Voices of Ukraine

Dmitry Tymchuk, Head of the Center for Military and Political Research, Coordinator of the Information Resistance group, Member of Parliament (People’s Front)
06.03.2016
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

(See end of post for acronym glossary)

Operational data from Information Resistance:

Russian-terrorist forces continue to shell Ukrainian forces’ positions and the populated areas under their control. At the same time, the number of areas where the enemy is active keeps growing, which, as a whole, shows a steady trend of escalation in the ATO zone. As well as small arms and grenade launchers, the terrorists continue to also use armored vehicles and 120-mm mortars, ZU-23-2’s, and sniper groups along virtually the entire line of contact.

Militants also continue to wage an active reconnaissance of the ATO forces’ combat lines in the tactical zone, and are trying to organize it systematically in the operational-tactical zone, actively using such equipment as UAVs, RTR stations [electronic intelligence], mobile (portable) ground radars, etc.

The “traditionally” tense situation persists in the regions of Opytne, Pisky, “Butovka,” Avdiivka (the industrial zone). During the past 3 days, the situation has also escalated significantly in the areas around Horlivka, where the positions of the militants’ so-called “Horlivka garrison” are located, and where the enemy has begun to actively use light armor and 120-mm mortars (Zaitseve, Novhorodske, the region of Novosvitlivka).

An escalation of hostilities has been observed in the sector south of Donetsk, all the way to the seaside flank. In particular, the terrorists have increased activity in the vicinity of the following settlements: Novotroitsk, Berezove, Mar’inka, Talakivka, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Hranitne, and Shyrokyne. The militants are mainly using small arms, 82-mm mortars, heavy grenade launchers, ZU-23-2’s, occasionally – 120-mm mortars (for example, over the course of the day, militants opened fire from 120-mm mortars three times at ATO forces’ advanced positions in the region of Dokuchajevsk–Novotroitske) and 122-mm cannon artillery. In areas situated closer to Donetsk, the militants more often use armored vehicles (BMP and BTR [infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers]). South of Mar’inka, an enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group tried to infiltrate the rear of the Ukrainian forces.

In general, over the past few days the number of attempts by enemy DRGs to infiltrate the rear of the ATO forces has risen sharply, as have attempts at sudden shelling of the Ukrainian forces’ positions by militant small infantry groups at close range (mainly from the neutral zone, using forested terrain). On average, 2-3 such incidents are recorded per day.

There is a rising intensity in the so-called “war of small groups.” For example, in the area of the Svitlodarsk salient (the forward positions south of Luhanske and southwest of Svitlodarsk), militants fired at ATO forces from the “neutral zone” during the night, using small arms, as well as portable and underbarrel grenade launchers, under covering fire from 82-mm mortars and heavy machine guns. In the same area (south of Svitlodarsk) the militants twice fired from BMP-1’s from concealed positions. On the opposite flank of the Svitlodarsk salient, south of Troitske [Luhansk], a small enemy group has also attempted to attack ATO positions under covering fire from grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.

In the area of Stanytsia Luhanska, using forested terrain along the Seversky Donets River, several enemy sniper groups simultaneously attempted to approach ATO forces’ positions during night time, to open precision fire under cover of special infantry fire groups (the fire groups, equipped with 82-mm mortars and AGS-17, are positioned in the militants’ advanced outposts). Sniper fire is also carried out in the daylight hours.

In the region of Putylivka (Donetsk), three militant 120-mm mortars (towed) were observed redeploying to the southern direction of operations (the convoy also included several MTLB’s).

In the region of Mospyne, 8 tanks have been recorded on the march, headed southwest. Notably, the tanks were transferred as a single group, without camouflage.

Artillery units with Russian Federation armed forces personnel have arrived in Perevalsk. The redeployment was carried out by 4 cargo trucks (according to our preliminary data, these were 152-mm “Msta-B” howitzers). The redeployment of artillery is expected later.

