The Battle for Novorussiya

[Lauren Johnson]

After things have settled down, Peski is still contended with back and forth fighting and Spartak has held out.

[Lauren Johnson]

A few more items from Fort Russ

OSCE is reporting heavy fighting

Not only did OSCE report heavy fighting using "forbidden weapons" (i.e., heavy artillery that was supposed to have been withdrawn) and counted over 1,000 shots from mortars and artillery pieces, it also pointed the finger at the Right Sector as the responsible party for initiating these fights. DPR units are suspending their training maneuvers and are assembling in preparation for the worst--the possibility of the resumption of full-scale fighting.

[B]DPR reports shooting down a Tochka-U short-range ballistic missile

According to the war correspondent Dmitriy Kotenok, the missile was launched from the vicinity of Kramatorsk, but failed to reach Donetsk as it was shot down above the city by an unspecified air defense system. The warhead's explosion was responsible for the extremely loud bang heard in Donetsk during the Easter night.

[B]Why the Donbass got rid of Strelkov
The author argues that Igor Strelkov [Girkin] never managed to secure the loyalty and support of the people of Donbass, largely because of his political ideas which harken back to the 19th century. In the words of the author, Aleksandr Chalenko, he is an old-school monarchist who views the October Revolution as something that destroyed the Russia that he still loves--a traditional, monarchist, tsarist, conservative one. But that outlook is severely at odds with the Donbass ethos, which is one of Soviet-era industrialization, "storming", Stakhanovites, and Five-Year Plans, where the nostalgia for the Tsarist era is simply non-existent. I would also argue there is an additional political dimension to Strelkov's ouster and de-facto exile--he is Novorossia's "world revolution" Trotsky, as compared to the more cautious (and more competent) Zakharchenko, who has a more Stalinist leadership style and outlook. [/B][/B]

[Lauren Johnson]

Here is a discussion of the near major catastrophe on 4/13 by Gleb Bazoff:

#VOSTOK BattalionBrief Commentary on the Battles at #Peski and #Spartak on Apr 13, 2015

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Brief Commentary on the Vostok Battalion and the Battles at Peski and Spartak on April 13, 2015

1. I stand by my assessment of the situation and the situation report I delivered earilerin their totality. The only caveat to this statement is that I have not disclosed in their entirety all the details of the defensive breakdown and the subsequent restoration of the status quo that I have since become aware of. The additional details paint a worse situation than I initially believed. I do not find it necessary to share them, and others have already done so in the Russian blogosphere. I am fully confident that the DPR leadership and the NAF command have since addressed or are in the process of rectifying the shortcomings that became apparent in the course of the battles on April 13, 2015.

2. My assessment of the situation includes my comments about Vostok Battalion's defensive breakdown and withdrawal from their positions at Peski and Spartak, and I stand by them. A lot goes into my situation reportsmuch more than may be immediately apparent. The information I present to my readers , particularly controversial information, gets thoroughly tested against available sources and undergoes my own version of the Occam's razor analysis and holistic assessment. If I present information, it comes from sources I trust and have found to be reliable over time.

3. Preempting the most likely criticism, I note that I do not have an agenda against the Vostok Battalion, but I do, in fact, have an opinion about the Vostok Battalion leadership. The difference between an "agenda" and a negative "opinion" is in the approach to criticism. I do not go out of my way to assail the Vostok Battalion or besmirch its reputation; however, nothing will ever prevent me from speaking about the quality of their leadership whenever their commanders make grave errors, such as what happened on April 13, 2015. This is the real difference between an agenda and an opinion. You will find that it has been months, and certainly weeks, since I made any comment about the Vostok Battalionnegative or positive.

4. While I have nothing but respect for the servicemen of the Vostok Battalion, I lack any respect for the unit's leadership, and, specifically, for Khodakovskiy. He has proven himself to be duplicitous, an inept commander who led his fledgling unit to the first real defeat of the NAF at the Donetsk Airport in May 2014, where 36 fresh, untested, Russian volunteers were killed, possibly even by friendly fire as they were being evacuated, in a poorly planned and executed attack on Ukrainian positions.

