By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
As Ukrainian artillery units continue shelling Donetsk and Lugansk, a separate pro Russian militia force has opened a new attack on the southern coast of Ukraina, according to news reports.
The offensive came about, according to pro Russian Voice of Sevastopol, because militia units found that significant gaps in the southern line held by Ukrainian force existed, owing to the fact that the Ukrainian military had stripped those defenses and threw them into the fight for such locations as Ilovaisk and Krasnii Luch further north, where the Ukrainian command were trying to force a quick decision and start an encirclement of Donetsk, the main prize in the war between Ukraina and the pro Russian militias.
Russian military units had been shelling the coastal town of Novoazovsk since Saturday and have since attempted to probe into the town. The significance of the move cannot be overstated. Novoazovsk is less than 15 kilometers east from the port city of Mariupol, still under Ukrainian control, but, according to militia news sources, poorly defended.
Reports also state that gunfire had been exchanged between militia and Ukrainian forces at the airport near Mariupol, and that militia forces were actively conducting operations near Yelenovka and the settlement Dolya , where militias claim to have destroyed a Ukrainian checkpoint.
Official Ukrainian sources say the Russians are violating the border in the area with armor vehicles. It is claimed that six Russian tanks out of 30 were destroyed by Ukrainian forces. The Ukrainian ATO Press Center said that two tanks were destroyed and an undisclosed number of pro Russian militia were captured. The Press Center also said that the Ukrainian military have deployed a blocking force, presumably along the road between Mariupol and Novoazovsk.
The ATO also said on their Facebook page that a total of 12 BMD infantry fighting vehicles were destroyed by Ukrainian tanks in the initial attack conducted by pro Russian militia Sunday north of Novoazovsk. Eight dismounted paratroopers of that unit were captured. The Ukrainians maintain that the destroyed armored group are Russian regular troops.
A Youtube video posted by the ATO Press Center said the captured paratroopers are from the Russian 98th Guards Airborne Division, 331st Airborne Regiment.
According to another announcement by pro Russian militia in Donetsk, Donetsk military have brigaded their small military units and have coupled them with artillery fire support, yielding a total of three combat brigades. According to information, a separate volunteer regiment consisting of Ukrainian military deserters and Donbass miners also have been formed.
The new conglomeration is likely to very troubling for the Ukrainian military trying to encircle the city of Donetsk with a total of 6,000 troops. The total of the four new formations is 7,000 effective, sufficient to defend the Donetsk region from assault.
In Donetsk, artillery fire continues. Artillery strikes were reported in the Leninski, Kalininsky, at the Kalinin hospital and in the village of Kirovskoye. The Ukrainian ATO Press Center said that it is pro Russian militia which are responsible for the artillery strikes.
At the moment pro Russian militia claim they have a large group of Ukrainian military formations surrounded in areas east of Donetsk, totaling by their count 7,000 effectives. The units in the "cauldron", dubbed "Cauldron 3.0", included 8th Army Corps headquarters troops, 95th Airmobile Brigade, 28th and 30th Mechanized brigades, as well as police battalions "Aydar", "Shahtyorsk" and "Donbass". It is easy to discount such claims when initially made except the pro Russian militias have been claiming the creation of the pocket for several days.
It is said that at least some top police commanders in the region have refused orders from Ukrainian army command.
Chris Covert writes news for Rantburg.com