Ukrainian spooks ID Rooshun commanders in Donetsk
2016-03-08
Posted by: badanov
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An unidentified intelligence unit with the Ukrainian defense ministry said on Sunday it has identified several Russian Federation commanders currently operating in Donetsk, commanding formations for the rebels there, according to a news account in vesti-ukr.com
Among the identified commanders and formations is Russian Federation army Colonel Evgeny Chirkov, commander of 2nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, currently operating in Lugansk.
Included also in the list are Russian Federation colonel Andrei Yurevich Ruzinskiy (no field command listed) and Russian Federation colonel Dmitri Evgenevich Bondarev, commander of the 9th Separate Naval Infantry Regiment based in Novoazovsk in extreme southern Donetsk.
Commanding the rebel 1st Army Korps is Major General Valeriy Grigorevich Asapov.
Commanding the rebel 3rd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (Gorlovka) is Russian Federation Major General Igor Borisovich Timofeyev. According to the news account, Gen. Timofeyev previously held command of the Russian Federation 33rd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade.
Gen. Timofeyev has come up in reports before as the Russian Federation's main liaison with the leadership in Donetsk. His call sign is "Sokolov", a name mentioned last year as the main contact who ordered Donetsk president Aleksandr Zakharcheko to make an attack on Marinka near southern Donetsk.
That attack the rebels claimed was actually a counterattack on Ukrainian forces. Rebel forces at the time managed to take a small buffer zone which they have held since.
Russia long has claimed that it does not have army formations inside Ukraine, but Ukrainian media have claimed that it does, making the fighting in southeastern Ukraine a de facto invasion.
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 Ukraine by clicking here.
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