Former Donetsk official survives assassination attempt
2014-10-15
Posted by: badanov
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
One of Donetsk's first independent governors, Pavel Gubarev, was wounded in an assassination attempt while in Donetsk, according to Russian language news reports.
According to a news article published in the online edition of Komolskaya Pravda, Pavel Gubarev was traveling as a passenger aboard a vehicle near the Russian border during the night of October 12th to October 13th when his vehicle came under fire by unidentified men traveling aboard SUVs.
According to a Vkontackte post on the Strelkov-Info website quoting Sergey Kovalchuk, who was driving in a vehicle behind Gubarev, a vehicle described as a "jeep" sideswiped Gubarev's car and presumably passengers aboard the jeep opened fire on Gubarev.
Gubarev's driver attempt to flee the scene, but was followed by the jeep, continually firing. The driver crashed his vehicle into a telephone pole, with Gubarev sustaining a broken arm and other injuries. According to another witness, individuals inside the SUV that sideswiped Gubarev opened fire, then fled the scene.
Gubarev was taken to a hospital in Rostov, just across the Russian border where he is said to have regained consciousness, but is in intensive care and is listed in serious condition.
Only 31 years old and a former ad agency executive, Gubarev became Donetsk's self proclaimed governor, and he also helped with the May 2nd plebiscite which militias claim was Donetsk's independence vote. The People's Republic of Donetsk was declared May 14th.
Last spring Gubarev was detained by Ukraina's security services for two months before being released in a prisoner exchange in May.
Although the November 2nd election in Donetsk to elect a new national legislature is still set, Gubarev was expected to announce his withdrawal from the leadership of his political party, New Russia Party (Partiya Novorossiya).
A national Ukrainian election is set to take place just one week before the Donetsk election on October 26th. Ukrainian president Piotr Poroshenko dissolved the Ukrainian unicameral legislature, Verkhovna Rada, last month in response to adverse war news involving the breakaway oblasts (provinces) of Donetsk and Lugansk.
Sergey Kovalchuk also mentioned in the VKontakte post that he did not think the attempt was linked to the upcoming elections, but was the work of Ukrainian military or security forces.
Russian journalist Dmitri Steshin said in a tweet Monday he did not think the incident would be investigated given the mayhem in Donetsk and Lugansk at the moment.
Ukrainian Forces withdraw from the airport
Shelling in and around the airport in Donetsk intensified, killing and wounding several more militia fighters. According to reports, Ukrainian armor entered the airport grounds, supported by artillery firing from Peski to the southwest and Avdeyevka in the northeast.
According to a tweet by Russian journalist Aleksandr Kots, Ukrainian forces are trying to withdraw their forces from the airport.
According to a news item posted on the Voice of Sevastopol website, Donetsk deputy minister of defense, Eduard Basurin announced that 12 civilians were killed, "including 6 women and 1 child, 13 more wounded, mostly in the Kievsky district of Donetsk," all from artillery strikes in Donetsk city.
A total of four militiamen were killed and another 12 militia were wounded, presumably inside of Donetsk city itself.
Two militiamen were killed in Avdeyevka (northeast of Donetsk city), where there is an ongoing effort to eject Ukrainian troops from one of two main Ukrainian bases supporting troops at the Donetsk airport.
Both sides in the conflict have been under obligation by the Minsk ceasefire agreement to withdraw all heavy armaments from a demarcation line, part of which runs directly through Donetsk city itself. Since the last protocol signed in September 19th, neither side has withdrawn their heavy weapons including artillery, so artillery strikes, commonplace in Donetsk city throughout the summer, continue virtually unabated.
The line of demarcation is a line 15 kilometers on either side of which neither side can have weapons heavier than 100mm. That restriction eliminates the presence of every artillery tube except for the ever present 82mm mortar, which both sides field and use.
The demarcation line agreed to in the September 19th protocol is likely to be an election issue in Donetsk, since Donetsk's current prime minister Aleksandr Zakharasheko had signed the agreement, and is expected to run for a seat in the new Donetsk legislature.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
If you have something to add, Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
Click here for a list of stories in the The 2014 War in Ukraina category