We have seen aircraft on pictures of the airports of Lugansk and Donetsk among them several AN-2's. We have seen no news items of these aircraft being operated by anyone. Presumably it was not worthwhile to repair them. The news item can well be true without being significant.
Ukraine Revolt/Civil War News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter Jura The idiot
- Start date
Miragedriver
Brigadier
Battle footage from the area of Debaltsevo pocket:
Back to bottling my Grenache
Back to bottling my Grenache
Miragedriver
Brigadier
Militia entered the town of Uglegorsk:
Back to bottling my Grenache
Back to bottling my Grenache
Aidar battalion disbanded and shelled by regular army units.
Fighters of the notorious paramilitary battalion Aidar have rallied in Kiev against their disbandment, attempting to storm the Ukraine Defense Ministry’s HQ and accusing the regular army of deliberately shelling Aidar’s own positions with heavy artillery.
Ukraine’s most infamous volunteer squad, the Aidar battalion – condemned by Amnesty International for its unmatched brutality in eastern Ukraine – allegedly came under Grad and Smerch rocket fire by the regular military near the town of Schastya in Lugansk region.
“[Ukrainian] artillery is working against Aidar battalion’s positions,” said Aidar commander and MP representing Ukraine’s Radical Party, Sergey Melnichuk, during a protest outside the Defense Ministry’s building in Kiev. Citing his own fighter, Melnichuk claimed that Kiev’s artillery targeted the battalion’s positions “15-20 times.”
Melnichuk and his fighters called the rally outside the country’s military headquarters on Friday, after the volunteer battalion was disbanded – or "rebranded" – according to the Defense Ministry.
“The battalion was disbanded three days ago. It does not exist according to documents. The Minister of Defense and the Head of the General Staff say that they have not signed such an order. However, documents confirming that such a unit does not exist as well as the seal of a new unit have already been delivered to the frontline,” Melnichuk told Apostrophe publication.
According to the battalion’s press secretary, Yuliya Evdokimova, the voluntary units are being disbanded “because it is detrimental to have voluntary battalions at the frontline.” All voluntary battalions will be “re-formatted into other organizations, merged with other brigades or other units, and thoroughly purged,” she told Ukrainian Pravda.
However, the next day, the Facebook page of the battalion refuted the disbandment of the fighting force, claiming that Evdokimova does not represent the volunteer fighters.
The confusion on the status of the battalion continued on Friday, as some 50 Aidar fighters rallied to show their “under-appreciation” by their own command. Formally, all volunteer territorial battalions are detachments of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense.
Melnichuk said that his squad “will not leave the frontline, no one will leave positions even if our own will storm us, and we have such instances,” as quoted by NTV channel.
The commander told the Russian outlet that the decision to get rid of the nationalistically committed contingent arises from the unwillingness of Kiev authorities to pay for Aidar's services.
Melnichuk also claimed in an interview with Ukraine’s 112 channel that the central military command might have “got ahold of big funds” in exchange for surrendering Schastya to the rebel forces. Melnichuk claimed that when a similar deal was offered to him – $20 million in exchange for Aidar leaving Schastya – he turned it down.
The Defense Ministry in fact claimed the opposite, saying that the volunteer force will be“strengthened” under a new brand. The “rebranding” is allegedly required to “prevent abuse of the seal and documents that were previously lost and can become an instrument of fraud...”
“Now they have to pay our salaries, but if you disband us, no one has to pay anyone,” Melnichuk said.
“Let them show, who out of Aidar they have paid, who did they help? We will continue to fight no matter what.”
“To perform essential tasks, Aidar battalion will be strengthened further, and its soldiers equipped with everything they need,” the statement read, adding that changes were only made to the official seal of the unit, as its number designation has changed.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has called the actions of Aidar fighters “treason.”
“Blocking the Defense Ministry of a country at war, during the active battles at the frontline – is treason,”he said.
Fighters of the notorious paramilitary battalion Aidar have rallied in Kiev against their disbandment, attempting to storm the Ukraine Defense Ministry’s HQ and accusing the regular army of deliberately shelling Aidar’s own positions with heavy artillery.
Ukraine’s most infamous volunteer squad, the Aidar battalion – condemned by Amnesty International for its unmatched brutality in eastern Ukraine – allegedly came under Grad and Smerch rocket fire by the regular military near the town of Schastya in Lugansk region.
