"90 percent" of Donetsk airport in militia hands subject logo: DONBASWAR
2014-10-03
Posted by: badanov

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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

After weeks of near constant shelling by Ukrainian Army units occupying the Donetsk airport, the prime minister of Donetsk announced Thursday that militias have taken 90 percent of the territory of the airport, according to the pro Russian Voice of Sevastopol news outlet.

According to the latest report Ukrainian military units still hold positions at the old terminal. In the past three days, militia forces have converged on the area in a concerted effort to eject Ukrainian forces from the airport, said at the time to include elements of the 25th Air mobile brigade and 79th Brigade and unidentified territorial defense units.

The word is now, according to the blogger Colonel Cassad, that the 25th Airmobile Brigade has received orders and is proceeding to retreat from the airfield towards Dnepropetrovsk.

The 79th Brigade has reportedly received its orders to evacuate the airport, but has yet to move as of this writing.

Only two days ago the area was reinforced with about 850 Ukrainian effectives in an attempt to hold the airport. Despite orders to evacuate the airport, militias report that a Ukrainian tank unit was seen moving south from Artyomovsk to Avdeyevka.

Virtually since the start of the war last May, Ukrainian military units have occupied the airport, using it as a base to shell parts of Donetsk, attacks of which have been a daily event despite the September 19th ceasefire.

Wednesday a Ukrainian fire mission struck a school, No 57 -- In Kievsky district -- killing four adults who were passing by the area. No school children were harmed in the attack. October 1st was the start of the school year in Donetsk.

According to Voice of Sevastopol, a total of 11 were killed in artillery attacks, including one artillery shell which hit a public bus. Districts included in the artillery strikes were the Putilovsky and Kuibyshevsky districts

Until Thursday, Ukrainian artillery units at the airport were firing with militia troops less than 250 meters away, but now, according to reports, Ukrainian troops are holed up in the airport, and are not firing artillery. One area of the airport was said to be a nuclear blast strong shelter used by the Ukrainian military against attacks, both direct fire and artillery fire.

Elsewhere in Donetsk, fighting continues as Ukrainian rocket artillery units launched artillery strikes in other areas of Donetsk including the Railway Market where a reported eight people were hurt. A total of 40 were wounded in artillery strikes in Donetsk and are at hospitals. Another 11 were killed.

According to the Russian military journalist Colonel Cassad a Swiss Red Cross worker was killed by a Ukrainian artillery mission in Donetsk Thursday. He has been identified as Laurent Etienne DuPasquier.

Ukrainian MRL and 120mm mortar units fired missions from Peski and at targets in Panfilova, Budenovsky, Putilovsky, Skochinskiy-Biryuzovaya and Kievsky districts and at the villages of Vetki, Spartak and Severnoye. Peski has been an area on constant fighting and has been held by both sides.

Lugansk

In Lugansk, Ukrainian artillery units firing from positions north of Schastye hit Vesyolaya Gora and the town of Stakhanov . The shelling was said to be constant.

Further west, militias attacked the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Battalion Battalion "Aydar" near the settlement of Smeloye in the Slavyanoserbsky district. Another infantry fight was reported at Troitskoye, which is south of Smeloye.

Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

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