Posts
Ukraine
Sitrep
by
Gleb Bazov
14
August, 2014
The Shrinking Cauldron - The Surrender of the 72nd Brigade
The
Southern Cauldron has entered the final stages of its existence; the
agony of the units deprived of provisions has begun.
The
Surrender of the 72nd Brigade
Original: Colonel
Cassad LiveJournal
Translated
from Russian by Gleb Bazov
Today,
the remnants of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade fled into the
territory of the Russian Federation. According to Russia
Today:
Four
hundred and thirty eight Ukrainian servicemen have requested asylum
in Russia and moved into the Russian territory. According to
ITAR-TASS, this was announced by the Border Guard department of the
Federal Security Service ("FSB") of Russia.
Map: Operational information from the Cauldron.
No
agreement with respect to the surrender of all the surrounded has
been reached yet (the negotiations that were reported earlier are
still ongoing). Accordingly, the Cauldron is starting to break up
into parts. The 72nd Brigade for all intents and purposes has ceased
to exist due to ammunition and food rations running out. They held on
while they still had resources and then began to exit into the
territory of the Russian Federation – at first in separate groups,
followed by the surviving remnants of the once full-fledged brigade.
The
hardware was all abandoned at their positions, which continue to be
controlled by Junta troops that have not yet surrendered. When
militiamen would drive up on tanks as close as 400 metres away from
the positions of the Junta, there was no return fire – there is
simply nothing to fire back with. Some of the soldiers of the 72nd
Brigade had no rounds left during the surrender; others had 1-2
magazines per automatic rifle.
There
is also information that among those who did not surrender there are
Polish mercenaries, which essentially explains the stubbornness of
the resistance (a serious international scandal is possible).
Those
who remain in this part of the Cauldron were given an ultimatum to
surrender and exit to Russia and not to touch the hardware.
Otherwise, the Grads will start working again. Strained arguments are
ongoing there now; military commanders are reasoning that the
potential for resistance has been exhausted and that they must
surrender so as not to kill people in vain. Pravoseki [Note: Praviy
Sector militants], mercenaries and the political zealots are
demanding that the resistance be continued at all cost. As a result,
a complete surrender is likely impossible – the majority of the
military personnel will surrender and others will be leveled [with
Grad MLRS], particularly in view of the fact that they have nothing
to respond with.
I
expect that this group will cease to exist in the course of 2-3 days,
following which the Cauldron will shrink in half, and the Militia
will start dealing with the remnants of the 24th and the 79th
Brigades.
Map: Predicted Retreat Routes for the Troops Surrounded in the Southern Cauldron.
In
order for you better to understand what has happened, those who
surrendered were the remnants of the 72nd Brigade that were driven
from Izvarino and Sverdlovsk toward the border with the Russian
Federation. At the same time, the Cauldron continues to exist in the
gap between Marinovka and Birukovo, where the remnants of the 79ths
Separate Aeromobiles Brigade and the 24th Separate Mechanized
Brigade, as well as the various reinforcement units and punitive
formations, continue to hold defensive positions.
Overall,
the Southern Cauldron now has truly entered the final stages of its
existence; the agony of the units deprived of provisions has begun.
Photograph: Ukrainian Troops After Crossing into the Russian Territory.
And this
note by Russia Today is specifically about those who intend
to cross the Russian border in the nearest future. They simply face
the same problems as the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade (“OMBR”).
One
more group of Ukrainian servicemen intends to cross the border into
Russia after almost 440 soldiers and officers of the Ukrainian Armed
Forces crossed into the territory of the adjacent country in the
night of August 4th. As reported by ITAR-TASS, quoting the head of
the press service of the Border Guard department of the FSB in the
Rostov region, the exact number of servicemen that intend to cross
into the Russian Federation is still unknown.
The
Junta’s Version
A
group of servicemen of the 72nd Motorized Brigade was forced to
retreat into the territory of the Russian Federation because they ran
out of ammo during a battle with the terrorists. This was announced
to RBK-Ukraine by Alexey Dmitrashkovskiy, a representative of the
press-centre of the antiterrorist operation in Donbass.
