Photo by Ukrainian Military, November 2017
Ukraine Day 1380: LIVE UPDATES BELOW. One Ukrainian soldier was injured in battle.
Yesterday’s coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine
Russia-backed forces violated the ceasefire 12 times, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing the ATO [Anti-Terrorist Operation]
The Lugansk line has been the target of many attacks, notably at the Svetlodarsk Buldge in the area of two towns said to be taken over by Ukrainian forces.
These attacks had the effect of disrupting a visit by OSCE Special Monitoring Mission monitors in an effort of “discreditation” of the Ukrainian military, said the ATO in a statement (translation by The Interpreter):
“Shelling since morning of the approaches to the defensive strongholds of Ukrainian defenders by mortar-launchers, grenade-launchers, small arms and an armed BMP between the population centers of Zaytsevo and Gladosovo by unlawful armed formations disrupted the visit of the OSCE SMM monitors and representatives of the UN mission, which had planned to conducted monitoring of the humanitarian situation in Travnevo and Gladosovo”.
Militants also attacked Luganskoye and Lozovoye with 120-mm mortars and used an armed BMP to attack Svetlodarsk.
There was also an anti-tank missile system fired on the approaches to Orekhovoye and small arms were fired at Schastye.
On the Donetsk line, militants fired grenade-launchers near Verkhnyetoretskoye and Vodyanoye, and Avdeyevka and Krasnogorovka were attacked with light infantry weapons.
Militants are preventing the finding and retrieval of a soldier killed in battle “near Kadem, Golmovskoye, Gladosovo and Travnevoye” said the Ukrainian side of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination.
In the previous reporting period, there were 22 attacks and one Ukrainian soldier was concussed, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
Most of the attacks with light infantry weapons were on the Lugansk line on Lozovoye, Tryokhizbenka and Krmskoye as well as Luganskoye, Lobachevskoye, Lopaskinoye and Zaytsevo.
Malinovoye, Mayskoye, Zhyoltoye, Novoaleksandrovka and Stanitsa Luganskaya were also attacked with heavy machine guns and small arms.
On the Donetsk line, Vodyanoye and Gnutovo were attacked with grenade launchers and 120-mm mortars and an armed BMP were used near Pavlopol. Avdeyevka and Kamenka were shelled.
Light infantry weapons and heavy machine guns were fired near Maryinka and Krasnogorovka on the Maritime line.
Ukrainian forces returned fire 13 times.
The ATO said that in battles this past week (Nov. 20-26), they had killed 34 Russia-backed forces and wounded 22 of them.
The self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” did not confirm the number of casualties given, but Eduard Basurin, deputy commander of the DNR forces did report one DNR fighter killed on November 25.
The DNR command also said there were “six Georgian mercenaries” fighting on the side of Kiev that were wounded in battle by friendly fire in the village of Travenevoye.
They also said Ukrainian forces violated the ceasefire 26 times.
Since the start of the “school ceasefire” August 25, DNR representative Ruslan Yakubov said five people had been killed and 18 wounded, and 142 homes had been damaged.
Darya Morozova, the human rights ombudsperson of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” complained about the humanitarian situation in Travenevoye and Gladosovo but did not provide details.
She expressed confidence that POWs would be exchanged with Kiev by the end of the year.
In other news, the Kiev prosecutor sent to court the case of the murder of journalist Oles Buzina, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
Andrei Medvedko and Denis Polishchuk have been charged with the 2015 murder.
Transparency International has reported on five routes for contraband to reach occupied areas of Donetsk and Lugansk.
Food, medicine, electronic gadgets, textiles and drugs make their way into the “people’s republics” though:
1) automobile checkpoints, via illegal deals with personnel guarding them
2) humanitarian logistics centers where goods are supposed to be sold retail, but instead are sold wholesale;
3) through railroad checkpoints, also with illegal arrangements
4) outside defined road corridors
5) through “disrupted transit” — where a hauler has permission to move goods through Russia to third countries but instead changes the route and goes through the Donbass.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
Note: The Interpreter has lost its funding!
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