
According to a separate news account in korrespondent.net, Ukrainian plans were to occupy a much larger area north of Gorlovka, but those plans were trimmed when they were revealed on social media.
In a separate news release, Lt. Col. Marochko hinted that the attacks were intended to be diversionary attacks to keep rebel forces occupied as Ukrainian forces move into other territory. Ukrainians would stay aware of the rebels' reaction through the use of drones and other intelligence gathering techniques.
According to Russian military journalist, Boris Rozhin writing in his Live Journal blog, one part of the attack force was a straggler who sat out the night and then was captured by rebel patrols. A video was released showing the soldier in a rebel trench receiving first aide.
The soldier so far has been identified only as Roman, a Ukrainian intelligence officer, according to rebel reports. Rozhin said he will be in the next prisoner exchange, coming up soon.
The Lugansk rebel government has released photographs showing the aftermath of the encounter, some of them grisly displays.
Much of this increased activity can be attributed to the appointment of Lt. Gen. Mykhailo Zabrodsky to command Ukrainian military forces in southeastern Ukraine.
Lt. Gen. Mykhailo Zabrodsky has been a commander in the Ukrainian civil war since the very start, heading, among others, the Ukrainian 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade. Lt. Gen. Mykhailo Zabrodsky has trained at the US Army's command and staff school in Fort Leavenworth.
It is worth adding at this point that Lugansk and Donetsk military officials have been cooperating recently in sweeping areas in Lugansk and near the Donetsk border for sabotage groups which may have infiltrated into Lugansk. Donetsk has sent military units to aid former Lugansk president Igor Plotnitsky in the past.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com and on Twitter. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraine by clicking here.
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