According
to Dmitrashkovskiy: “Servicemen of the 72nd Brigade divided into
two units. The first unit broke through the ring of terrorists, and
the second unit covered these servicemen. After that, one of the
units had their ammo and provisions run out. Military hardware that
was on the battlefield was damaged. After that the personnel was
forced to transport into the area of the border crossing checkpoint
in Russia. According to latest information, the servicemen are in the
territory of Russia. The number of the servicemen is being
confirmed.” According to his statements, reinforcements have
already arrived to assist the servicemen that covered those who were
breaking through the ring of terrorists.
Earlier,
the Russian Federal Security Service (“FSB”) stated that more
than 400 Ukrainian soldiers have requested asylum in the Russian
Federation. As it was clarified, a humanitarian corridor was opened
for the Ukrainian military and they were allowed to cross into
Russia.
The
remnants of the 79th Aeromobile and the 24th Motorized Rifle Brigade
and Battalion Shakhter continue to remain in the Southern Cauldron.
Just south of this grouping is Battalion Azov.
The
72nd Brigade
Original: El
Murid LiveJournal
Translated
from Russian by Gleb Bazov
Negotiations
with respect to the surrender of one more group of the punitive
forces are ongoing. The identity of the specific unit involved has
not been disclosed.
Most
likely, the sonderkommando Azov and Shakhter will not be
surrenedering. Other than that, the shattered units of the 3rd
Spetsnaz Regiment also continue to remain near Izvarino. Accordingly,
it is too early to talk about the Southern Cauldron being liquidated.
According to all indication, it will likely shrink in size and the
Militia will continue to blockade it. In principle, as it is, this
grouping has been sitting there quietly, only occasionally shooting.
When we drove from Krasnodon to Sverdlovsk, we passed through the
territory formally controlled by the grouping – without any
problems whatsoever.
It
appears that the only benefit that can be gained from the fact of the
surrender of the punitive forces is the shrinking of the frontlines
and the freeing up of a relatively small part of the Militia forces.
It looks like this reserve (if it is at all created) will be
redeployed to Snezhnoye and Shakhtersk to reinforce the positions
there.
Now,
I know Berezin raises a lot of eyebrows and his statements here
certainly will. I leave it to your discretion what to do with this,
but sending anyways. GB
[Note
by the Saker:
I concur with Gleb, the Ukies have already declared THREE partial
mobilizations, where does all that manpower go? The real
casualty figures on the Ukrainian side must be staggering and
absolutely horrible. The Saker]
-----------
Three
Statements by Fyodor Berezin (Strelkov's Deputy)
Preamble:
Provided for you in reverse chronological order are three recent
statements by Fyodor Berezin, Igor Strelkov's Deputy, with respect to
the Ukrainian army's losses at the front in Donbass. His statements
will appear to many to be controversial. The writer of this note, for
one, has no difficulty believing Berezin, who bases his reports on
concrete information received from the battlefront.
August
3, 2014 - Video: Fyodor Berezin, DPR Deputy Minister of Defence
Speaks About the Ratio of Forces at the Front
Reporter:
So, not too long ago, a resource called “The Free Information Zone”
published an article comparing the weaponry of the Militia with that
of the Ukrainian army. And so, we were hoping to have this
information either confirmed or denied and, in general, to obtain
some kind of commentary. According to this article, the Junta’s
advantage in terms of military hardware is six hundred to five. In
other words, where we have five tanks, the Ukrainian Junta has six
hundred. The advantage in personnel is ten to one. In other words,
the Junta has about thirty five thousand men, while we have five to
seven thousand. This is according to various information. What can
you say about this article by an allied resource?
Fyodor
Berezin: It is elementary. It is understandable that Ukraine has
hoarded a lot of tanks dating back to the days of the USSR. Right?
And all of them have been concentrated here, against the Donetsk
Republic. And if some Romania attacked now, it would occupy the
entire Ukraine – it would be that easy. There are no tanks and no
Grads left there, and probably no soldiers too. Unless they call up
the disabled.
