Will Ukraine attack Donbass?
According to Mr. Eduard Basurin, on December 14, the Ukrainian government army will launch an attack on Donbass with heavy weapons.
The statement by Mr. Eduard Basurin, Deputy Commander of the Special Operations Forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), was made based on intelligence sources and Kiev's continuous movement of troops and heavy weapons in the southeast of Donetsk province.
The DPR commander predicted that Kiev would most likely launch an offensive on December 14. DPR combat forces have obtained evidence that Ukraine will take control of the Novoazovs and Telmanovsk regions and then move towards the border with Russia.
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The Ukrainian army mobilized the Smerch rocket artillery unit. |
Mr. Basurin revealed: "On the border line in areas such as Novotroitskoye, Shyrokyne, Rovnopol, Ukraine is concentrating a main attack group, with a force of up to 12,000 people. More than 50 tanks, 40 multiple launch rocket systems, 180 guns and mortars have also been mobilized to this area."
In particular, Ukrainian forces also brought many Smerch heavy rocket artillery systems to the southern Donetsk region, and this could be the main weapon the Ukrainian army used when launching attacks on DPR forces.
According to this commander's prediction, on the morning of December 14, after the Ukrainian army completes preparations in terms of forces and equipment, units of the 128th and 79th Brigades at the front line will begin to attack, with the mission of reaching DPR territory on December 15.
Meanwhile, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported that before being accused of amassing weapons and preparing for a new attack, in late November 2018, the Ukrainian Army used heavy weapons to fire on residential areas controlled by the DPR. The shelling began at around 11:00 p.m. on November 25 (local time). The situation was then completely controlled by the DPR forces. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but many facilities were severely damaged.
The number of attacks by the Ukrainian army in the Donbass region increased after weapons were transported from Poland to Ukraine. Mr. Basurin said that in mid-November 2018, a Polish company supplied Kiev with more than 23,000 60mm mortar shells and confirmed that Ukrainian forces in Donbass would receive these ammunition in the near future.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in 2014, when the government launched a military campaign against separatist authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk, while these two authorities refused to recognize the new government formed after the coup in Kiev in February of the same year.