Ten militants from the 9^th regiment of the“1st DNR corps” were delivered to the Novoazovsk hospital, suffering from an overdose of narcotics. In general, morale is low in the regiment; many terrorists are deserting their units and driving out to the Russian Federation “to do some earning.”

In Sjedove (Novoazovsk region), a conflict is flaring up between local militants and units arriving from Russia (mercenaries and Russian Federation servicemen). In particular, the conflict started because of a redistribution of resorts and rest bases where the Russian-terrorist forces are positioned.

After yesterday’s “synchronous” statements by the leaders of the “LDNR,” Ihor Plotnitsky and Alexander Zakharchenko regarding a “diplomatic offensive” on Kyiv, with a gathering of signatures for a “petition regarding the non-fulfillment by Ukraine of the UN Security Council resolution ‘Regarding a complex of measures on the fulfillment of the Minsk agreements,’” rumors quickly began circulating amongst the armed groups that such statements serve as a cover for the preparation of a large-scale offensive by the Russian-terrorist forces.

Some personnel of the “DNR police” are having their wages cut by 25%. In particular, this applies to the traitors who formerly served in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other security structures of Ukraine. The official reason cited for the wage cut is that it is impossible to confirm how many years such personnel had served in the law enforcement bodies of Ukraine (earlier, corresponding wage bonuses for length of service were added based on the verbal information provided by the servicemen themselves). Those who are unhappy with the cut are told to obtain documented proof of their years of service in the MIA and other Ukrainian authorities.

By personal decree of Alexander Zakharchenko, a protest is scheduled to take place in Donetsk on or around 06.10.2016, to express discontent of the local population with the arrival of the so-called “OSCE police mission” on the occupied territories. “The administration of the head of the DNR” has issued an order to forcibly recruit “DNR” residents to take part in this protest action. The total number of participants, according to the order, is planned to be around 16 thousand Donetsk residents, and 14 thousand from other towns. The “heads” of “administrations” on all levels are taking measures to organize and recruit “public sector workers” to this event, as a priority.

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
GRU – Russian Defense Intelligence, the main military foreign-intelligence service of the Russian Federation
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

This translation work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The rights pertaining to the original work remain unaffected.

Roman Donik, Army activist and volunteer, blogger
06.07.2016
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

I really do not like the “Anaconda-16” exercises that have begun today. I mean, I am certainly happy about 31 thousand brave men who will run, jump, drive around on 3 thousand armoured vehicles (three thousand!).

And of course, I would have liked the look of all this action.

I don’t like, purely egoistically, the reason for conducting these exercises and their composition. In case someone doesn’t know, most of the soldiers, even more than the Poles, will be US servicemen. 13.9 thousand. That is really a lot. It is really expensive. To send 14 thousand men on exercises to another continent is ridiculously expensive. And they don’t get money for all this from under the mattress. In the States there is a whole procedure of allocating funds for such games for big boys. And there is no president there who can drive up to Congress and bend 300+ people to vote his way. There they can all count and will tell the president where to go if he starts spending money unnecessarily. Which means that these expenses are justified.

And that is what I don’t like. The NATO bloc sees a real threat. NATO is preparing and demonstrating preparedness.

Muscovy is pulling in troops and NATO is pulling in troops. And we are a buffer zone which could become a theater of war at any moment. You don’t believe this? Pity. The newly formed brigades and the filling up of training centres with conscripts, and the excesses with the draft, are all indirect signs that in Kyiv they understand this and are preparing specifically for the worst-case scenario. For the possibility of mass involvement of reserves which will be made up of all these conscripts and of demobilised ATO veterans. And meanwhile Ukraine has relaxed, explaining this as war fatigue. While with rare exceptions, the war hasn’t even really started yet. The war is only on the line of contact. With news and bulletins that are already treated as noise and as just numbers. Don’t switch off and don’t lose touch with reality. Otherwise later on, the shock will be sudden and painful. The war is on. The war continues. And it has not subsided. Only there is some global realignment going on right now. And it can start any day. And out there where it goes on, on the front line, we still need your help.

Source: Roman Donik, Facebook page

This translation work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The rights pertaining to the original work remain unaffected.

