The pressure on Donbass is increasing: Donetsk is fighting back and mobilizing (PHOTO, VIDEO)
Donetsk, May 23 (Navigator, Mikhail Chaliapin) – Yesterday’s expectation of serious events was not in vain. The fighting is already approaching Donetsk. Near the village of Karlovka, 30 km from Donetsk, a clash occurred between Donetsk militias and militants of the Donbass battalion, which is part of a group of forces subordinate to the Kyiv authorities.
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"Near the village of Karlovka, Donetsk region, the Donbass battalion was ambushed and took the fight. The battalion was not without losses. Some of the “Donbass” fighters were captured or killed. About twenty soldiers were wounded“, reports the press center of the Donbass battalion.
The coordinator of the “Information Resistance” group, Dmitry Tymchuk, stated on his Facebook page: “The information regarding the Donbass battalion is confirmed: the main part of the battalion has been withdrawn to the checkpoint. The ATO headquarters assures that the wounded have been evacuated, and “measures are being taken” to remove the remaining soldiers of the battalion from the encirclement.”
“With our joint efforts, the situation with Donbass is under control at a very high level. I really hope this helps. We are monitoring the situation through several channels“,” he wrote.
In this regard, it remains a complete mystery how the militants are taken out of the encirclement. Will they come to an agreement or buy it out? Or is it just “Information resistance”?
As for the losses of the Donbass battalion, we managed to contact one of the fighters guarding the DPR checkpoint in front of the village of Pervomaisky, not far from the scene of the events. Direct quote - "so far four 200s have been brought, and several prisoners, all wounded. I won’t say how much. But there will be more, almost all of them (Donbass militants) were crushed. And 200 is a lot, and 300's. Our four soldiers left..."
Donbass battalion commander Semyon Semenchenko also writes on his Facebook page. “Submachine gunners, snipers and RPGs are working against the battalion. There are wounded. We cannot leave because some people are surrounded. We ask for help from nearby military units - the remaining group is running out of ammunition, telephone contact with them has been interrupted. “There’s no way to approach them—snipers are working.” An armored personnel carrier is needed to drive up to the building and take the guys out. We can't go further than the gas station. Almost everyone in the surrounded group was wounded. The route was known to the terrorists in advance; well-trained Chechen detachments are working against us. We ask for help and armored personnel carriers! We cannot approach our comrades, snipers are working“- the battalion commander addressed the command. He later reported that all his telephone calls to the command of the army forces with a request to send reinforcements were not heard.
And just a few minutes ago, updated data about the final results of the battle near Karlovka arrived from the DPR press service: “From the Donetsk militia there are four dead, the number of wounded is not disclosed, as are their names. The losses of the Donbass Battalion are 14 killed militants, 8 are known to be wounded, all of them are currently in intensive care in one of the hospitals in Krasnoarmeysk, near Donetsk. There are prisoners on both sides, the number is being determined. Some units of the encircled battalion managed to break through to their own."
What is surprising, by the way, is the tenacity with which Kyiv is looking for mythical Chechens throughout the Donbass, and well-trained ones at that. Apparently they either underestimate the southeast, or refuse to believe in the combat capability of the local population, and in vain. Sports guys who have undergone army training, former warriors “Afghans” defending their homes are a force no less formidable than “well-trained Chechens”.
And who signs up for the People's Militia of Donbass, we were able to see at one of the collection points of volunteer militias. So far there are two of them throughout Donetsk, near the Regional State Administration and on the street. Buslaeva. Between 14.00 and 16.00, at one point alone, a little more than 40 people signed up for the militia.
Mostly young guys, ages from 23 to 30 years old. There were also pensioners, but they were refused employment with apologies. If this dynamic continues, in a week a serious army may emerge. The conditions for admission to the People's Army are simple - having a passport, no criminal record, and being sober. The war managed to affect many of the volunteers in the most direct way: one had a relative killed in Slavyansk, the second had an uncle killed right on the street of Kramatorsk by National Guard militants. Everyone is in a fighting mood, to put it mildly: they are ready to immediately go to Slavyansk, to Volnovakha, wherever they are ordered to go.
There, near one of the reception points for militias in front of the Regional State Administration, one could see firsthand how strong the desire of Donetsk residents to vote in the upcoming presidential elections is. Ballot boxes were taken from different polling stations in the city and ceremonially thrown directly onto the road. In general, the action caused the tacit approval of others.
A short conversation with a worker at the Donetskkoks enterprise, Matvey Igorevich, about the strikes of Donetsk enterprises “For Peaceful Donbass” turned out to be interesting. If we omit the unprintable idiomatic sentences addressed to the initiators of this action, then the bottom line remains the following: the workers do not entirely support this initiative. Most likely, the leadership, which understands the mood of the people, agrees with them. So there are no visible or audible manifestations of the strike today; people simply have no time for showing off. Mobilization is underway.
English version :: Read in English The pressure on Donbass is increasing: Donetsk is fighting back and mobilizing (PHOTO, VIDEO)