At the moment it is hard to know what is really going on. For example, Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin said Sunday that Peski, another critical site held by the Ukrainian military had been abandoned, while the militias were saying it was still in Ukrainian hands, albeit under the control of a volunteer unit.
(And aside from that, from what I can tell, both sides have commanders and military personalities who are consummate bullsh*t artists.)
Rozhin said that Ukrainian counterattacks were coming with some frequency from Opytnoye near a location called Putilov bridge, near Spartak, which is on the grounds of the airport. All Ukrainian counterattacks, so far, have been stopped by the combination of rebel tanks and infantry, supported by rebel artillery.
The rebels say they have the airport, all of the airport, as says the Donetsk president, his defense minister, and at least one military journalist.
[BLOOMBERG] Ukrainian government forces said they recaptured most of Donetsks airport yesterday after intense fighting over the strategically important site thats been a focus of combat since the conflict began last year.
Our forces managed to almost completely clear the territory of the airport, Ukrainian military front man Andriy Lysenko said in Kiev, adding that retaking the wrecked facility had been a massive operation. Donetsk rebels said heavy fighting was taking place but didnt mention the airports status in a posting on their website.
Four Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 32 were maimed, Lysenko said yesterday. He said the advance of troops at the airport doesnt violate the Minsk truce deal because Ukrainian forces cleared rebels from their side of the disengagement line.
The governments capture of the airport, following a week-long effort by separatists to take it over, rekindles the prospect of all-out war in the former Soviet republic. More than 4,800 people have died in the nine-month conflict, which has poisoned Russias ties with its former Cold War foes. Russia rejects accusations by Ukraine, the U.S., the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that its meddling in the conflict by sending troops and weapons.
Russia is very concerned with the resumption of full-scale fighting in Donetsk and the shelling of residential areas, RIA Novosti reported, citing President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...s front man, Dmitry Peskov.