With
respect to the ratio of the forces – it is obvious that a whole
bunch of regions of Ukraine will exceed two regions, considering,
particularly, that they are incomplete. Accordingly, there do possess
superiority – it is there – but so what? In whose favour is the
real ratio of losses at the front? In other words …
Reporter:
Well, thirteen thousand Ukrainian died – the Junta’s soldiers –
so we can see …
Fyodor
Berezin: I do not know how many of them died [in total]. I know that
this night and the previous night, just in the area of Shakhtersk,
there is approximately a thousand dead on the Ukrainian side. That is
an ocean of blood. A sea of dead Ukrainian soldiers. And they keep
crawling and crawling here. And conscription centres keep recruiting
them; they keep crying that they are forcibly conscripted. So what is
it? They are forced to go to war to their death, and they do not
resist? Do not join this army that sends you to your death!
First
it is forty of them, then it is one hundred and twenty five, then one
hundred, and so on – I mean just tanks, BMPs, and other armoured
vehicles. Whole columns of them are destroyed; every night we
destroyed several of them, and it is all left burning there. And
inside them are people, all these Ukrainian guys that decided to come
to fight here, to demonstrate their patriotism. They perform their
so-called duty to their Ukie motherland – to Poroshenko’s fascist
motherland.
Ukrainian
mothers, please take your children back. Wives take back your
husbands. Children take back your father, while they are still alive.
Or the entire Western Ukraine soon enough will lose its gene pool.
Otherwise all of them will find their death here. Despite everything,
we will expel them all. If they resist too much, we will escort them
further. They should leave before it’s too late and leave the
hardware here, while it is still functional. Give it another few
days, and it will all be destroyed.
Be
it one to a hundred or one to ten, there is no difference.
Understand, they burn and burn regardless.
15:29
– July 3, 2014 – Commentary from Fyodor Berezin (Strelkov’s
Deputy)
And
nevertheless.
Judging
by the reactions to my previous posting (with respect to the enemy’s
armoured vehicle losses, totaling 125 units, near Shakhtersk) nobody
believes anything.
No
wonder. I would not have believed it myself. Even in my books I have
always tried to make losses fifty-fifty. However, today the situation
is different. Here is something, just for your information.
On
average – on regular days – the Kiev Junta loses between 30 and
40 armoured vehicles a day. The main area where they suffer losses is
Shakhtersk and Snezhnoye. Now also added to that is Maryinka and one
more direction near Donetsk.
On
average, every one or two days, the Junta army sustains very serious
losses. I.e. up to 100 units of military hardware and between 700 and
1000 soldiers killed. And these are not fairytales.
I
do not know how much armour the Juntoids have left. Do not have time
to engage in analytics. I presume, and there is information that
confirms these speculations, that they are already using old tank
stocks from the Warsaw Pact. We have evidence with respect to Polish
hardware.
We
catch mercenaries. Moreover, from very remote areas of the world. For
now, not everything can be disclosed.
And,
as usual, an appeal to the moms of the western regions. Take away
your children from Donbass. Otherwise, every single one of them will
burn in the “boxes” [Note: armoured vehicles] or next to them.
22:48
- July 29, 2014 – Briefing from Fyodor Berezin (Strelkov’s
Deputy)
Yesterday
[July 28, 2014], Shakhtersk witnessed the Prokhorovka of our times.
The
total enemy losses of military hardware over the past day in
Shakhtersk are 125 (one hundred and twenty five) vehicles, including
tanks, BMPs, BTRs. Multiply this number by the size of their crews,
and you get a very impressive result.
We
warned them, did we not? Get the hell out of Donbass! And you did not
believe us. Mothers, wives, sisters! Take your Ukie warriors back! Or
you will completely lose the Ukie nation’s gene pool. Where are the
Maidans protesting the mobilization? Poroshenko, my chocolate one,
your own will soon tear you to pieces!
Kiev
keeps deploying missile launchers, including SS-21 (Scarab) and
multiple rocket systems Uragan and Smerch in Donetsk as it “wants
to continue the war” in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign
Ministry said in a statement.
