Ukrainian update - 05/24/2014

Ukraine SITREP May 24th, 22:52 UTC/Zulu: escalation across the Donbass

Vineyard of the Saker,

23 May, 2014

• Heavy fighting around Slavyansk increasing in tempo for the last 3 hours. Slavyansk under assault from 7 areas. Artillery is being used, at least one apartment building is burning in one of the outlying towns under assault.

• Self propelled arty, Msta-S reported, 15.2 cm howitzer type, are on the move with all their support echelons. Tanks are on the move, some heading for Slavyansk, some Donetsk.

• Grad batteries are on the move, direction unknown.

• Numerous BTR's are on the move, mostly right sector troops on them.

• At least one Sukhoi ID'd in a bomb and rocket attack.

• Mi24's were supporting two of the Slavyansk attacks until dark.

• Looks like the full assault. Going to be a long night
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• The man in this photo is no Ukrainian soldier although photoed in Donetsk Oblast. BTR is obviously Afgan or Iraq service with the metal screens all around. Only seen the one, photo is from RT of all places with no comment, BTR has been seen in several vids as has that one soldier.

• Two foreign journalists get killed by arty, their Russian translator, a women, almost dead and their driver badly wounded. The Video was up on YouTube and gone in minutes. Near Slavyansk.

• Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics have declared the creation of Novorossiya union.

• 145 delegates from the Odessa, Nikolaev, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Kharkov, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk Regions have announced the creation of a pro-federalization Popular Front which now unites all of the Ukrainian regions East of the Dniepr river and on the Black Sea coast.