A year ago the sporadic tragedies in Kyiv streets gave way to a catastrophe. In the middle of the day people started to be massively shot in the center of the capital, a situation which previously could be imagined only about historical films about the war. It seemed that history returned and made a maneuver, showing again what happens when its pages are ignored. On February 18, 2014 the Yanukovych regime was living its last days in power. That was an agony which took away tens of human lives and ended with a runaway of the head of the state.
However, a greater tragedy was waiting for us ahead. Unlike in 2004, this time the Kremlin was not going to concede, moreover, it was fueling the rebellion and waiting for the culmination in order to attack. And it did so – by annexing Crimea and occupying a part of the Donbas. But that is not all. Moscow is continuing its military aggression against Ukraine and is trying to seize more of Ukrainian territory and destroy the Ukrainian statehood.
What is going in the east is a logical consequence of the past events. The whole nation should be reproached by the fact that a former convict with a mania for enrichment became the president of the country. But was not that a result of the late 1990s? We are still in the web of cause-and-effect relationship, which like a vicious circle, forces us to some actions and inevitable losses.
The heroic drama at Debaltseve bridgehead has been unfolding for a month by now. A junction station, a strategic town has found itself in a very bad situation. The enemy has practically created a “sack” around our positions. But the Ukrainian army is keeping this bridgehead by all thinkable and unthinkable means, defending against the attacks in three directions. Even the Minsk agreements, before which the enemy wanted to seize Debaltseve, have not prevented the bandits from continuing their aggression. The DNR an LNR didn’t accomplish the promises they had given to Putin, in spite of the incredible forces that had been thrown against the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Even on the day of Minsk negotiations Russian tanks were crossing the border with Ukraine in order to help the terrorists.
The Russians are pursuing an Asian tactics: they don’t spare their people. The terrorists many times have made nonsensical attacks which resulted in heavy losses for them. Clearly, hurried by someone, the enemy is staking on the principle of winning with quantity. But even this frantic aggression has not helped the enemy to seize Volodymyr Sosiura’s home town. Debaltseve became the next advanced post of heroism and professionalism of Ukrainian servicemen after the Donetsk Airport. Over recent days the attacks of the enemy have become more systemic. By all appearances, it has gotten on to the target, using the systems of fire adjustment. Debaltseve is attacked by artillery fire from Alchevsk, Stakhaniv, Shakhtarsk, Makiivka, and Horlivka.
Andrii Tsapliienko reported on his Facebook page that the so-called “warriors of the Russian world with the shouts ‘Allahu Akbar!’ seized the police station and the railway station. However, the head of the chief department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Viacheslav Abroskin has recently stated that the policemen hadn’t been evacuated from Debaltseve. Yurii Kasianov reported: “Debaltseve is under siege. Practically no information is coming from there. There are no reasons for optimism. There is intense street fighting. The fortified centers near Chornukhyne have been surrounded. Lohvynove remains only a town on the map and in fact is a center of hell.”
Photo by Artem SLIPACHUK, The Day
The Spokesman of the Antiterrorist Operation, Colonel Andrii Lysenko in his turn admitted at a briefing that the situation in Debaltseve is intense and that our servicemen are under artillery fire of bandit formations. At the same time Lysenko noted, “The Ukrainian servicemen have repelled all the attacks. They have a fire control above Lohvynove and are partially controlling the Artemivsk-Debaltseve highway.” Adding that the enemy continues to accumulate forces, including weapons, Lysenko accused the Russian Federation of violating the Minsk accords.
The leader of the DNR bandits Pushylin is speaking of some “matter of honor,” which Debaltseve has become for him. So, the person who destroyed this and neighboring towns is speaking of honor now. Anyway, Debaltseve which used to be a strategic point has already turned into a symbol. However, this symbol is too dangerous, because it can turn into a terrible tragedy when people will get killed or taken prisoner.
There is a dilemma of how to withdraw the forces from Debaltseve and conserve strengths to continue the defense. A permanent resistance to the enemy under these circumstances won’t be successful, and it’s a matter of time when Ukrainian forces will recede from the positions. That is the reason why there is a need to broaden the territory of access either to reinforce the units, or help them retreat.
The deputy commander of the Kryvbas Battalion Yurii Sinkovsky demands the leadership to define: “I’m not panicking, but I am asking the General Headquarters and the Ministry of Defense to make a decision regarding Debaltseve and help our servicemen.” Volunteer Olha Holubeva stated: “The servicemen are asking why the OSCE has not arrived. There are dead and wounded, including civilians. The servicemen are asking for decisions, they won’t leave, unlike it happened in Ilovaisk. Besides, they need food and ammunition.”
“It depends on the military-political goals of Ukraine whether to leave Debaltseve bridgehead or not,” the leader of the group “Information Resistance” Kostiantyn Mashovets says. “Withdrawal of the troops is a tactical goal of technical character. Our units are leading military actions in Debaltseve, repelling the attacks. The situation is changing dynamically. The fact that the terrorists are not fulfilling the Minsk agreements has influenced the situation. Whether these agreements meet the current military situation is a question to the leadership of the country which made this decision. Of course, when you are tied by some agreements and have no right to apply the entire spectrum of military means, whereas the enemy does not feel any restrictions, firing with everything it has, your situation is disadvantageous a priori. At the moment our servicemen in the combat zone are receiving help. The general situation is tense.”