RT,
4
August, 2014
“The
Ukrainian army continues deploy Tochka U [which NATO refers to as
SS-21 or Scarab], Smerch [the BM-30 Tornado] and Uragan [the BM-27]
missile complexes to Donetsk. How many more lives will this weapon
take? However, the Kiev authorities, it seems, are no longer
concerned about the lives of civilians, military and militias. Kiev
wants to continue the war,” Russia’s
Foreign Ministry said in its statement, which was posted on
its website.
Representatives
of the Donetsk self-defense forces have also said that the Ukrainian
army is “trying
to close in on Donetsk, aiming its strikes on Krasnogorovka and
Mariynka, which remain under militia control.”
In
July, Human Rights Watch accused the Ukrainian army of using Grad
missiles to
attack densely populated areas in Donetsk.
In
its statement, issued July 25, the rights organization said that
its “investigation
on the ground strongly indicates that Ukrainian government forces
were responsible for the attacks that occurred between July 12 and
21,” despite
the fact that “Ukrainian
government officials and the press service of the National Guard have
denied using Grad rockets in Donetsk.”
The
ministry stressed that Kiev’s “punitive
operation,” which
it is carrying out with “the
Western regime sponsors’ incitement,” is
claiming the lives of innocent civilians and leaving a “significant
number of injured.”
“The
humanitarian situation is deteriorating in the region,” the
Foreign Ministry said. “Despite
Russia successive appeals to the Ukrainian authorities and
international organizations to take urgent joint action with regard
to the humanitarian
disaster and
sufferings of the people in the southeast of the country, very little
has changed there,” it
added.
Kiev
is also continuing its crackdown on Russian journalists who have come
to the region to cover the situation in eastern Ukraine. The ministry
was referred in particular to a recent case when Alina Eprimian, a
producer for RT’s video agency Ruptly, was deported from the
country.
“The
reporter was accused of an attempt to destabilize the situation in
the country while shooting [her story] at one of the protests against
the mobilization [of the Ukrainian army] in Trans-Carpathia,” the
ministry said in its statement.
The
ministry has stressed the necessity of an “immediate” ceasefire
in eastern Ukraine and the “start
of negotiations to resolve vital issues of the further state
structure of the country.”
The
ministerial statement comes as violent clashes are continuing in the
Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
In
Ukraine, the town of Pervomaysk, one hotspot in the Lugansk Region,
is running out of resources due to heavy shelling. One of the recent
attacks, on August 2, left the town without gas and water supplies,
and without mobile phone connections. Hospital and kindergartens
buildings were also damaged.
On
the same day a school in Donetsk was targeted, killing one man and
one woman.
“In
Donbass, an exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed took place
between the militias and the Ukrainian security forces. According to
militia representatives, the bodies of three out of 12 victims showed
signs of torture. In addition, most of the prisoners from militia
units had broken bones and all the internal organs were damaged,” the
Foreign Ministry said.
Meanwhile,
the number of refugees seeking asylum in Russia is growing.
According
to information issued Saturday by Russian authorities, “there
are 39,265 people, including 12,735 children, living in 537 temporary
shelters.”
The
UN has estimated that at least 100,000 people have been forcibly
displaced since the conflict in Eastern Ukraine began.
The
Bear Reawakens: Ukraine Claims Russia Has 33,000 Troops & 160
Tanks Near Border
4
August, 2014
Having
unleashed
a massive military drill earlier in the day,
Russia is reportedly amassing military force on Ukraine's border once
again:
*RUSSIA
HAS 160 TANKS NEAR UKRAINE BORDER, KOVAL SAYS: INTERFAX
*RUSSIA
BOOSTS BUILDUP NEAR UKRAINE TO 33,000 TROOPS, KOVAL SAYS
Mykhailo
Koval, deputy head of Ukraine’s National Defense and Security
Council, spoke on Russian military buildup on ICTV channel, according
to Interfax. We await YouTube confirmation...
Some
have claimed up to 42,000 troops are positioned on Ukraine's borders:
and
the state of affairs in Ukraine as of last week...
and
the state of affairs in Ukraine as of last week...
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