Ukrainians detain two artillery spotters near Mariupol
2015-08-24
Posted by: badanov
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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Two unidentified individuals were detained Saturday and Sunday for their alleged roles in the August 16th artillery strike on the Mariupol suburb of Sartana, according to Russian language news reports.
A news account which appeared in 06290.ua.com said that a man who was working as a lifeguard and a woman were detained in separate arrests as suspected artillery spotters for the rebels. The August 16th artillery attack killed a total of four people. On Saturday a fourth unidentified victim died of injuries she sustained in the artillery attack.
Since last week reports of artillery attacks have declined dramatically between the Ukrainian Army and their Russian backed opponents, enough so that in some cities, repairs were begun of those areas hit by artillery attacks.
Monday is Ukrainian Independence Day, and both sides have been exchanging charges that the other are planning an attack. Two days ago, the Donetsk ministry of defense disclosed documents in their possession they say gave a broad outline for a massive ground offensive. The Ukrainians have countered with charges of their own saying the rebels are planning a terrorist attack on Monday.
The Ukrainian ministry of defense said on Sunday that rebel forces fired on Ukrainian forces a total of 78 times, using artillery as well as direct fire weapons.
120mm mortars fire was reported by the Ukrainians at Avdievka and at Krasnogorovka in the Donetsk city area. In the Mariupol area, rebel forces are said to have fired on Ukrainian positions at Granitnoye.
On Saturday the Donetsk ministry of defense said that Ukrainian artillery hit rebel positions at the Donetsk airport, near Avdievka and at Spartak. Further south near Telmanovo, Ukrainian artillery hit rebel positions at Belokamenka and Starilaspa.
On Sunday Ukrainian artillery and direct fire weapons hit rebel positions at the Donetsk airport and the Donetsk city suburbs of Spartak, Opytnoye, Peski and Avidevka.
Russian military journalist, Boris Rozhin said that rebel forces have taken a key height in northwestern Lugansk, near the town of Zolotnoye near a village called Marevka. An unidentified Cossack commander said his forces advanced into the village as Ukrainian forces holding the area fled. The Ukrainians made one single attempt to counterattack, and once met with rebel counterfire in the form of BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, the Ukrainians withdrew.
According to Rozhin, in a separate post on Russian reserve FSB Colonel Igor Girkin's VKontakte page, Donetsk president Aleksandr Zakharcheko has left the area for Russia, the rumors for whichwere that Zakharchenko was sick.
In Russian lore, in this year old civil war, when a leader gets sent to Russia, it is similar to a "sit down" in organized crime parlance.
It is well known that the rebel leadership in Donetsk has been on the outs with their Russian benefactors since last spring.
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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