Rebels say they have cut key supply route subject logo: DONBASWAR
2015-02-10
Posted by: badanov

For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Pro Russian forces say they have taken a small village which sits across the key supply route, effectively cutting off between 4,000 and 6,000 Ukrainian troops at Debaltsevo in Donetsk.

A week ago, Donetsk military spokesman Lt. Colonel Eduard Basurin claimed at a press briefing that Ukrainian troops at and near Debaltsevo were effectively cut off from supply and reinforcements even though rebel forces had not physically occupied any territory which would prove that claim. Instead, rebel artillery observers could cover the route by artillery fire on call. At the time, rebel media said that they had taken Uglegorsk and Nikishino, both towns of which are still in rebel hands, and both which were close to the supply route.

The day after that claim a thaw hit the region, melting snow and ice, which made maneuvering difficult for both sides. Rebel media released videos showing rebel troops attempting to take Chernukhino, which is almost adjacent to Debaltsevo, where sits the largest concentration of Ukrainian troops in the salient.

Rebel troops currently occupy parts of Chernukhino, but have failed to completely take the town.

Both sides took advantage of the thaw to permit civilian evacuation from Debaltsevo, using a number of buses provided by he Ukrainians. Two evacuation plans were offered to civilians, either to Artemovsk in Ukrainian territory, or to Gorlovka to the northwest, in rebel held territory.

Buses leaving for Artemovsk were nearly all completely full, while buses leaving for Gorlovka were three at the most.

Ukrainian media made much of that fact, leaving out that Gorlovka has been under nearly constant Ukrainian shelling since the first of the year. Lt. Colonel Basurin pointed out that buses arriving from Artemovsk were being used by the Ukrainians surreptitiously to ship in ammunition supplies, and were used to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers out of Debaltsevo.

Artemovsk is the main marshaling/supply node for Ukrainian troops in the Debaltsevo salient, and is not currently under the threat of attack from rebel forces.

Russian military analyst Boris Rozhin humorously posted a photo on his Live Journal account showing a small, yellow-painted children's school bus filled with uniformed soldiers, presumably Ukrainians being evacuated from Debaltsevo with the title: "Careful, kids".

Whether the photo was photoshopped -- and it could have been -- the taunt was clear: Ukrainians were aboard the "short bus".

The attack to take the village, Logvinova, was undertaken by a rebel special forces rifle company reinforced with armor. Rustoday.info identified the rifle company as Special Forces Company "Olkhon", from a television program hosted by journalist Alexander Buzaladze on "Russia-1". Accompanying the rifle company was an armored group consisting of about five T-72 tanks and an undisclosed number of infantry fighting vehicles, including BMP-2s.

According to the unidentified commander speaking in a video shot Monday, his group was ordered to attack and take Logvinova at night, covered by rebel artillery fire, and from the Debaltsevo direction. Logvinova is about five kilometers due north of Debaltsevo. Another attack on a different village on the east side of the Debaltsevo salient, Novogrigorevka was attacked in a three hour battle by rebel forces as a feint, presumably to draw Ukrainian forces away from Logvinova.

While the condition at the time of the attack was said to be "a moonless night", according to rebel media, the moon is actually waning gibbous, so rebel forces relied on overcast conditions for blackout conditions.

Four hours after the start of the battle, rebel forces were in Logvinova.

According to the commander the attack was a total surprise to the Ukrainians, who at the time of the video had failed to respond to the coup de main by the rebel soldiers.

The armor group lost two tanks in the attack. Losses in personnel were not elaborated either in the video, or in published reports.

The video showed a light rifle squad which had taken up positions on the road on which was a destroyed Ukrainian tank. The video showed the rebels ambushing a UAZ (Russian made Humvee), which was attacked as the driver attempted to move down the road. The UAZ was occupied by two Ukrainian soldiers, both of whom were seriously injured in the ambush.

In the questioning which followed, rebel soldiers continually interrogated the newly acquired prisoners and spoke amongst themselves as to whether to "finish off" the solders. Eventually, the video showed the prisoners being marched away from the ambush site.

However, the Rustoday.info website said both soldiers were "destroyed" meaning they were killed, so now it appears both officers may have been executed by rebel soldiers.

The UAZ was packed with food and medicine bound of Debaltsevo. The rank and identity of the prisoners was not disclosed in the video.

The commander, speaking in the video said his group had captured a pair of high ranking Ukrainian officers, both colonels. It was unclear in his remarks if the prisoners were the same soldiers as the commander had spoken about.

According to Rustroday, one of the colonels had an extract of an order appointing him deputy commander of the Ukrainian defense ministry Anti Terrorist Operation, colloquially known as ATO.

The supply route the Ukrainians are using is M04, called by Russian journalists M103, which runs to the northwest. Logvinova appears by Google Earth rendering as a small farming community.

According to a separate report which appeared on Rustoday.info, written by Russian correspondents Aleksandr Kots and Dmitri Steshin, Logvinova has about 30 homes.

Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.

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