5. Since then, there have been plenty instances of Khodakovskiy's strategic and tactical blunders, as well as several situations where the Vostok Battalion abandoned its positions, leading to defensive breakdowns. The latest memorable instance was in January, where Vostok's withdrawal from positions at Spartak and Peski almost led to a Ukrainian breakthrough that was thankfully repulsed by the NAF. I attribute these issues not to the quality of Vostok's soldiers, but to its poor leadership. In fact, there is a lot of reason to believe that Khodakovskiy was involved in the planned surrender of Donetsk that was averted only by Strelkov's arrival from Slavyansk with his brigade last summer. Khodakovskiy is propped and remains in command largerly because a lot of private funding and supply sources from Russia (including through Kurginyan's organization) are tied to him. He is, for that reason, difficult to remove.

6. Finally, I am not the only commentator that offered serious criticism about the handling of the situation at Peski and Spartak on April 13, 2015. Colonel Cassad, Militiaman Zhuchkovskiy, El Murid, Eduard the Communist, and others share my assessment in whole or in part, and offered similar situation reports at the time.

7. Finally, with respect to the DPR/NAF leadership's and Givi's comments about what happened. While I fully respect their desire to demonstrate their support for the Vostok Battalion, their statements, in my opinion, are damage control. War is all about morale that is often propped up by necessary deception. I would be surprised if the DPR/NAF command came out with harsh criticism of Khodakovskiy at this critical juncture. However, I have a different opinion of what needs to be done.

EDIT: Givi's alternative statement

[Lauren Johnson]

Ukrainian fighters from a nationalist voluntary regiment "Azov" sent a video of an execution of a Novorossia fighter to militia fighters and hackers from "Cyberberkut".

"According to the authors of this video, the footage was filmed near the village of Shirokino, and "all the separatists, traitors of Ukraine and militia fighters will be treated the same", - "Cyberberkut" quoted the message from "Azov".

The footage shows how several punishers tied their victim to the cross, stuck the cross into the ground, and set fire to the wooden structure.

"This will not add fear neither to us nor the Armed Forces of Novorossia: we have already experienced too much in this life! But after this hardly anyone will capture "Azov" members alive" - responded the hackers to the atrocities of the security forces.
The authenticity of the video is not yet reliably confirmed. No official statements were made by the authorities of DPR.

[EDIT: There has been a lot of discussion of this on Twitter amongst reliable persons. Typical opinion is that whether this was staged by Azov or an actual murder, the intent was to terrify its intended audience.]

"Azov" is one of the most infamous units of the Ukrainian National Guard, was formed as a battalion, in the fall expanded to a regiment. The unit consists of staunch nationalists - Ukrainian and mercenaries from other countries. The regiment uses the symbols of SS of Nazi Germany on its flag. Atrocities, harassment and war crimes of "Azov" fighters against the civilian population were repeatedly reported. Based in Mariupol.

[Magda Hassan]

How does this make them any different to the vile ISIS or what ever their nom de jour is today? Disgusting. Dishonourable.

[Lauren Johnson]

How does this make them any different to the vile ISIS or what ever their nom de jour is today? Disgusting. Dishonourable.

10-4.

BTW, Col. Cassad admits he can't prove it, but that is probably not a fake.

[Magda Hassan]

I see some Ukrainian tank ran over a car full of Azov 'soldiers' Even they don't like them.

[Lauren Johnson]

I see some Ukrainian tank ran over a car full of Azov 'soldiers' Even they don't like them.

Along these lines, here's pretty good tweet:

Graham W Phillips retweeted

Gracchus Babeuf ‏@GBabeuf 2h2 hours ago
Gracchus Babeuf retweeted TASS
Take out your own trash.
Gracchus Babeuf added,
TASS @tassagency_enUkrainian Army commanders asking Donbass self-defence to open fire at Azov battalion http://tass.ru/en/world/791796

[Lauren Johnson]

Most of the attacks on the NAF forces have been done to assess their defensive positions. Most of their troops have been moved into position along with their heavy armaments -- in violation of the Minsk II accords. The UAF is now ready to begin their offensive. The NAF has announced bringing forward all their heavy weapons.

[Magda Hassan]

I see some Ukrainian tank ran over a car full of Azov 'soldiers' Even they don't like them.

Along these lines, here's pretty good tweet:

Graham W Phillips retweeted

Gracchus Babeuf ‏@GBabeuf 2h2 hours ago
Gracchus Babeuf retweeted TASS
Take out your own trash.
Gracchus Babeuf added,TASS @tassagency_enUkrainian Army commanders asking Donbass self-defence to open fire at Azov battalion http://tass.ru/en/world/791796

::

I seem to recall earlier in this coup that the US or EU were sending some driving instructors to Ukraine. Which I thought odd at the time. I'm pleased it has been put to good use after all.