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)
04.11.2016
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

(See end of post for acronym glossary)

Operational data from Information Resistance:

During the past weekend (04.09–04.10.2016), Russian-terrorist troops in Donbas stepped up the intensity of their shelling on both ATO forces’ positions and civilian objects. Militants used small arms, mortars (82 mm and 120 mm), stand-mounted anti-personnel and anti-tank grenade launchers (AGS-17, AGS-21, SPG-9M), while in some sections, also used were tanks, armored combat vehicles and cannon artillery (mainly 122 mm). At the same time, militants are reinforcing their troops and equipment in a number of sections, which includes the transfer of heavy armor.

Terrorists actively fired mortars on Ukrainian troop positions near Avdiivka. In the same area, militants twice used a battery of 122 mm D-30A weapons on the “industrial zone:” fire came from the area beyond the Yasynuvata forest ranger station, adjusted from the area of the 251.2 m high ground north of Yasynuvata junction; four militant tanks were spotted in the vegetation at the same area.

Reinforcements arrived in Avdiivka. Photo: Armed Forces of Ukraine

A group of terrorist “anti-snipers” arrived in the vicinity of Mar’inka with a mission to seek out and destroy the mythical “NATO snipers” allegedly operating in this area. When conducting this operation, a “demonstration group” of militants operated north of the “Crocodile” waste bank, while the “anti-snipers'” positions were identified on the neutral strip. A similar “anti-sniper” group of militants arrived in the vicinity of Shchastya.

During the weekend, Russian-terrorist troops significantly stepped up their activity in several sections south of Donetsk. Militants used the on-board guns of BMP-2’s and BMP-1’s near Tsentralnyy Karyer (Dokuchajevsk), in the direction of the ATO forces’ strongholds southeast of Novotroitske, and towards Berezove. In coastal areas, militants actively used 82 mm automatic mortars (“Vasilek” 2B9 or similar) and 120 mm mortars from positions north of Kominternove, near Sakhanka, and northeast of Zaichenko. The bulk of fire came down on the motorway near Shyrokyne and on the eastern outskirts of the town, and on the ATO forces’ strongholds east of Talakivka and Hnutove. Several mortar strikes were also made on the area near Vodyane.

Terrorists became more active in the “landmine war” – we observe more frequent cases of ATO transport being hit by landmines in the tactical rear of Ukrainian troops. A number of “specialized” enemy DRGs, which include highly professional sappers, are operating in several sections.

Several houses on fire in Mar’inka after Russian strikes on April 9, 2016. “View from Lenin St.”
Photo source: Twitter

The actions of Ukrainian troops in the area of Yasynuvata junction have resulted in significant changes in the supply systems of the militant “Horlivka garrison” and a whole number of units that are part of the terrorist tactical group deployed east of Horlivka. At this time, militants are forced to deliver supplies along a more complicated route, via Makiivka. The enemy goes to great lengths to “preserve the secrecy” – in Makiivka, the “DNR Ministry of State Security” continues efforts to seek out “Ukrainian spies,” transfer of combat equipment and gang personnel through densely populated areas is done mostly during night-time, after curfew, most frequently by “leapfrogging,” with intermediary concentration points. At the same time, the terrorist tactical group along the Yakovlivka – Mineralne – Yasynuvata line is being considerably reinforced.

In the vicinity of Torez, militants, under the control of Russian “supervisors” and with the involvement of specialists from the Russian Federation, are close to finishing the equipping of a new command point. The work is being done in strict secrecy. According to our preliminary information, this command point will serve as the central command point of the “DNR 1st AC.”

Simultaneously in both the “DNR” and the “LNR,” rumors started circulating about an alleged large-scale “Easter offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” According to the information being disseminated, this offensive will be carried out under pressure from the USA, so as to “ruin the bright holiday of Orthodox Easter” for the residents of the occupied areas.

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.

Dmitry Tymchuk, Head of the Center for Military and Political Research, Coordinator of the Information Resistance group, Member of Parliament (People’s Front)
04.08.2016
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

(See end of post for acronym glossary)

Operational data from Information Resistance:

During the past 24 hours, Russian-terrorist forces in Donbas used 122 mm D-30A howitzers and tanks, as well as small arms, various grenade launchers, and 82 and 120 mm mortars.

The enemy openly used heavy armored vehicles in the area of Avdiivka. Two militant tank groups were observed south and north of Yasynuvata junction, (a total of 12 vehicles, concentrated on a stretch from ​​”Agro-Nafta” to “Gospodar” marketplace). Six more tanks (from a backup group) gathered at camouflaged positions northeast of the 3rd district of Yasynuvata behind Lesnichestvo. Militant tanks specifically targeted buildings in the “industrial zone” from positions at the 272.2 m high ground, and from the vegetation. Apparently, militants decided to turn Avdiivka’s “industrial zone” into another Donetsk Airport – that is, to demolish all objects in the area in order to complicate the ATO forces’ defense.

Secretary of the NSDC Ukraine Oleksander Turchynov visits Avdiivka April 7, 2016. Source: LiveUAmap

Terrorists used 120 mm and 82 mm mortars from firing positions in the area of Mineralne, Yakovlivka, the destroyed bridge, and the area northwest of Kashtanove, firing on the ATO forces’ position in the Avdiivka “industrial zone” and adjacent areas. The enemy also used up to 20 rounds of 122 mm artillery.

