Dmitry Tymchuk, Head of the Center for Military and Political Research, Coordinator of the Information Resistance group, Member of Parliament (People’s Front)
11.19.2015
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Operational data from Information Resistance:

Russian-terrorist troops in Donbas continue actively firing at the positions of the Anti-Terrorist Operation [ATO] forces and at civilian objects, using small arms, hand-operated and stand-mounted grenade launchers, ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns, and the on-board weapons of armored vehicles and mortars (82 mm and 120 mm). In the past 24 hours, an anti-tank missile system was utilized in one instance. Militant infantry groups approached Ukrainian troop positions and provoked skirmishes with advanced ATO forces’ units on two occasions.

Most of the activity by Russian-terrorist forces units is taking place on the stretch from Mar’inka to the northern outskirts of Horlivka (Krasnohorivka, Mar’inka, Donetsk International Airport (DAP), Pisky, Avdiivka, Novhorodske, Opytne, Shumy), as well as in the Artemivsk sector. Near Pisky (in the direction of Nevelske and the unfinished overpass), militants actively used 82 mm mortars, ZU-23-2s, and BBM armored fighting vehicles (three BMP infantry combat vehicles operating from camouflaged emplacements).

Militants use anti-aircraft guns to significantly increase the density of fire on ATO forces’ positions (although in most cases the firing on Ukrainian troop positions is unsighted).

Militants on the flanks of the Svitlodarsk bridgehead in the Artemivsk direction (close to Lozove and Troitske) are actively firing [at the ATO forces], attempting to identify the configuration of the ATO forces’ defense lines and fire points.

A large number of militant sniper groups have appeared in several sectors simultaneously. Different skill levels are evident among them – from novices to professionals (the latter mostly from the Russian Federation Armed Forces). The same applies to terrorist sapper groups (mine layers), as individual deaths by accidental explosion continue to be recorded during mine laying by militants in a number of sectors.

Terrorists also continue to reconnoitre the ATO forces’ front line, carry out sabotage, and actively lay mines close by. Russian PSNR-8 “Credo-M1” (1L120) portable ground reconnaissance stations have appeared on some sections of the militants’ front line. These stations have been spotted south of Donetsk (in the vicinity of Hranitne) and near Sakhanka. The stations are operated by servicemen of the Russian Federation Armed Forces “disguised” as local terrorists.

Militants are concentrating forces and resources in the Kyivskyi district of Donetsk (in the Pisky direction). In the past 24 hours, some two companies numbering 220 to 240 personnel have been transferred to join the units previously concentrated there. Up to two dozen BBM armored combat vehicles and six tanks have also been noted in this area.

A combined militant tactical force of 240-260 personnel, accompanied by 22 BBM armored combat vehicles and 11 trucks, is being transferred to the stretch between Khomutovskyi Steppe and Novoazovsk, together with up to 10 tanks from among those withdrawn from the vicinity of Bezimenne.

Near the “Lutuhyne camps” (which have served as the accumulation point for the artillery actively brought by militants from the “northern sector” earlier), an “artillery reserve” has been set up, for terrorists operating in the Luhansk sector. The reserve consists of eighteen 122-mm and 152-mm 2S1 and 2S3 self-propelled guns, as well as at least fourteen BM-21 122 mm “Grad” multiple-launch rocket systems [MLRS], twenty-four 122 mm D-30 (D-30A) howitzers and 152 mm “MSTA-B” howitzers. This weaponry has been concentrated in several places and, if necessary, can be quickly deployed to any needed location. According to our preliminary data, small batches of artillery (3-4 pieces in each) are already being transferred from this “reserve” to areas east of Luhansk and to Alchevsk.

The “Ministry of State Security of the Luhansk People’s Republic” [“MGB LNR”] has begun the latest “mobilization” of former Ukrainian military servicemen and law enforcement officers living in the occupied territory of Luhansk oblast. The official reason for the “mobilization” is the need to intensify the fight against crime in the “republic.”

Regular military servicemen of the Russian Federation have arrived in Shakhtarsk district, Donetsk oblast, to replace the leadership of the “Donetsk People’s Republic’s” illegal armed gangs deployed in that district. The Russian servicemen have begun cracking down on discipline in the ranks: consumption of alcohol and unauthorized leave by militants are strictly forbidden.

Russian tanks “withdrawn” from the contact line in Donbas are clearly seen/geolocated on satimages and social media. Photos via @AlexPanchenko2 and @InformNapalm

Source: Dmitry Tymchuk FB

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