Ukrainian military intelligence reports militants use the decrease of combat actions intensity to get more supplies of military equipment from Russia and restore combat capacities. New names of Russian commanders in charge of combat units in Donbas revealed.
Kyiv, May 6, 2016. Over the past week militants received 38 tanks, 14 combat armored vehicles, 12 artillery systems, 1750 tons of fuel and over 560 tons of ammunition. “Quantity of weaponry and military equipment brought to defined regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions from the Russian territory since January 1 are enough to form new hostile units,” said representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry Vadym Skibitsky at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
At the same time due to the Easter ceasefire intensity of attacks considerably decreased over the last week. Militants made 108 attacks. They used both small arms as well as 82-mm and 120-mm mortars. A total of 37 cases of Minsk agreements violations were registered in ATO zone as to withdrawal of weapons and military equipment. They include 65 tanks, over 58 artillery systems and self-propelled artillery systems as well as 20 units of 122-mm Grad.
Skibitsky said that a total of 10 flights of militant unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were registered over the past week. “Six of the UAVs – ‘Orlan-10’ and ‘Forpost’ of operational and technical level took off and landed on the territory of Russia,” noted Skibitsky. He said the launch of an unmanned aerial vehicle is possible only after respective order comes into the army corps from the Russian Center of territorial troops. Video materials based on flight results are immediately passed to the center for further processing. Intelligence is also registering the attempts of subversives of the 1st and 2nd army corps to get into the rear of ATO forces. “Such cases were thus registered near Avdiivka, Tryokhizbenka, Novohryhorivka, Vodyane, Nevelske, Krasnohorivka, Maryinka and Novomykhailivka. Hostile subversive and reconnaissance groups are using unmanned aerial vehicles (quadcopters) for throwing incendiary and highly explosive ordnance as well as antipersonnel mines into the rear of antiterrorist operation forces,” said Skibitsky.
He said militants are using ceasefire to restore their combat capacities. On May 5 representatives of the Center of territorial troops of the Southern military district arrived to conduct comprehensive checks upon the so-called 2nd army corps.
Ukrainian intelligence released another set of names of Russian servicemen who are commanding the actions of militants in Donbas. They are Commander of the Center of territorial troops of the Southern military district Colonel-General Andrey Serdyukov and Head of Staff Lieutenant-General Mikhail Teplinsky. Other commanders of the Center of territorial troops that are managing the 1st and 2nd army corps in Donbas are Deputy Commander of the Center of territorial troops Major-General Sergey Volik; Deputy commander on armament of the Center of territorial troops Colonel Aleksandr Khudyakov; Deputy commander on the rear Colonel Rafik Manukyan; Deputy commander of the Center of territorial troops on work with personnel Oleg Kanchura; Deputy Head of Staff of the Center of territorial troops Colonel Sergey Zemskov; Head of operative command – Deputy Head of Staff of the Center of territorial troops Colonel Ruslan Galitsky.
