Posted on 08/16/2014 11:30:52 PM PDT by elhombrelibre
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have sustained dramatic setbacks after top military chiefs quit and Kiev's forces pummeled their strongholds, cutting off a key rebel-held city from the Russian border.
Kiev's advance came as the Russian "humanitarian" convoy parked up close to the frontier, with doubts still swirling over what the trucks contained and whether they would be allowed to cross.
According to reports in two British newspapers, a smaller group of Russian vehicles, including armored cars, did cross the border into Ukraine late Thursday.
The Daily Telegraph "witnessed a column of vehicles including both armoured personal carriers and soft-skinned lorries crossing into Ukraine at an obscure border crossing near the Russian town of Donetsk."
The Guardian daily said a column of 23 armored personnel carriers and other vehicles crossed near Donetsk, about 200 kilometers from the Ukrainian town of the same name.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Ukrainian soldiers near Illovaisk, in the Donetsk region.
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/8/15/1408115199870/Ukrainian-soldiers-near-I-011.jpg
There are three things at work here.
First, there’s no business operations occurring, no paychecks, and no real food supply with the general population (cash only, and black market is the only way you make it in the eastern part of the country).
Second, Putin didn’t have a long-term plan in dealing with this mess. I think he is finding the folks he has to deal with in eastern Ukraine as troublesome...certainly not going by the Putin agenda.
Third, there’s no civilization or infrastructure at this point in the Ukraine. People will start to pack up and head off to neighboring countries at some point. Summer is ending, and I’d suspect a quarter of the population is gone by December.
A potential Coup in Kiev thanks to Right Sector, UK surrounded or retreating on most fronts, and its the rebels unraveling???
Right Sector threatening to withdraw their Militias and National Guard from the field, and march on Kiev for another coup if their demands aren’t met.
Letter to the President of Ukraine from the Right Sector military-political movement
http://euromaidanpress.com/2014/08/17/letter-to-the-president-of-ukraine-from-the-right-sector-military-political-movement/
So everyone else is lying and you’ve got the inside skinny?
Nice howitzer.
That article is a couple days old and overly optimistic. It’s indeed been difficult for the Russians to resupply Donetsk for the past week or so (and just recently, Luhansk as well), but it’s overstating the case to say that they’re “cut off”. From east to west: Antratyst is a rebel stronghold; the intersection town of Krasnyi Luch is being battled over; the Ukranians loosely hold Miusynsk (at last report); Shizhne and Torez are solidly in Russian hands, and Shakhtarsk mostly if not entirely in Russian hands; and most if not all of the rest of the way to Donetsk is in Russian hands. Now, the Ukranians control most if not of the area north of that whole strip, so they’re in artillery range of the whole road stretch. To the south, east to west: Ukranian forces control the area immediately south of Krasnyi Luch and Miusynsk - BUT they’re nearly surrounded there, a Russian reinforcement push from their side of the border is hotly fighting over the Saurivka area, and they seem to be controlling it right now more than not. So rather than having to flow through Krasnyi Luch, that’s another possible source for tranport to/from Donetsk. Further west, however, that area is fully in Ukraninian hands, bounded to the north by the Russian-controlled highway and to the west by Ilovaisk and Mospyne, both of which the Russians control but are surrounded and being fought for by the Ukranians. The Russians have, however, been very aggressively attacking the Uspenka border checkpoint from their side of the border, and may have forced the Ukranian guards to have to stay away from the border - whether that opens up a new front is yet to be seen.
Basically, the Russians have two main connections with Donetsk, and are trying to expand them. But as it stands, they both involve going through territory that’s being actively fought over and then “running a gauntlet” through which they can be spotted and shelled. Russia seems ready to put a lot more men and hardware into improving their situation on this front, and they shouldn’t be underestimated, Russia has no shortage of neither people nor military hardware.
The Luhansk blockade is new, but is also rather similar - it’s porous but difficult and risky to move equipment through, and Russia looks ready to dump a ton of new hardware and personnel to try to break through (their last attempt failed, I don’t think they expected Ukraine to succeed in taking Novosvitlivka and cutting off the M-04). I wouldn’t underappreciate their ability to dump a lot of force on them and break through, but as it stands, while Luhansk isn’t “cut off”, it is (like Donetsk) somewhat difficult and unreliable to reach.
ping
We can determine how much the "rebels" (aka the Russkies) are unraveling by measuring how deranged your posts get.
It’s hard to believe the news, as it pertains to either sides advances or retreats. I have heard from Irish news that the Ukraine forces are getting the emit beat out of them through poor leadership and the separatist getting over run by superior forces. What’s to be taken qe truth?
Being a fan of the underdog, I think I’m quietly pulling for the separatist. Both sides are corrupt so in the end it won’t matter much.
He has Twitter. Bow down to the awesomeness.
Being a fan of the underdog, I think Im quietly pulling for the separatist
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That’s funny. Russia as the underdog in this fight.
Good one. I should say all of the concern about Ukrainian NAZIS never seems to be matched by those who have it with an equal concern for those Russian NAZIS.
Euromaidan Press is lying?
http://euromaidanpress.com/2014/08/17/letter-to-the-president-of-ukraine-from-the-right-sector-military-political-movement/
Right Sector is lying on their own website?
http://pravyysektor.info/
112.UA is lying??
http://112.ua/politika/pravyy-sektor-grozit-poyti-marshem-na-kiev-esli-poroshenko-ne-provedet-chistku-v-ryadah-mvd-102771.html
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