Shootout with smugglers kills one Security Service officer
2015-03-25
Posted by: badanov
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By Chris Covert
Ranturg.com
A Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officer was killed in a shootout Sunday with smugglers near the western Donetsk city of Volnovakha, according to Russian and English language news reports.
According to a news account which appeared in novorusvesti.ru, a three truck convoy was stopped by SBU operators as it attempted to bypass a Ukrainian SBU checkpoint. A vehicle with the markings for the "Dnepr-1" battalion appeared at the scene as the trucks were stopped, and that is when the shooting began.
The officer, identified as Victor Manzika, died on the way to receiving medical attention.
A total of four men were detained at the scene along with PK machine guns, grenade launchers and grenades.
A report from ukrainiancrisis.net said the trucks were filled with illegal alcohol and tobacco and were bound for the breakaway republic of Donetsk, presumably behind battle lines.
According to the report, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said a total of 11 unidentified individuals had been detained in connection with the incident, eight of them from the Dnepropetrovsk region.
One of the detained was identified as member of Ukrainian parliament Andrew Denisenko, who has ties with the "Right Sector" political movement and with Dnepropetrovsk governor Igor Kolomoisky. Denisenko also operates a Dnepropetrovsk regional headquarters for "Right Sector".
A number of police battalions now operating and fighting against the Donbas rebels are funded by a number of Ukrainian oligarchs including Kolomoisky. "Dnepr-1" is funded by Kolomoisky.
Kolomoisky has been in conflict with Ukrainian president Piotr Poroshenko, which was ratcheted up Friday when a number of gunmen armed with submachine guns appeared at the offices of the Ukrainian petroleum enterprise Ukrtransnafta to protest a decision to remove Aleksandr Lazorko as chief executive officer.
Another problem for both Poroshenko and Kolomoisky has been a requirement under the February 12th Minsk Ceasefire, colloquially known as Minsk II to disarm all illegal armed formations, originally taken to mean the Donbas rebel units, now to include formations such as Kolomoisky's Right Sector battalions.
Right Sector political movement has gained a reputation as one of the most vicious political groups, armed or not, against Russian speaking Ukrainians. Russian media has charged that the Odessa massacre last May was done by Right Sector militants.
That reputation has been so acute that Russian speaking guerrillas in southeastern Ukraine have gone out of their way to kill Right Sector militants, armed or not.
According to the ukrainiancrisis.net report, Avakov said he would make a request to the Verkhovna Rada to end parliamentary prosecutorial immunity for Denisenko.
Volnovakha was the town near which a directional mine detonated against a civilian passenger bus, killing 13 on January 13th. The Ukrainians said the bus was hit by rebel artillery, while rebels said the bus was hit by a Ukrainian directional mine.
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.
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