Russia bolstering military presence in Donbas, Ukraine govt says
5 January 2015
The Russian government spent the New Year’s holiday bolstering its military presence in the Donbas region, according to reports from the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on Jan. 3 and 4. New soldiers have arrived from Russia and attempts have been made to establish a single coordinating center among terrorist groups in the Luhansk region, the Council reported.
Chechen fighters have arrived in the town of Zugres in the Donetsk region, reported on Jan. 5 Dmytro Tymchuk, the head of the Info Resist news site. An employee from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry has joined the fight alongside separatists, reported pravda.dn.ua on Jan. 3. The fighters, numbering about 120, identify themselves as volunteers and former employees of the Chechen Internal Affairs Ministry.
The Russian military supplied 45 armored vehicles, including tanks, to Ukraine’s Donbas region between Dec. 31 and Jan. 4, Tymchuk reported. During that time, 30 artillery units, as well as rapid-fire missile systems, were also transferred.
Luhansk separatists attacked eight times on Jan. 3 and the early morning of Jan. 4 the territory of the Luhansk region controlled by the Ukrainian government, reported on Jan. 4 Hennadiy Moskal, the head of the Luhansk State Oblast Administration. On New Year’s Day, one Ukrainian soldier was killed and five injured, reported Andriy Lysenko, an NSDC spokesman.
The increased terrorist activity and attempts to provoke the Armed Forces of Ukraine demand decisive action from Ukrainian forces in response, said on Jan. 4 Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine, as reported by the Ukrayinska Pravda news site. He called for the need to bolster measures to counteract terrorist threats when addressing the working group involving the directors of law enforcement agencies. He ordered the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to bolster border control to prevent contraband and the Anti-Terrorist Center to ensure that only registered trucks pass through border points.
About a thousand wounded separatist fighters who are Ukrainian citizens are receiving treatment in Russian hospitals, said Volodymyr Poleviy, an NSDC spokesman. He confirmed the verity of lists of injured soldiers that were made public by Russian activist Elena Vasiliyeva.
Zenon Zawada: The mountain of evidence continues to grow of the Russian government fueling the armed conflict in the Donbas region. We are surprised the conflict hasn’t escalated for several months now, instead being maintained at its current level, just barely below the attention of the global media.
We believe it’s part of Russian President Putin’s attrition warfare against Ukraine, which will continue in 2015. Yet the West has applied its own attrition warfare against Putin, which will also continue. Ukraine might end up in ruins, but not without taking Russia down with it.