At the same time, militants continue to reinforce their gangs operating in the area. For instance, another company (of up to 100 personnel) was transferred to the area north of Lenin St. (in the settlement of Mineralne), aboard BMP-1’s and MT-LB’s (up to 10 armored combat vehicles in total). At night-time, several terrorist infantry groups clashed with the ATO forces’s advanced units in the “industrial zone,” as well as near Ukrainian troop observation points and strongholds near the summer cottage area [of Avdiivka] and further south. On all sections, the enemy was pushed back, failing to drive a wedge into the ATO forces’ battle lines.

Simultaneously, a transfer of militants to the vicinity of Avdiivka’s “industrial zone” is being done at the cost of personnel and equipment operating in adjacent areas. Despite the fact that during the past 24 hours terrorists also initiated armed confrontations with the ATO forces’ advanced units in the area between the “Zenith” stronghold and the Butovka mine air shaft (as well as firing at Opytne, Pisky, and Vodyane), these actions, more likely, aim to create an impression of a “solid front line” in the area. The enemy’s major efforts remain concentrated on Avdiivka.

Frequency of shellings increased in the Luhansk direction of operations. In particular, terrorists fired at the advanced positions of Ukrainian troops in the vicinity of Stanytsia Luhanska and Tr’okhizbenka, from the direction of Pryshyb and the crossroads junction beyond Krasnyi Lyman. In addition to small arms, the militants used 82 mm mortars and grenade launchers.

The operational communications of the “1st DNR Army Corps” include reports about the activity of (quote) “American UAV’s” in the area of Yenakijeve, in the tactical rear of the Russian-terrorist forces, namely, in the airspace between two battalion defense areas of the “first Army Corps of the DNR” near Yenakijeve. Russian military leadership ordered investigation into these allegedly-recorded sightings of UAVs in these areas.

Following the “DNR’s” lead, the “LNR” launched a large-scale hunt for “Ukrainian spies.” The Head of the “LNR Ministry of State Security” Leonid Pasechnik declared that “NATO instructors” are training Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups at a Ukrainian Armed Forces military base in the city of Yavoriv (Lviv oblast). These DRGs are allegedly deployed to the occupied areas of Donbas, to carry out diversions and terrorist acts. Moreover, according to Pasechnik, “Ukrainian saboteurs” are being trained at “NATO centers” in Georgia. The “LNR Ministry of State Security” issued a circular to “military counterintelligence agencies,” ordering them to carry out appropriate countermeasures. As a result, several local residents were kidnapped on charges of “espionage on behalf of Ukraine,” intended for subsequent ransom exchange.

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.

Dmitry Tymchuk, Head of the Center for Military and Political Research, Coordinator of the Information Resistance group, Member of Parliament (People’s Front)
04.07.2016
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

(See end of post for acronym glossary)

Operational data from Information Resistance:

During the past 24 hours, Russian-terrorist troops were observed using 122 mm cannon artillery. The bulk of militant shelling was centered on the Avdiivka area (fire from 122 mm artillery came from the northeastern outskirts of Yasynuvata, mostly south of the “industrial zone”). Terrorists also shelled the ATO forces’ positions in the “industrial zone” and to the north of it, using 120 mm and 82 mm mortars from positions near Mineralne and east of Yasynuvata junction.

Several groups of enemy snipers were present on several sections of the front simultaneously (Mar’inka, Kominternove-Shyrokyne, Novotroitske, Luhanske, Stanytsia Luhanska).

Stanytsia Luhanska, the checkpoint for entry and exit of the village of Luhansk, is being shelled mercilessly by militants which, according to the head of the Luhansk regional military-civilian administration George Tuka, is to deliberately provoke its closure by the Ukrainian side. Photo: Ukrinform

From the direction of Staromykhailivka, the enemy used mortars, both 82 mm and 120 mm (in the latter case, in two intensive barrages of 7-8 mortar rounds each) against [the ATO forces’] positions southeast and east of Krasnohorivka.

The “DNR” [leadership] made a decision to cut off utilities from citizens who fail to pay their utility bills (some 65-67% of the population living in the occupied part of the Donetsk oblast). In Makiivka, the local “leadership” has decided to deduct utility payments from the “wages” of the local “state employees,” whose “wages” are paid with money arriving from the Russian Federation. Earlier, the “DNR” leadership received an instruction letter from Moscow categorically demanding a “45-50% cut in funds allocated to subsidies.” The letter proposes to shut down a number of “development” programs in the public sector and manufacturing (this particularly affects plans to “return to previous volumes” of railway freight traffic to the Russian Federation).

The “LNR military intelligence” reported to the “LNR” leadership about troop rotation on the demarcation line, with Ukrainian Armed Forces units being replaced by “gang formations” from the National Guard of Ukraine. Cited among these alleged new “gangs” were “Right Sector assault battalions” and a “Shakhtarsk Battalion” (manned apparently  by natives of Donbas with Nazist views).

The Russian “supervisors” in the “DNR” and “LNR” have received orders from the Kremlin to mount an information campaign designed to accuse the Ukrainian authorities of “hampering the work of the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC).” Its main message is that “Kyiv is trying to paralyze the JCCC’s work.”

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.