Dmitry Tymchuk, Head of the Center for Military and Political Research, Coordinator of the Information Resistance group, Member of Parliament (People’s Front)
06.01.2016
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

(See end of post for acronym glossary)

Operational data from Information Resistance:

Russian-terrorist forces continue to grossly violate the Minsk agreements, firing at advanced Ukrainian troop positions and settlements controlled by the ATO forces. The increased frequency of shelling, including using the on-board weapons of armored vehicles and 120 mm mortars, indicates a clear trend for the escalation of tension along the demarcation line.

During the past 24 hours, Russian occupiers and local militants have sharply increased their activity in areas adjacent to Avdiivka and the Yasynuvata junction. 120 mm mortar shells were fired at the ATO forces’ strongholds south of Verkhnotoretske, as well as east of Troitske, with shelling extended deep into this settlement. In addition, 120 mm mortars prohibited by the Minsk Agreements were used by terrorists to shell Ukrainian troops south of Krasnohorivka and near Opytne. A Ukrainian troop stronghold near Stanytsia Luhanska came under fire from the on-board weapons of BMP-2’s and BMP-1’s. Near Zaitseve and Zhovanka, the enemy used the on-board weapons of BMP-2’s under covering fire from 82 mm mortars.

Along the rest of the demarcation line, occupying troops carried out fire raids using small arms, heavy machine guns, stand-mounted grenade launchers, and 82-mm mortars. Enemy snipers are at work in virtually all “hot spots” along the line, with the densest sniper fire on Ukrainian troop positions occurring in the vicinity of Luhanske, Mar’inka and Avdiivka (the industrial zone).

VIDEO: On the night of May 29, 2016, an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted in “DPR”-controlled Mineralne (10km north-east of Donetsk) two self-propelled howitzers (2S3 Akatsiya, 152mm) firing four rounds in a north-western direction – in the general area of government-controlled Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk) – after two explosions had just occurred within 200 metres of their position. The incidents constitute two violations of the Minsk Agreements, both because of the presence of heavy weapons within the withdrawal lines, and the use of such weapons.

A considerable movement of militant road transport vehicles and heavy armor has been noted near Horlivka. A convoy of two BMP-2’s and 16 army trucks proceeded towards Zaitseve; four army trucks delivered ammunition supplies to mortar positions near the Haharin and Lenin coal mines; a new mortar emplacement has been spotted near the village 6-7 area (at least two 2B9 “Vasilek” 82-mm mortars). Four MT-LB’s, one Avtokung containerized truck, and up to 50 militants arrived near Mykolaivka to reinforce the occupying troops.

The area of concentration of the Alchevsk–Stakhanov group of Russian-terrorist forces is also accumulating fuel, lubricants, and other supplies. Six fuel tankers and two tented army trucks were observed travelling towards Alchevsk.

Enemy units deployed near Dokuchajevsk continue receiving reinforcements. A convoy of Russian-terrorist forces consisting of five armored vehicles (BMP-1’s and BTR-80’s) and at least six army trucks arrived in this locality from the direction of Styla. Reinforcement is underway for the close-lying rear flanks of the Dokuchajevsk group of Russian-terrorist troops, whose commanders fear that Dokuchajevsk will be taken in the allegedly-planned Ukrainian offensive. In this direction of operations, terrorists have concentrated additional troops in the second echelon (up to one strengthened “motorized rifle battalion” with a two-battery artillery group).

Standalone terrorist units (up to 150 personnel in total) have been transferred to the vicinity of Olenivka and to the Petrovskyi district of Donetsk, taking positions away from the previously deployed “DNR 1st AC” units.

“Special propaganda groups” have been set up in Russian-terrorist troop units of the “1st DNR AC” for the purpose of information and psychological operations on the tactical level (to influence the personnel of the ATO forces’ advanced units and the local population in the immediate vicinity of the front).

