Ukrainians set special forces against volunteer units subject logo: DONBASWAR
2015-05-01
Posted by: badanov

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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

The Ukrainian military permitted private contractors to eliminate elements of a rogue volunteer battalion while at the front, according to Russian language news reports.

Donetsk defense ministry spokesman Lt. Colonel Eduard Basurin was quoted in regnum.ru as saying rebel forces opposing Ukrainian units near the western Donetsk suburb of Advievka, monitored communications of a special forces unit which had been deployed to eliminate elements of an unidentified volunteer battalion.

According to remarks by Col. Basurin, a special operations unit of "unknown affiliation" stormed a platoon position occupied by presumably rogue units of a volunteer battalion.

Rebel electronic intelligence units had determined that each member of the special forces team used GPS system devices to transmit location information of each member of the team. The team used portable radios "made in Europe", and used suppressed weapons to eliminate the unit.

Basurin made clear in his remarks that the team set against the volunteer unit was not specifically Ukrainian military, but was either a private military company unit, or a European special forces unit.

The news account of the special operation carried out against an allied unit was the latest in a series of incidents which have taken place over the past few days inside Ukrainian lines.

Tuesday, Ukrainian news reported that an operation by two Ukrainian airborne units which had surrounded and disarmed members of the Right Sector political movement near the town of Velikomikhailovka Pokrovsky in Dnepropetrovsk, was in fact an "exercise" by the Ukrainian military, not aimed at private volunteer units, for which Right Sector provides some of the soldiers.

That admission was reported the day after the Dnepropetrovsk operation by Ukrainian defense ministry spokesman, who denied that checkpoints set up by elements of the Ukrainian 25th Parachute Brigade and the 95th Airmobile Brigade were intended to disarm Right Sector members.

However subsequent reports suggest that the deployment was intended to move Right Sector leaders, such as Dmitri Yarosh towards negotiating with the Ukrainian ministry of defense their integration into the Ukrainian military structure or disbanding altogether.

The latest report posted on tsensor.net is that the Ukrainian defense ministry will accept private battalions under the command of the Ukrainian military, but not as units with "special powers", as Ukrainian defense minister Colonel General Stepan Poltorak had put it.

Yarosh hinted in reports from tsensor.net that the conflict between Right Sector private battalions and the Ukrainian ministry of defense was "exhausted", but apparently not over.

Rebel commanders have been monitoring similar actions by the Ukrainian military, such as a request of Ukrainian military commanders, fielded by rebel commanders, to shell elements of the Azov Regiment deployed in Mariupol and Shirokino. The stated reason for the request, according to rebel media, was that Azov Regiment members were committing crimes against civilians in the area.

On Tuesday, rebel commanders near Avdievka were monitoring a Ukrainian military operation intended to surround and disarm another private battalion, called the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which has strong ties to Right Sector political group.

Rebels deport American NGO

Several unidentified workers for the International Rescue Committee were deported to Ukraine Thursday amid charges of Donetsk authorities of spying an tax evasion, according to a news report in regnum.ru.

The International Rescue Committee for months, according to the report, had been operating under the auspices of the US State Department Agency for International Development.

The group performed worked including "psychological support to women Donetsk, who have suffered from various forms of violence" and distributing hygiene kits.

Donetsk officials said that the group had used local contractors in such as way as to avoid payment of taxes. Officials also said they found completed forms with data on unidentified residents of Donetsk in the possession of the group.

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