The Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) is closing the circle in Luhansk and is reported fighting their way into the city. Donetsk is also supposed to be almost cut off but the battle is going back and forth. The new head of the DPR terrorists says they are getting reinforcements. Above link and here and here
According to him, the reserves showed up at the most crucial moment. They were made up of 1200 personnel, who had been trained for four months in the Russian Federation. In addition to the troops, the reinforcements, according to Zakharchenko, included 30 tanks and 120 armoured vehicles.
The APCs and other heavy Russian military equipment, including tanks is reportedly moving along highways from the Russian border.
Which is probably agreeable to the Kremlin because the escort has gotten a head-start on the aid anyway. Yesterday, nine Russian tanks wererecorded rolling along the H21 highway in Donetsk, deep inside separatist-held Ukraine. Moreover, helicopters, military vehicles (some of them marked with the emblem of "peacekeeping forces"), self-propelled guns, the 9K22 Tunguska anti-aircraft system, and what looks to be radar components for more advanced surface-to-air weapons (such as the Buk), were all identified by journalists and plenty of Russian observers moving alongside or above the aid convoy while it rolled from Moscow to the border. The Estonian newspaper Postimees also published photographs of Russian BMD-2s lining up along the M4 highway, about 6 miles from the Izvarino border crossing. This is the infantry fighting vehicle used to great effect by the Russian Airborne forces (VDV) -- camouflaged as the now-infamous "little green men" -- in the March seizure of Crimea.
Ukraine claims to have destroyed a number of them but this has not been confirmed yet by USA and of course Russia claims they don't exist.
As to the "Aid" convoy, the NY Times says some of the 280 trucks are nearly empty. Russia has "promised" that the "Aid" convoy will not be used for "direct" invasion. However they are certainly setting the stage for something, whether attacks by terrorists which they can blame on Ukraine or as they have been doing already making statements that all is agreed to, then saying that Ukraine is breaking the agreements. All this will sell well to the folks in Russia.
If you want a map to follow the locations etc of the conflict, this one is certainly big enough. Details will change from day to day but the place names will help orient those of you who are map inclined.
http://www.kyivpost.com/media/images/2014/08/16/p18vffvbit1ol81or21n5k4nr2t54/original.jpg
A conversation between a Russian Terrorist in Donetsk and his handler in Crimea is worth reading as he pleads for a hole to escape back across the border into Russia and wonders what the fighting is all about as no one seems to wnat to be liberated.
http://euromaidanpress.com/2014/08/15/who-the-hell-did-we-liberate-here-word-of-mouth-from-dnr-terrorist/
In other news, Crimea's only market appears to be Russia.
In April-May of 2014 the volume of goods supplied from Crimea to EU countries constituted $113,4 thousand, meanwhile in 2013 this number constituted about $171 million, so the volume of export last year is on average 251 times bigger. This was stated to newspaper “Week mirror. Ukraine” by scientific consultant with Razumkov Center Volodymyr Sidenko citing Crimea Statistics data.
According to him, the reserves showed up at the most crucial moment. They were made up of 1200 personnel, who had been trained for four months in the Russian Federation. In addition to the troops, the reinforcements, according to Zakharchenko, included 30 tanks and 120 armoured vehicles.
The APCs and other heavy Russian military equipment, including tanks is reportedly moving along highways from the Russian border.
Which is probably agreeable to the Kremlin because the escort has gotten a head-start on the aid anyway. Yesterday, nine Russian tanks wererecorded rolling along the H21 highway in Donetsk, deep inside separatist-held Ukraine. Moreover, helicopters, military vehicles (some of them marked with the emblem of "peacekeeping forces"), self-propelled guns, the 9K22 Tunguska anti-aircraft system, and what looks to be radar components for more advanced surface-to-air weapons (such as the Buk), were all identified by journalists and plenty of Russian observers moving alongside or above the aid convoy while it rolled from Moscow to the border. The Estonian newspaper Postimees also published photographs of Russian BMD-2s lining up along the M4 highway, about 6 miles from the Izvarino border crossing. This is the infantry fighting vehicle used to great effect by the Russian Airborne forces (VDV) -- camouflaged as the now-infamous "little green men" -- in the March seizure of Crimea.
Ukraine claims to have destroyed a number of them but this has not been confirmed yet by USA and of course Russia claims they don't exist.
As to the "Aid" convoy, the NY Times says some of the 280 trucks are nearly empty. Russia has "promised" that the "Aid" convoy will not be used for "direct" invasion. However they are certainly setting the stage for something, whether attacks by terrorists which they can blame on Ukraine or as they have been doing already making statements that all is agreed to, then saying that Ukraine is breaking the agreements. All this will sell well to the folks in Russia.
If you want a map to follow the locations etc of the conflict, this one is certainly big enough. Details will change from day to day but the place names will help orient those of you who are map inclined.
http://www.kyivpost.com/media/images/2014/08/16/p18vffvbit1ol81or21n5k4nr2t54/original.jpg
A conversation between a Russian Terrorist in Donetsk and his handler in Crimea is worth reading as he pleads for a hole to escape back across the border into Russia and wonders what the fighting is all about as no one seems to wnat to be liberated.
http://euromaidanpress.com/2014/08/15/who-the-hell-did-we-liberate-here-word-of-mouth-from-dnr-terrorist/
In other news, Crimea's only market appears to be Russia.
In April-May of 2014 the volume of goods supplied from Crimea to EU countries constituted $113,4 thousand, meanwhile in 2013 this number constituted about $171 million, so the volume of export last year is on average 251 times bigger. This was stated to newspaper “Week mirror. Ukraine” by scientific consultant with Razumkov Center Volodymyr Sidenko citing Crimea Statistics data.
Keep informing us.
ReplyDeletethe Ol'Buzzard