Dmitry Tymchuk, Head of the Center for Military and Political Research, Coordinator of the Information Resistance group, Member of Parliament (People’s Front)
04.15.2016
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

(See end of post for acronym glossary)

Operational data from Information Resistance:

An increase in the intensity of shelling by Russian-terrorist forces was noted in the ATO zone. Militants are using mortars (including 120 mm), armored vehicles (including tanks), ZU-23-2’s and, from time to time, cannon artillery (mainly for the purpose of range-finding in relation to reference points and coordinates).

During the past 24 hours, militants actively shelled the “industrial zone” in Avdiivka from mortars of both calibers (82 mm and 120 mm). They also intensively shelled a number of adjacent and flanking positions (for example, the Ukrainian troop position near the air collector of the Butovka mine twice came under fire from terrorist grenade launchers, 82 mm automatic 2B9 “Vasilek” mortars and small arms, including machine guns). Near the Avdiivka “industrial zone” itself, several infantry militant groups tried making use of the “greenery” and intense covering fire from heavy machine guns to approach the ATO forces’ positions in order to open fire from close range. All enemy groups were spotted in time, and returned to their original starting point after coming under precision fire by the [Ukrainian] battlefield security.

Near Dokuchajevsk, militants sent a Mobile Fire Team into action: two ZU-23-2’s fired at the ATO forces’ advanced observation posts and strongholds, before quickly changing combat position.

Zaitseve, April 5, 2016. Photo: Boris Pinchuk

Near Zaitseve, a pair of terrorist BMP-2’s opened fire from 30 mm automatic cannons.

In the Luhansk direction of operations, militant DRG’s continue to be active. One of the main objectives of these DRG’s is to establish the fire organization and operation system of advanced Ukrainian troop units.

Near Mar’inka, enemy sniper activity was noted. The ATO forces’ positions near Opytne came under fire from 120 mm mortars.

Starting April 14, units of the “2nd LNR Army Corps (AC)” began a series of battalion tactical exercises (BTE) with live firing near the “Lutuhyne camps” training center. The exercises mainly involved offensive maneuvers, including “negotiating water obstacles.” Militant-controlled media were invited to cover these exercises. According to the IR group’s information, only two battalions are practicing “offensive maneuvers with water obstacle negotiation,” and this aspect of the exercises is a deliberate attempt to “draw the attention” of the Ukrainian command to the section of the front where the demarcation line runs along the Severskyi Donets river’s course. The rest of the [militant] units are not practicing these maneuvers during the exercises.

Earlier, at the militant training ground near Torez, units of two separate motorized rifle brigades of the “1st DNR AC” held a similar series of complex BTE’s, which also emphasized offensive maneuvers. During these combat training events, the 1st and 2nd AC command staffs are focused on boosting the combat capability of several battalion-level units under their command. However, taking into account that only 4 reinforced battalions (Battalion Tactical Groups) in the “DNR” took part in these BTE’s, we can conclude that the training aims to prepare for a limited-scale offensive, tactical level at most.

Zaitseve, April 5, 2016. Photo: Boris Pinchuk

The earlier exhumation of 18 bodies in the Bakhmutskyi district, and their identification as militants of illegal armed gangs (exhumed thanks to the “Black Tulip” volunteer initiative and the Ukrainian Army’s “Evakuatsia-200” search group) did not receive any gratitude from the “DNR,” but triggered an extremely negative response. The “DNR” leaders have instructed militant-controlled media to present the discovered burial site solely as a “mass grave of militia members, tortured to death by the punishers and bearing signs of brutal violence,” and to add this find to the militants’ “list of crimes of the Kyiv junta,” which they intend to submit to the global community. Thus, terrorists are actively using their own battlefield casualties for purely propaganda purposes.

Both of yesterday’s (04.14.2016) rallies in front of the OSCE SMM office in Luhansk – protesting against the OSCE’s work, and the local people’s demands that OSCE “force Kyiv to honor the Minsk agreements” – were the result of orders issued personally by the “LNR” head, Igor Plotnitskiy. They are part of an ongoing media campaign to discredit Ukraine in the context of the Minsk agreements. Synchronized with the “DNR’s” similar actions and directed by these terrorist organizations’ “special services,” the campaign aims to prove “the criminal role of the Kyiv regime in the outbreak and conduct of the war.” It is noteworthy that militant units have received orders from the high commands of the “1st DNR AC” and “2nd LNR AC” to collect “evidence of crimes by the Ukrainian military” for the OSCE.

Source: Dmitry Tymchuk FB 

Glossary:

AC – Army Corps
ACV – armored combat vehicle
AGS-17 – automatic grenade launcher
ATO – Anti-Terrorist Operation
BMP – infantry fighting vehicle
BTG – battalion tactical group
BTR, APC – armored personnel carrier
BRDM – armored reconnaissance and surveillance vehicle
BRM – armored reconnaissance vehicle
DAP – Donetsk International Airport
DNR – “Donetsk People’s Republic”
DRG – sabotage and reconnaissance group
ELINT – Electronic Intelligence
GUR – Defense Intelligence
KSM – command and staff vehicle
LNR – “Luhansk People’s Republic”
MGB – Ministry of State Security
MOD – Ministry of Defense
MT-LB – light multipurpose tracked vehicle
MLRS – multiple-launch rocket systems
OMSBR – Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade
SBU – Ukrainian Secret Service
SPG-9 – stand-mounted grenade launcher
TZM, TLV – transporter-loading vehicle
UAV – Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (drones or other)
ZU-23-2 – anti-aircraft artillery system

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