2 Ukrainian troops killed in fresh scuffles with pro-Russia forces

[tfcrew]

The latest outburst of fighting with pro-Russia forces has claimed the lives of two Ukrainian servicemen in the country’s volatile eastern area.
Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said the soldiers were killed on Friday amid renewed clashes along the frontline with the territory held by the pro-Russians.
The deaths were the first Ukrainian losses for nearly two weeks.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/01/28/508064/Ukraine-Russia-Lugansk

[JayH]

The situation in eastern Ukraine is approaching a critical time.The considerable uncertainty created with a new President and which way he will jump ( in relation to Ukraine vs Russia)  has Ukrainians on edge.

The article linked is a good summary of the on the ground front line issues as it stands today.
Important to note -the area referred to specifically here was deemed Ukrainian under the Minsk accords

Anxious Ukraine Risks Escalation In 'Creeping Offensive'

Frustrated by the stalemate in this 33-month war of attrition, concerned that Western support is waning, and sensing that U.S. President Donald Trump could cut Kyiv out of any peace negotiations as he tries to improve fraught relations with Moscow, Ukrainian forces anxious to show their newfound strength have gone on what many here are calling a "creeping offensive."

Observers say the Ukrainians appear to be trying to create new facts on the ground, while officials and commanders insist they are fighting to stop the flow of contraband into separatist-controlled territories and fending off attempts by separatist groups that call themselves the Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics" to seize more territory.

http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-creeping-offensive-escalation-fighting/28268104.html

[JayH]

Ukrainian government is preparing to evacuate over 12,000 civilians as  the humanitarian crisis continues.


Tension High In Eastern Ukraine As Kremlin, Kyiv Trade Blame
Tension is high in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between government troops and Russia-backed separatists has flared over the past three days.

The sides traded blame on January 31 for a surge in hostilities around the government-controlled town of Avdiyivka that has led to the highest casualty toll since mid-December.

http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-avdiyivka-fighting-shelling-russia-tensions/28269587.html

[JayH]

  Recent history shows that every time any negotiations are in the wind that Russia will attempt to bring pressure on all concerned-- by increasing the intensity   & scope of  the attacks in Ukraine.If anyone needs the dots connected as to why-- please ask!
“The Ukrainian leadership perfectly understands that Russia with the help of a Special status for Donbas and an amnesty for the militants is attempting to undermine Ukraine’s very existence. The Kremlin’s only accessible arguments are only to strengthen the attacks, escalate the conflict, and blackmail us with our prisoners who it stubbornly refuses to exchange. This creates additional tension within the country and they in Russia believe that sooner or later it will reach a critical point,”  Sazonov writes.

I have commented over the last year of the improvement of Ukraine's military -- who are better equipped and trained than just a few years ago.

The human loss of life of  civilians and Ukrainian military is  tragic . What has happened in these current battles is that the Russian forces have lost really significant numbers killed and even more wounded.Some reports are saying over 250 dead.
The Russians have reacted here -- and are using an 'at any cost" strategy in the attempt to recover lost ground.
Reports of very poor morale are rampant. It is no longer a secret in Russia that troops are being sent to Ukraine to conduct  a war in Ukraine -- and many Russian military are not happy about it. It seems they are even less happy when there and facing the very real issues. Russia have tried to use a  short rotation policy to avoid that loss of morale --but reports are saying that is not working.


Ukraine has started a humanitarian rescue operation, observers are speculating on the  Avdiivka escalation and the call between Putin and Trump which took place hours before the first attacks.  A look into why the attacks took place in this specific location.

Why Avdiivka is the most vulnerable spot for the Russian-separatist army in Ukraine

The small town of Avdiivka near Donetsk had become a hotspot in Donbas starting from late February 2016. Artillery salvos and battles of differing intensity don’t cease there even for a few days. The fighting mainly concerns not the city itself or the huge coke factory, but the so-called Promzona on Avdiivka’s outskirts, which borders the road leading from Donetsk to Horlivka. This is where fighting escalated on 29 January 2017, when starting from 4AM the Russian-separatist forces massively shelled the positions of the Ukrainian army, after which assault groups of militants attacked two Ukrainian army strongholds. This attack was repelled, the Ukrainian forces took another position in the Promzona, after which more artillery strikes on Ukrainian positions followed.

Both sides name attempts of the enemy to violate the Minsk agreements prior to the meeting of the Trilateral contact group that was set to take place on 1 February.

http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/02/02/why-avdiivka-is-the-weakest-point-russia-ukraine-donbas/#arvlbdata

[JayH]

In case anyone here is unaware of the ongoing disgusting actions of Russia  in Ukraine here is an update-just a few days old.

Human Shields in Donetsk: Launching Grads near a Residential Area


On 31 January 2017, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine recorded the up to now highest number of explosions in the war in Eastern Ukraine. The current hotspot of the fighting, which has led to numerous civilian and military casualties, is the area between Adviivka, controlled by Ukraine, and Yasynuvata, controlled by the so-called “DNR” (Donetsk People’s Republic). The current events mark a new peak in the fighting in this warming winter (1 / 2). The press center of the Ukrainian “Anti-Terrorist Operation” reported that at least 100 Grad rockets were fired by combined Russian-separatists forces in the Donetsk sector on January 31. As this report will demonstrate, recently uploaded videos show least half of these rocket launches, which have been geolocated to a residential sector in eastern Donetsk. Recent satellite imagery and witness accounts confirm the geolocation, revealing the firing locations for Russian-separatist Grad launches.

http://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2017/02/02/human-shields-in-donetsk-launching-grads-near-a-residential-area/

[JohnDearGreen]

Givi's Somalia battalion had losses of 40% in last few days


http://glavpost.com/post/31jan2017/Army/112081-megakomandir-givi-nakryl-sobstvennoy-artilleriey-svoi-zhe-pozicii-40-batalona-somali-unichtozheno.html