Dmitry Tymchuk’s Military Blog: Summary – August 20, 2014

byVoices of Ukraine

21/08/2014

3 minute read

Brothers and sisters!

Here’s the Summary for August 20, 2014 (for previous summary, please see Summary for August 19).

The bad news:

1. “Humanitarian aid” from Russia is nonetheless entering into Ukraine–the last report was that the first group of trucks have entered into the transit zone of the Russian checkpoint of “Donetsk.” The National Security and Defense Council [NSDC] reported that Ukrainian customs and border control guards will start inspection and clearance of cargo “not earlier than Thursday.”

What abomination to expect from this special operation of the Kremlin’s–is anyone’s guess. Moscow still failed to explain any “water-salt” contents of the cargo and the method of withdrawal of its transport back to Russia. Nor have we heard any clear commentary on this “aid” from the Red Cross. A lot of questions and bad forebodings.

Editor’s note: recent reports say that the first 8 white trucks have crossed the border into Ukraine now. Photo: Andrew Roth, NYT Moscow Bureau tweet.

2. The Adviser to the Interior Minister A. [Anton] Gerashchenko said that the Ministry of Defense delays the issuing of heavy weapons for the Specialized Battalions of the Ministry of the Interior, whereas the latter “take the fight to the terrorists armed with Grads, canons, armored vehicles, [thus] assisting our Armed Forces.”

We clarified this situation for ourselves back in June. The Defense Ministry explained to us that for arms transfers to another agency, there is a statutory procedure, and such issues are not resolved in [only] two days. In what kind of time period is it possible to resolve this issue–we were unable to find out.

At the same time, the General Staff, in informal conversations, are of the opinion that the Specialized Battalions of the Ministry for the Interior should not operate as assault units by definition, because that’s what the army is for. And the Interior Ministry units must comply with the relevant tasks–to carry out the clearing of settlements and restore law and order in the liberated territories.

This may well be so, but it is necessary to ensure an ideal interaction between the divisions and the units of the Interior Ministry and the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] so that every man does only his job–in particular, so that the army [can] promptly destroy any heavy equipment in the path of these same Specialized Battalions. Which, unfortunately, we do not see. So, there is one of two things remaining–either solve the problem with interaction or arm the Specialized Battalions with heavy weapons.

3. The territories controlled by the insurgents in Donbas finally plunged into an abyss of lawlessness – from terrorists thriving by looting.

According to our data, in cities occupied by terrorists, residents are trying to sell movable property for a pittance, which the fighters for Putin’s idea did not have time to “squeeze out” [from them]. A decent car can be bought from the owner for 1-2,000 Hryvnias [USD $75.50–151]. However, for a “squeezed” auto, terrorists can give a couple of cartons of cigarettes. What a sad picture of the “Russian world” …

The good news:

1. A significant part of Luhansk is under the control of our forces, the freeing of Donetsk is underway as well.

I distinguish these two red dots on the ATO [anti-terrorist operation] map for one reason: the liberation of these two towns has a huge, so to speak, military and political meaning in the context of the conflict in Donbas. Since their liberation will be a major blow to Putin’s project of “Novorossiya” [New Russia], it’s two nails with one blow in the lid of a double coffin for the DNR and LNR [Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics]. I have no doubt about the fact that this will soon happen.

Dmitry Tymchuk, Coordinator, Information Resistance
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

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January 3 – No Ukrainian military have died; one was wounded in the ATO area in the last 24 hours, – informed NSDC spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

January 3 – Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement that Foreign Ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France insist on urgent meeting of the Contact Group to resolve the situation in Donbas.

January 3 – The lowest price for WTI and Brent oil in the last 5.5 years was recorded on Saturday.

January 3 – More military from the Russian Federation have been arriving in Luhansk region; attempts are being made to establish a single operations center over all terrorist groups of Luhansk region, – stated NSDC spokesman Andriy Lysenko – the National Security Council spokesman Andrei Lysenko.

January 3 – At night and in the morning the terrorists were attacking the positions held by "Azov" regiment near the village of Telmanove, attempting a breakthrough.

January 3 – One of the main priorities for 2015 is a high-principled, consistent and effective fight against corruption, – said the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko during his meeting with Giovanni Kessler, Director-General of European Anti-Fraud Office.

January 3 – Travel for citizens across frontline in the ATO area will be restricted significantly – 7 transport corridors will be created and all other transport ways will be blocked, stated NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov (similarly to Gaza and Israel). According to Turchynov, movement restrictions in the ATO area are being implemented in order to carry out comprehensive counter-terrorist activity. All vehicles and individuals will be meticulously checked.

January 3 – Part of the strategy of RF President Volodymyr Putin regarding the Ukrainian conflict is "unquestionably, also the attempt to influence public opinion in Russia itself, in Ukraine, and in Germany – including using the assistance of propaganda and the manipulation of thoughts."

This was stated by the Head of the Committee of Foreign Affairs of the Bundestag, the deputy from the Christian-Democratic Union, Norbert Rettgen, in an interview in the publication Tagesspiegel. In view of this, he urged all to be more careful in having to deal with such acts of Kremlin. "We in Germany, have not even begun a discussion regarding this propaganda, much less even to consider our reply," noted the Head of the Bundestag Committee. The German politician turned attention to the fact that journalists of the public tv-radio companies of the Federal Republic of Germany, "who work on the materials from Eastern Ukraine and directly talk about the participation of Russia in events there", are under enormous pressure. This needs to be talked about, believes Rettgen. "When there exists an awareness of this hidden, organized influence on public thought, it ceases to attain its function," said he.

Savchenko on day 21 of hunger strike

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