Russian troops are not only refusing to draw back from their positions along the border with Ukraine but their numbers continue to grow, Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said at a briefing in Kyiv on July 21. Russia furthermore has not ceased firing at Ukrainian positions from the Russian side of the border and supplying military hardware, the Defense Ministry notes.
“More than 100 units arrived in [Russia’s] Rostov oblast today. Every day their numbers increase,” Lysenko said. He did not reveal the origin of the reports.
In addition, he said there have been no signs of Russia attempting to facilitate an end to the conflict.
“Since [the Malaysia Airlines disaster of July 17 in which 298 people perished], Russia has not tried even once to stop arming the terrorists. It continues to supply them with arms,” he said.
According to Kyiv-based military expert Dmitry Tymchuk, over the course of July 20 Ukrainian forces positioned in Donetsk oblast near the border with Russia were targeted four times by Russian troops with mortars and mobile artillery. The attacks reportedly came from the territory of Russia’s Rostov oblast. A day earlier, on July 19, Ukrainian airborne troops were fired upon from Rostov Oblast in Russia three times, according to the Defense Ministry: with artillery fire at 1:45 p.m., grenade launchers at 4:30 p.m. and Grad multiple-rocket launchers at 4:45 p.m.
Of the 30 checkpoints in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts in eastern Ukraine, only 17 are operational, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has reported.
Ukrainian forces gaining ground
Commenting on recent developments in the government’s antiterrorism operation to drive Russian-backed guerrillas out of Ukraine’s east, Lysenko said the Ukrainian military continues to gain ground.
“In the last month and a half, the territory controlled by the terrorists has shrunk two and a half times. Step by step, day by day the Ukrainian army is recapturing the Donbas,” he said.
In a separate statement, spokesperson for Kyiv’s antiterrorism operation Oleksiy Dmytrashkovsky said a battle for control of Luhansk airport continues, with Ukrainian army forces having recaptured the aerodrome. Around 30 militants have been taken prisoner, he added.
Meanwhile, perimeters have been set around the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk and the towns Horlivka, Rubizhne, Lysychansk and Derzhynsk. Certain areas along Luhansk’s border with Russia remain contested, Dmytrashovskiy said.
The spokesman added that a large part of the territory between Artemivsk, Horlivka and Konstantinovka has been secured.
Lysenko reported that two Ukrainian soldiers have died in the past 24 hours while trying to regain the regional capitals of Luhansk and Donetsk, which remain under the control of separatist forces.
Lysenko, the National Security and Defense Council representative, also spoke of ongoing efforts to secure the area around the Boeing 777 passenger plane, which was shot down on July 17. As of 8 a.m. on July 21, the remains of 272 passengers have been found at the MH17 crash site, including fragments of 66 bodies.
He added that armed Russian-backed militants continue to obstruct the site and force those inspecting the area to hand over any evidence that emerges.
“Russian mercenaries have stolen all the diplomatic mail that was being carried by the airliner, and the terrorists are stealing documents from the dead bodies,” Lysenko said.
Russia has been accused of providing the Buk-M1 anti-aircraft system with which flight MH17 is widely believed to have been targeted. Moscow denies the claims.
If Lysenko’s reports of further Russian army units arriving at the Ukrainian border are confirmed, this will add to the build-up observed one week ago. On July 14, NATO reported that an estimated 10,000-12,000 troops had already massed in the border area, reversing a partial withdrawal that had been observed earlier.
Kyiv Post staff writer Matthew Luxmoore can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter at @mjluxmoore.