In the so-called “LNR,” rumors are being spread among armed gangs and the local population about the alleged “armed provocations” by “mercenaries from the Baltic countries” operating as part of the ATO forces’ units. According to local media citing “officials” and top commanders of the”2nd LNR AC,” groups of “sniper mercenaries from Latvia” are firing at civilians passing through the “Zolote” entry-exit checkpoint in order to discredit “the young republic.”

Yesterday’s statement by the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, claiming that Russia does not recognize the “LDNR” caused a surge of panic among militants and their supporters in the local Donbas population. Theories are widely circulating that “Putin has abandoned Novorossiya,” that any “support from Russia” will stop arriving any time soon, and that, for Moscow, the Minsk dialogues are merely a pretext for diplomatically abandoning the occupied territories. Rumors are spreading among local militants that an agreement has already allegedly been reached between Moscow and Kyiv stipulating an “amnesty” for terrorists, yet it would only apply to those militants in illegal armed gangs who were not directly involved in the fighting, while the remainder – the bulk of the personnel of the “1st DNR AC” and “2nd LNR AC “– will be considered “war criminals,” and will become the target of harsh legal prosecution by Ukraine. In turn, information is circulating among Russian mercenaries that Russia will not allow them to leave Donbas and return to the Russian Federation, thus “setting them up” to be persecuted by Ukraine.

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
GRU – Russian Defense Intelligence, the main military foreign-intelligence service of the Russian Federation
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

This translation work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The rights pertaining to the original work remain unaffected.

Dmitry Tymchuk, Head of the Center for Military and Political Research, Coordinator of the Information Resistance group, Member of Parliament (People’s Front)
05.27.2016
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

(See end of post for acronym glossary)

Operational data from Information Resistance:

Russian-terrorist troops in Donbas continue to grossly violate the Minsk agreements, firing at the ATO forces’ positions and civilian targets with 120- and 82 millimeter mortars, the on-board weapons of armored vehicles, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and sniper rifles. The occupiers have stepped up reconnaissance of the ATO forces’ operational-tactical depth, using UAVs in an attempt to identify Ukrainian troop command centers and the points of concentrations of troop reserves. In the coastal regions, UAVs were spotted approaching from the direction of the sea, and, in the Horlivka direction of operations, a UAV was conducting reconnaissance in the Kostyantynivka area. On the stretch from Svitlodarsk to Luhanske, enemy DRGs were particularly active in their attempt to infiltrate the ATO forces’ rear.

Terrorist units are being rotated along several stretches of the demarcation line, while the Russian-terrorist forces’ forward positions are also being resupplied and reinforced. Additional terrorist troops have been added to illegal armed gangs deployed near Schastia, Stanytsia Luhanska, Novotoshkivka, and Krymske. An attack group consisting of several BRDM-2’s [Combat Reconnaissance Patrol Vehicles] and army trucks mounted with ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun systems arrived from the direction of Horlivka to reinforce militant units on the Mayorsk–Zaitseve stretch. A mobile group consisting of BTR-80’s, BMP-1’s and MTLB’s (up to 7 units in total) arrived in Staromykhailivka from the southern direction of operations, to fire on the ATO forces’ positions near Krasnohorivka.

The ATO forces’ forward positions in the vicinity of Novotroitske and Berezove came under militant fire from the direction of Dokuchajevsk and Olenivka. Operating under the covering fire of heavy machine guns, two infantry groups fired on the ATO forces’ strongholds with under-barrel grenade launchers. Terrorists were forced to retreat in the face of return fire.

Near Avdiivka, several short-lived but massive enemy mortar attacks were recorded. Enemy snipers fired from the summer cottage areas near the “industrial zone,” while BMP-2’s used their on-board weapons [from positions] near the Yasynuvata bridge.

In the vicinity of Mar’inka, Ukrainian Armed Forces strongholds were fired upon with machine guns and large-caliber (12.7 mm caliber) sniper-rifles from the direction of the farm, the horse-rearing establishment and the “Krokodil” waste bank.

Terrorist use of 120 mm mortars banned by the Minsk agreements was recorded on the Svitlodarsk salient. According to our preliminary information, [this use of mortars was in the course of] ranging fire by terrorist units newly arrived at positions in the area.

