Ukrainians say Russian backed rebels took several south Donetsk villages
2015-12-24
Posted by: badanov
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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Ukrainian media said Wednesday that Russian backed separatists took three villages in southern Donetsk, while rebel media denied the reports, according to Russian language and official news accounts.
According to a report which appeared in vesti-ukr.net, rebel forces seized the village of Vodyadnoye on Wednesday after taking two other villages immediately east of that position the day before.
The villages of Kominternovo and Zaichenko fell to the rebels on Tuesday. Current reports say that rebel forces have begun house to house searches of Kominternovo, started building firing points and started mining approaches to the village.
According to remarks by Ukrainian Colonel Andrei Lysenko for the Ukrainian ministry of defense, a rebel company tactical group moved into the village off the march, supported by armor vehicles.
According to a separate report which appeared in korrespondent.net, a total of five rebel tanks, four 120mm mortars and about 150 effectives were part of the operation to take Kominternovo. The report was taken by a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is monitoring the truce. The report was given by an unidentified Ukrainian officer.
According to a separate report which appeared in censor.net.ua, Ukrainian military forces observed the rebel movement into the village but did not fire on them. Another censor.net.ua report said that rebel occupying the village have refused so far to allow OSCE observers into the village.
All three villages are in what is known as the Mariupol defense zone, but are also in the gray zone in which no forces are to be deployed. The Maripupol defense zone has in the past been a point of contention between the two combatants. For months, for example, fighting was continual of the village of Shirokino, until rebel forces withdrew last August. The town over the many months of fighting between February, 2015 and August, 2015 was nearly completely destroyed. Shirokino is on the extreme eastern edge of the Mariupol defense zone.
According to rebel news accounts, Ukrainian forces took a group of five villages last December, including Pishevik, Pavlopol, Gnutova, Shirokino and Zhovanka. Ukrainian media claimed the action was not offensive and was for the purpose of establishing checkpoints. Now the Donetsk ministry of defense says the Ukrainians now control Bahmutovka and Vinogradoye as well as the five villages. The news report warned that continued Ukrainian control of the village will lead to an escalation in the fighting.
Ukrainian head for the Donetsk region, Pavel Zhebrivskyi said on Wednesday that the rebel attack on Kominternovo was in retaliation for Ukrainian forces controlling the seven villages they took earlier in the month.
So far rebel media has denied their forces have taken Kominternovo.
Rebel media said the Ukrainian forces have fired on their forces several times since Tuesday with violations taking place at Spartak in western Donetsk and at Shirokaya Balka, which is near Gorlovka, north of Donetsk.
On Wednesday, rebel media said that Ukrainian forces fired on rebel forces at Zaistevo and Spartak, the Donetsk airport and the Petrovsky district of western Donetsk. As with the shootings on Tuesday, rebel media said that Ukrainian forces used 82mm mortars, heavy machine gun, autocannon and small arms fire.
According to another vesti-ukr.net newsaccount ,122mm rebel rocket artillery fire fell on the northern Lugansk village of Popasnaya, originating from the village of Kalinovo.
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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