“[Ukrainian] artillery is working against Aidar battalion’s positions,” said Aidar commander and MP representing Ukraine’s Radical Party, Sergey Melnichuk, during a protest outside the Defense Ministry’s building in Kiev. Citing his own fighter, Melnichuk claimed that Kiev’s artillery targeted the battalion’s positions “15-20 times.”
Melnichuk and his fighters called the rally outside the country’s military headquarters on Friday, after the volunteer battalion was disbanded – or "rebranded" – according to the Defense Ministry.
“The battalion was disbanded three days ago. It does not exist according to documents. The Minister of Defense and the Head of the General Staff say that they have not signed such an order. However, documents confirming that such a unit does not exist as well as the seal of a new unit have already been delivered to the frontline,” Melnichuk told Apostrophe publication.
According to the battalion’s press secretary, Yuliya Evdokimova, the voluntary units are being disbanded “because it is detrimental to have voluntary battalions at the frontline.” All voluntary battalions will be “re-formatted into other organizations, merged with other brigades or other units, and thoroughly purged,” she told Ukrainian Pravda.
However, the next day, the Facebook page of the battalion refuted the disbandment of the fighting force, claiming that Evdokimova does not represent the volunteer fighters.
The confusion on the status of the battalion continued on Friday, as some 50 Aidar fighters rallied to show their “under-appreciation” by their own command. Formally, all volunteer territorial battalions are detachments of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense.
Melnichuk said that his squad “will not leave the frontline, no one will leave positions even if our own will storm us, and we have such instances,” as quoted by NTV channel.
The commander told the Russian outlet that the decision to get rid of the nationalistically committed contingent arises from the unwillingness of Kiev authorities to pay for Aidar's services.
Melnichuk also claimed in an interview with Ukraine’s 112 channel that the central military command might have “got ahold of big funds” in exchange for surrendering Schastya to the rebel forces. Melnichuk claimed that when a similar deal was offered to him – $20 million in exchange for Aidar leaving Schastya – he turned it down.
The Defense Ministry in fact claimed the opposite, saying that the volunteer force will be“strengthened” under a new brand. The “rebranding” is allegedly required to “prevent abuse of the seal and documents that were previously lost and can become an instrument of fraud...”
“Now they have to pay our salaries, but if you disband us, no one has to pay anyone,” Melnichuk said.
“Let them show, who out of Aidar they have paid, who did they help? We will continue to fight no matter what.”
“To perform essential tasks, Aidar battalion will be strengthened further, and its soldiers equipped with everything they need,” the statement read, adding that changes were only made to the official seal of the unit, as its number designation has changed.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has called the actions of Aidar fighters “treason.”
“Blocking the Defense Ministry of a country at war, during the active battles at the frontline – is treason,”he said.
It does look as the stall in the offensive was as much a lull to get past the EU meeting re sanctions on Russia.
Worth looking at that event and noting that despite the resumption of full fighting, that the EU only agreed to extend existing sanctions and not expand new ones.
Given that this was the likely outcome irrespective of whether the fighting was dying down or not, I see this as a result that Moscow will be more pleased with than Washington.
Moscow has succeeded in increasing the tempo of the military action and suffer no additional penalty for so doing.
Worth looking at that event and noting that despite the resumption of full fighting, that the EU only agreed to extend existing sanctions and not expand new ones.
Given that this was the likely outcome irrespective of whether the fighting was dying down or not, I see this as a result that Moscow will be more pleased with than Washington.
Moscow has succeeded in increasing the tempo of the military action and suffer no additional penalty for so doing.
On the ground It looks as though the following has happened.
No doubt about it, the main thrust of the current offensive is Debaltseve and it is a very obvious choice to be the top priority. Too obvious really, which is why the Novorossiyans had to make them doubt if this was the case.
It now looks as though the attacks on Peski and Mariupol were feints with the objective of drawing fast and powerful, rapid reaction units as far away from the Debaltseve salient as possible, maybe even drawing some out of the salient itself.
The point of course is that now removed from the vicinity, they will have very great difficulty trying to get back in to support the pocket, because the Novorossiyans have been able to close and narrow the walls of the Salient to allow artillery domination of the E40 motorway; something which would have been very difficult to achieve, had other units been on hand over the last few days.
The big news today is the fall of Uglegorsk/Vuhlehirsk just about 5km due west of Debaltseve itself. It looks as though the town is being turned into a mini cauldron and the mouth of the Salient into a killing field for forces trying to enter.
