After sustained defensive combat against Ukrainian troops in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk during August, rebels are now reporting of entrapping two large groups of Kiev troops and seizing military hardware in a counteroffensive.
The main headquarters of the DPR army has made a decision to stop operations in small groups and form full-bodied independent military units, the anti-Kiev forces say in a summary of their operations filed on Sunday.
They also say they are blocking a large “punitive force” near Alekseevskoe, Blagodatnoe, Voykovsky, Kuteinikovo, Ulyanovskoe and Uspenka.
Some 5,000 Kiev troops “with military hardware” including some 50 tanks, over 200 armored vehicles and 50 artillery rocket systems (including Grad) are trapped in the area, the DPR claims.
Over the last two days, the self-defense forces say they have captured a lot of military hardware. This has reportedly helped them get 2 tank battalions, 3 multiple launcher rocket system batteries, 2 self-propelled howitzer batteries, 3 cannon battalions of various calibers and 8 mortar batteries.
All the new subunits have joined the newly formed fighting force, the rebels said.
Three infantry brigades will be organized from the existing detachments of self-defense militia, the document reads. A new volunteer regiment has also been formed consisting of miners from the Donbass region and soldiers and officers from the Ukrainian army, who have opted to side with the People’s Republic of Donetsk.
The DPR army has also reportedly “liberated” a number of communities such as Agronomicheskoe, Klenovka and Stroitel from the Ukrainian troops’ and National Guards’ “punitive detachments”.
Source: Russia Today 24-08-2014
