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Updated: A spokesman for the rebel Battalion "Vostok" said today that their units were not involved in the figthing in Marinka. Reference to Vostok Battalion removed.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A late night Tuesday attack by rebel units on the western Donetsk city suburb of Markinka was driven back with losses for the rebels said to be "heavy", according to Russian language news accounts.
Russian military journalist and analyst Boris Rozhin said on his Live Journal blog that losses for the rebels in the area were heavy with at least 14 killed in action (KIA) and about 90 wounded.
A news account on tsensor.net, a pro Ukrainian news website said that KIAs for the Ukrainian amounted to one, with wounded totaling 19. Rozhin disputed that number, but did not venture a guess as to his estimate of Ukrainian KIAs.
Rebel officials deny the fighting in Marinka was an attack, saying the action was intended as a response to near constant Ukrainian artillery fire on civilians in rebel areas.
According to a news account on tsensor.net by Yuri Butusov, the rebel attack including elements of the Donetsk "Somaliya"and "Ryazhan" battalions, struck Ukrainian positions at Marinka, Krasnogorovka and another locality at around 0410 hrs. The positions were held by the Ukrainian 28th Mechanized Brigade "Odessa".
According to Butusov, rebels used tanks and troops classified as assault troops supported by artillery on positions of the brigade's 2nd Battalion, using heavy artillery fire support including 122mm and 152mm artillery.
When the attack hit it was strong enough to eject one rifle platoon from its positions, forcing it into a tactical retreat, but attempts by rebel troops to press further to the west were stopped by relief forces of the brigade's 1st Battalion.
Another Ukrainian volunteer unit deployed to the area was hit by the rebel attack, the "Kiev-1" battalion. Rebels claim this unit simply broke.
Rebel reconnaissance units attempted to filter further west supported by heavy artillery fire, but were stopped by Ukrainian artillery counterfire.
The brigade's commander, Colonel Leszczynski, in response to the attack, also brought forward two self propelled artillery batteries, one rocket artillery battery, as well as elements of the brigades tank battalion.
According to other reports, rebel forces involved in the attack also used rocket artillery to such an effect that parts of Marinka were set alight.
According to a post by Rozhin, rebel tanks units occupied Ukrainian positions within an hour of the start of the attack, and held those positions until the Ukrainian relief forces, on a road march from Kurakhovo, closed in on their positions.
It was then that rebel tanks closed on the Ukrainian column, a battle took place and rebel forces withdrew from Marinka.
Rozhin remarked that Ukrainian KIAs may have been as high as 40.
According to remarks by Donetsk Ministry of Defense spokesman Lt. Colonel Eduard Basurin, the attack was in response to Ukrainian shelling of rebel controlled mines, presumably to mean the rebel attacks were spoiling attacks, pressed as a response to Ukrainian artillery fire on civilian occupied areas.
According to the latest reports, the Ukrainians are saying the situation in Marinka has been restored with no loss of territory to rebel forces.
Fighting near Mariupol
Exchange of artillery and direct fire weapons continued between the two combatants around the Sea of Azov port of Mariupol, especially near Shirokino and points north.
According to rebel reports, on Tuesday Ukrainian rocket artillery struck rebel positions near Shirokino, Berdyanskoye and near Sakhanka to the north. Rebels say Ukrainian artillery units deployed at Talakovka fired the artillery.
Rebel media also said that Ukrainian artillery at Mariupol itself hit rebel targets at Dzerzhinskoye Tuesday afternoon. The village was emptied as residents left to find shelter.
Ukrainian media claimed that rebel 152mm artillery hit Ukrainian troops clinging to the western sectors of Shirokino Wednesday evening.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com and on Twitter. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.