Poroshenko replaces his 3rd defense minister
2014-10-14
Posted by: badanov
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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Ukrainian president Piotr Poroshenko, himself in office less than a year has accepted the resignation of the third defense minister to serve under him, according to Ukrainian, Russian and English language news accounts.
Colonel General Valery Geletey stepped down less than month after a ceasefire went into effect in September that was supposed to end the fighting between Ukrainian's military and Russian speaking separatists in Donetsk and Lugansk, a truce marked by nearly continuous artillery shelling by both sides.
General Geletey was appointed Ukrainian defense minister in the first part of July, apparently after the Maidan leadership in Kiev saw that the conflict in southeastern Ukraina, dubbed Novorossiya by separatists became a much larger problem than anticipated.
General Geletey replaced Colonel General Mykhaylo Koval. General Geletey's successor has not yet been named. Russian military blogs are saying Geletey may end up as commandant of the Ukrainian Kolomna Supreme Military Artillery School, considered a top post in the Ukrainian military.
Western press outlets claimed that the decision to sack General Geletey came after an August report that landed on his desk detailed how Russian special forces and armored units were in part responsible for the defeat of Ukrainian forces at Ilovaisk, where large, unconfirmed numbers of casualties were inflicted on Ukrainian forces.
Western press reports said that General Geletey chose to ignore those reports.
Poroshenko, for his part is expected to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Milan, Italy later this week, along with German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Francois Hollande, as well as other unidentified European leaders as part of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
Central to those talks will be the issue of the two separatist states, but another issue on the table is the lifting of trade sanctions against Russia, imposed since last spring. It is not known, nor is it even hinted if a representative from the United States will attend the meeting.
Merkel earlier this month hinted that she may be open to ending her part of the trade sanctions.
According to several reports, Putin has already ordered 17,600 Russian troops away from the border with Ukraina, or about four combat brigades, among some 15 active combat brigades in Russia's Southern Military District, presumably as a gesture of goodwill. Not widely reported in the western press is the fact that Russia plans later this month to demobilize several hundred thousand troops mustered to duty for "retraining" purposes two months ago.
Ukrainians have been charging since last summer that Russian ground forces were actively involved in the fighting against Ukrainian forces in Ukraina, although to date the only proof has been a few satellite photographs and some press interviews of Russian troops.
For example, late last August, a Russian airborne armor company stumbled into Ukraina near the Sea of Azov coast in southern Ukraina, and exchanged gunfire with Ukrainian armored troops. Russian military or press sources have yet to explain, despite their protestations that those troops were there accidentally, why the vehicles the troops were riding in were combat loaded.
Russian separatists have been grumbling this past week over recent moves by the Russians including tightening border controls to prevent volunteers and munitions as well as weapons across into Novorossiya. Russian bloggers inside Russia report Russian state police threatening to arrest anyone who transfers money to the rebels in Ukraina. Apparently the Russian police are said to be monitoring Russian border guards and threatening arrest if weapons are taken across into Ukraina.
According to Russian military bloggers it has been four weeks since ammunition for artillery has crossed over from Russia, and ammunition production inside of Novorossiya is nearly non existent.
Russian military also have told separatists that the technology for some of the weapons they do have will not be supported for repair by Russia. In other words, separatists will have to figure out for themselves how to fix their own weapons.
Donetsk fighting continues
Pro Russian militias are claiming that the airport in northern Donetsk city is in their hands, save for a small group of holdouts. According to the pro Russian blogger Colonel Cassad, Ukrainians at the airport still hold the control tower and one other building.
Much of the contest at the airport has been to stop Ukrainian artillery fire into Donetsk city itself. Pro Russian separatists have been claiming for months that Ukrainian artillery have been deliberately targeting residential areas, a charge the Ukrainian military vehemently deny.
Another issue in the battle in that area is the towns of Peski, southwest of the airport and Avdeyevka in the northeast. Both towns are where Ukrainians have positioned their artillery in support of the remaining troops at the airport, and apparently serve as a marshaling point for troops in the area.
Rebels have been trying to eject Ukrainian troops from those areas by means of direct attacks with little success. Much of the reason for that failure may rest with the extensive effort by the rebels to assault and finally take the airport from the Ukrainians. It has been said the effort was bloody for both sides, but casualties hurt the rebels more, as well as the lack of ammunition and spare parts for their heavy weapons.
Friday night, according to the pro Russian Voice of Sevastopol, Ukrainian artillery once again hit residential areas in the Kievsky and Petrovsky districts of Donetsk city. Other settlements and localities have suffered from Ukrainian as well as rebel artillery including Yelizavetovka and Novomikhaylovka, Makeyevka and Kirovskoye. Militia artillery strikes were reported on Ukrainian positions in Peski and Petropavlovka.
According to the Russian language news source Vesti, a total of four civilians were killed by artillery strikes last Sunday.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
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