Video released today shows the checkpoint stormed and taken by the NAF as they assulted Vuhlehirsk. IT seems they opened the way by using three T-64's to roll through the mine defences and let the rest of the armour through. The tanks have been immobilised by the action but otherwise look repairable, as the NAF are claiming. It is after all about control of the battlefield and if you have it, the damaged vehicles are their for the victor to patch up and use again
The following is an 11 minute video of seperate reports that show the progress of the NAF into the town. There is some slightly graphic content from a Military Hospital at the beginning but its not so bad and there is nothing else afterwards.
No doubt about it, the main thrust of the current offensive is Debaltseve and it is a very obvious choice to be the top priority. Too obvious really, which is why the Novorossiyans had to make them doubt if this was the case.
It now looks as though the attacks on Peski and Mariupol were feints with the objective of drawing fast and powerful, rapid reaction units as far away from the Debaltseve salient as possible, maybe even drawing some out of the salient itself.
The point of course is that now removed from the vicinity, they will have very great difficulty trying to get back in to support the pocket, because the Novorossiyans have been able to close and narrow the walls of the Salient to allow artillery domination of the E40 motorway; something which would have been very difficult to achieve, had other units been on hand over the last few days.
The big news today is the fall of Uglegorsk/Vuhlehirsk just about 5km due west of Debaltseve itself. It looks as though the town is being turned into a mini cauldron and the mouth of the Salient into a killing field for forces trying to enter.
Video released today shows the checkpoint stormed and taken by the NAF as they assulted Vuhlehirsk. IT seems they opened the way by using three T-64's to roll through the mine defences and let the rest of the armour through. The tanks have been immobilised by the action but otherwise look repairable, as the NAF are claiming. It is after all about control of the battlefield and if you have it, the damaged vehicles are their for the victor to patch up and use again
The following is an 11 minute video of seperate reports that show the progress of the NAF into the town. There is some slightly graphic content from a Military Hospital at the beginning but its not so bad and there is nothing else afterwards.
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at this point war in donbass has morphed into a positional warfare, with emphasis placed on firepower. while there remains an incentive to attack enemy positions, the NAF is no longer required to execute those good ole soviet deep battle maneuvers. the intention is obvious, objectives are clear, and dispositions are fairly transparent, it is now just a matter of pushing the enemy back under the cover of overwhelming volume of fire. logistic here is key, and this is where NAF is likely to get one up over the UAF. notwithstanding claims of ammo shortage, in the end if circumstance dictates the NAF in the debaltseve theatre will find a way to either gather ammo from friendly units elsewhere, or beg for them to be supplied from mother russia, the bottom line being that they can get it if they really want it. the UAF units in the pocket, on the other hand, does not have such luxury. they might still be supplied, but I suspect in very limited volumes and unreliable timings, because of the deteriorating conditions on the only road connecting them with the rear.
because greece is blocking new sanctions now
Looks like you are right. Strange that it took a small EU country to stand up for sanity when bigger countries who felt the same way (Austria, France, Italy, Spain) all kept quiet.
"And the final confirmation that suddenly tiny Greece may have all the leverage in Europe is that moments ago Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that European sanctions on Russia are complicated by the "new Greek government."
"And the final confirmation that suddenly tiny Greece may have all the leverage in Europe is that moments ago Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that European sanctions on Russia are complicated by the "new Greek government."
It seems to me that Russia is not really concerned with developments in the war going slowly. Besides other considerations it sees the economy in EU suffering from the sanctions and even more from the wrong-headed monetary policy.There the purpose is to generate more inflation by creating money from hot air while reducing wages. The classic explanation of inflation is the wage-price spiral: people getting more money and spending it before it looses more of its value. If you don't get more money and have debts to pay you won't spend more.
The economy going down fastest is that of Ukraine of course helped by the mobilization of ever more men.
In this environment we get a new Greek government that is recognizing the madness of the current economic policies from which Greece and the other European countries are suffering and that says NO to the EU commission, ECB and IMF and proposes different policies. And they are helped by the prospects of the Spanish elections of next December.
All these things need time.
The economy going down fastest is that of Ukraine of course helped by the mobilization of ever more men.
In this environment we get a new Greek government that is recognizing the madness of the current economic policies from which Greece and the other European countries are suffering and that says NO to the EU commission, ECB and IMF and proposes different policies. And they are helped by the prospects of the Spanish elections of next December.
All these things need time.