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Ukrainian forces take control of terrorist strongholds in the Donetsk region

Ukrainian forces take control of terrorist strongholds in the Donetsk region

7 July 2014

Ukraine’s armed forces reported they took control this weekend of the two largest strongholds of pro-Russian terrorists, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Terrorists began abandoning these cities the morning of July 5 at the orders of Igor Strelkov (Girkin), a Russian national who was among the leaders of takeover of Sloviansk, news reports said. Denis Pushilin, another separatist leader, acknowledged the surrender of Sloviansk on July 5, blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for failing to support the separatists. “What can I say. We were given hope. Given hope and then thrown aside. Putin’s words were nice on defending the Russian people, defending Novorossiya. But only words,” Pushilin tweeted. Photographs of heavy weapons and Russian uniforms discovered by journalists in Kramatorsk filled the Internet.

 

The government’s retaking control of Sloviansk has enormous symbolic significance though it’s not a complete victory, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a video-recorded address to the nation released on July 5. “It’s the beginning of a turning point in the struggle against fighters for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, for the return of normal life to Donbas, which is an inseparable part of our large, strong, European country,” Poroshenko said. He added, “I am very far from euphoria. The situation is very difficult. The terrorists are now entrenching themselves in large cities. Quite a number of challenges remain ahead. My order remains in place – reduce the circle around the terrorists and continue the operation to free the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”

 

The pro-Russian terrorists reportedly remain scattered through the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, while many have reportedly taken refuge in the regional centers. Shelling and shootings were reported in Luhansk (population 424,000) on July 6, causing fires at several factories and businesses, as well as air strikes on the city outskirts. Killings, injuries, auto theft and kidnappings were also reported by news agencies. The terrorists are hiding in residences in the Luhansk regions and setting up weapons systems in residential districts and even nurseries, said Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the information-analytical center of the National Security and Defense Council. In the town of Perevalsk in the Luhansk region, the terrorists are on the roofs of residential building and set up artillery in the town center, he reported.

 

More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered in the city center of Donetsk (population 950,000) on July 6 to express support for the separatists, reported the mayor’s web site. They urged local residents to join their ranks to fight the Ukrainian government forces. The same day, explosions were reported on the city of Donetsk’s outskirts, including in the vicinity of the airport. Semen Semenchenko, the commander of the Donbas battalion, reported firefights between Ukrainian soldiers, teamed up with the Donbas and Dnipro battalion volunteers, against the pro-Russian Vostok battalion in which “significant damage was inflicted on their soldiers and hardware,” including 20 deaths.

 

Ukraine’s Armed Forces will impose a total blockade on the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk in order to force the terrorists to surrender their arms, Mykhaylo Koval, the deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, told the Inter television network on July 6. They will not engage in any bombing of population centers, said on July 6 Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council. “The work from the air and with heavy artillery is being conducted only against the columns moving outside the cities or relocating between them,” Lysenko reported. “In the population centers themselves, it’s very responsible, and I would say, intricate work for our special forces.” The air strikes destroyed the tanks and artillery bases of the terrorists, he said.

 

The press center of the government’s anti-terrorist operation reported it has cleared the Donetsk towns of Artemivsk and Druzhkivka entirely of terrorists. In particular, they shot up the local prosecutor’s office in Artemivsk that served as the terrorists’ headquarters, local media reported on July 4. During the July 4 liberation of the Donetsk town of Mykolayivka, about 50 terrorists were captured while more than 150 hostages were freed, most of whom were women and children, reported the Ukrainian Presidential Administration press service. The terrorists were planning to use them as human shields, the press service said. About 50 terrorists were captured, some of them Russian citizens.

 

Pro-Russian terrorists have been terrorizing those Donetsk and Luhansk residents who participated in the May 25 presidential election, said on July 4 Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). “They are forced into labor by digging trenches for fighters,” he said. “If a person refuses the forced labor, they kill them or apply torture, while the children in these families are forcibly separated from their parents. After which tales and stories begin about some medical treatment in Russia or Crimea.”

 

About 20 Russian tanks and 122 units of Russian armored hardware were on the territory of the Luhansk Oblast as of the morning of July 4, reported Yuriy Stets, the director of the information security administration of the National Guard of Ukraine. Documents were found for one of these units. “It clearly displayed the emblem of Russia and instructions for a Russian military unit,” he said. “The information in it demonstrates that it’s not only separatist gangs, but Russian soldiers.”

 

The SBU has opened criminal investigations against Vladimir Kulishov, the head of the Russian Federation Border Service, reporting that he has been controlling the flow of arms and fighters across the border into Ukraine. SBU Head Nalyvaychenko demonstrated evidence at a July 4 press briefing, including photographs of Russian hardware with marks and stamps from the federal customs service of Russia.

 

The SBU is also conducting a criminal investigation of Russian journalist Dmitry Kiselyov for his alleged role in financing terrorism in Ukraine by allowing the Rossiya Segodnya news agency, which he directs, to serve as an intermediary for costs from the Russian state Sberbank, Nalyvaychenko said. The SBU will block those financial streams to the terrorists once it gains evidence, he said.

 

The SBU has been active in evicting Russian journalists from Ukraine for their anti-Ukrainian activity and information provocations in the interests of Russian special forces, said on July 5 deputy head Andriy Levus, as reported by the LigaBiznesInform news agency. “The biggest problem has been the LifeNews television network,” he said. “These aren’t journalists, aren’t mass media, but a real fighting subunit of informational special operations. Lies of such magnitude that it’s hard to comment. We find them and evict them. They’ve become more careful now in masking themselves.”

 

Zenon Zawada: The Ukrainian government earned a significant victory with the capture of Kramatorsk (population 163,000) and Sloviansk (117,000), two small-sized cities in the Donetsk region that are strategically important nevertheless. In particular, Sloviansk is located along a major transportation corridor. It was these two cities that were first captured by the pro-Russian forces in mid-April. It gives a particularly good impression that the cities were retaken just a few days after the new defense officials were appointed, including Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey and Joint Chiefs of Staff Head Viktor Muzhenko.

 

We expect the popularity of President Petro Poroshenko to improve after this weekend. We also expect boosted demand for the shares of GenCo Donbasenergo (DOEN UK), which has a key power plant in the town of Mykolayivka that has been freed of separatists (along with its neighboring city of Sloviansk).

 

As expected, the terrorists are hiding among the civilian population in Donetsk and Luhansk. The government is taking the correct approach in doing its best to avoid civilian casualties, which is what the terrorists are hoping for in order to turn the population against the Kyiv government. It’s our expectation that Ukraine’s armed forces will employ special forces that are trained for urban combat to weed out the remaining terrorists.

 

At the same time, we do not expect a lasting peace will come soon to the territories earlier occupied by the separatists, even once the military operation is declared a success. It will take enormous efforts by the central government to fully stabilize the region, prevent any guerilla attacks on infrastructure and terrorism against the peaceful population. Much will depend on the local authorities, we believe, who are yet to be appointed in the freed cities and districts.

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