Fighting lull ends in Ukraine, 3 die subject logo: DONBASWAR
2015-08-26
Posted by: badanov

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

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A period of relative calm along the line of contact on Monday preceded a return to fighting in southeastern Ukraine Tuesday as both Ukrainian and Russian backed rebel forces exchanged direct and artillery fire in three key areas in Donetsk, according to Russian language news accounts.

Monday was Ukrainian Independence Day, so only a few instances of ceasefire violations were acknowledged from either side. But Tuesday the fighting returned with two dead reported in Mariupol and one more dead reported in Gorlovka.

According to data supplied by the Ukrainian ministry of defense, rebel artillery hit Ukrainian positions at three towns in southern Donetsk near the Sea of Azov port city of Mariupol. Rebel 122mm artillery struck at Lebedinsky and Sopina, while rebel 120mm mortars struck the town of Granitnoye. Rebel media did not report any Ukrainian artillery fire in the Mariupol defense zone. A total of three Ukrainian naval infantrymen were killed and another four were wounded. Ukrainian media said the rebel artillery originated from Kominternovo.

Further north, around Telmanovo, the rebel Donetsk ministry of defense said that Ukrainian artillery struck their positions at Dokuchaevsk and Novolaspa. A militia leader, writing a post on the VKontakte page of Russian reserve FSB Colonel Igor Girkin reported a small Ukrainian probe near the rebel held town of Belokamenka.

Around Donetsk city, Ukrainian media said that rebel 122mm artillery struck Ukrainian positions at Vodyanoye, and 152mm artillery, along with some direct fire from RPGs and heavy machine guns were fired on Ukrainians at Krasnogorovka and Peski.

Rebel media said that Ukrainian artillery hit rebel positions at the Donetsk airport and Spartak. Ukrainian media said that rebel artillery hit an unidentified hospital and some residential buildings ar Marinka. A report in tsensor.net said that 122mm artillery were used on the town.

A Ukrainian artillery attack on Gorlovka early Tuesday morning killed one unidentified civilian and damaged six other buildings including two schools. Rebel media said the artillery that hit was sited at Artemovsk.

A separate report from Girkin's novorosinform.org webpage said that Donetsk ministry of defense spokesman Eduard Basurin identified the artillery unit which fired the attack as the 1st Howitzer Battalion, 44th Separate Artillery Brigade.

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.

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