Near Shyrokyne, terrorists infiltrated the “gray zone” and fired on the ATO forces’ positions with small arms and under-barrel grenade launchers.

In the Alchevsk area, battalion-level exercises have begun in the so-called 6th militant regiment (stationed in the town of Stakhanov); the exercises include negotiating water obstacles. The high command of the Russian Armed Forces’ Southern Military District has signed and approved the training program. The exercises will take place in several stages and last 30-35 days.

Militants from the 9th Russian-terrorist forces regiment (deployed from Kozatske, Novoazovsk district) are being trained by Russian instructors to carry out combat sorties to the front line with the use of noiseless firing devices (silencers and flame suppressors).

Commanders of the illegal armed groups making up the so-called 1st and 2nd Army Corps of the Russian terrorist forces have been ordered to carry out “reconnaissance in force” along the most problematic sections of the demarcation line, in order to identify the ATO forces’ firing positions. This reconnaissance activity may be related to the arrival of a Russian adviser from the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, a Major General tasked with overseeing a militant military operation (details of the operation are being clarified).

Given the low terrorist morale, the so-called “political officers” of Russian-terrorist troop units have begun to spread various rumors aimed at raising the troops’ level of combat readiness. Militants are once again talking about a planned offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the militants’ positions in 1-2 month’s time. Among the illegal armed groups of the so-called “DNR 1st AC,” information is being disseminated about Kyiv’s imminent “amnesty for DNR militia” to be announced in autumn 2016. This disinformation is intended for terrorists who had previously resided on Ukraine-controlled territory, and are currently hoping to return home after the amnesty.

A new financial scandal involving the “DNR” leadership has erupted, after senior militant chiefs were found complicit in embezzlement from the Russian Federation. It turned out that the “DNR” leadership has exploited for its own enrichment an official agency established earlier, the “Administrative Center for the Reconstruction of the DNR” (ACR), whose operation was enabled by a constant inflow of funds from the Russian Federation. To move the allocated funds out of Russia and subsequently misappropriate them, the “DNR” leadership transferred them to pocket construction organizations. Following that, either fictitious work completion certificates were issued [overstating the works performed], or commissioned construction jobs were not performed at all. The situation in question was brought to the attention of the Russian government representatives by “DNR” “opposition leaders” (including the former head of the “DNR Security Council,” Alexander Khodakovskiy), causing the Russian side to conduct an audit of the ACR’s operations.

In the course of the audit, Russian auditors documented evidence of large-scale embezzlement of the agency’s funds. The final report of the Russian Federation’s audit commission recommended that the ACR project be shut down, and the “DNR law enforcement agencies” investigate the crimes of local officials. As part of this investigation, the “mayor” of Donetsk was questioned, and his first deputy arrested. The “DNR” chieftain, Alexander Zakharchenko, has decided to carry out an “investigation” and punish individual “scapegoats” among “public officials,” to subsequently request from the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation that the ACR’s work should continue.

The “DNR” leadership has decided to create an agency called the “South-East Information Bureau,” tasked with collecting and archiving information about the “crimes of the Kyiv regime,” corruption among the Ukrainian authorities, and miscellaneous other information discrediting the official government in Kyiv. According to the IR group’s data, the idea of creating this resource came from Alexander Epifanovich Kopnov (born 1960, Deputy Director General of the Federal unitary enterprise “Information Telegraph Agency of Russia/ITAR-TASS/” of the Russian Federation). Currently, Kopnov is the Russian supervisor of the militants’ disinformation and propaganda resource, the “Donetsk News Agency” (DAN), and exerts direct influence on the agency’s editorial, financial and staffing policies. At least once a week, the head of “DAN,” Galina Eduardovna Zhukova (born in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea), reports to Kopnov, addresses the issues of receiving funds from the Russian Federation, and coordinates the “agency’s” current plans with him.

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

This translation work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The rights pertaining to the original work remain unaffected.