Translated material
The invasion is announced
The President of Ukraine convenes a security council, the press reports the capture of the Russian troops of Novoazovsk
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said that Russian troops are located in his country.
The statement on his site says:
"I decided to cancel the working visit to the Turkish Republic in connection with a sharp exacerbation of the situation in the Donetsk region, in particular in Ambrosievka and Starobeshevo, since the introduction of Russian troops in Ukraine took place," the president said.
Petro Poroshenko said that today a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council will be convened to develop a plan for further actions.
“The President’s place is in Kyiv today,” the head of state emphasized.
Ukraine will urgently initiate a convocation of a meeting of the UN Security Council. "The world should evaluate a sharp exacerbation of the situation in Ukraine," the president said.
According to him, Ukraine will turn to its European partners calling for an emergency meeting of the Council of the European Union.
Novoazovsk
A column of 30 Russian tanks and 500 infantrymen entered Novoazovsk, the Ukrainian media reports. According to them, the infantrymen were brought in white KamAZs, which looked like trucks from a humanitarian convoy.
The commander of the fifth company of the battalion Donbass Vladimir Shilov told on the air of "Channel 5" Ukrainian television:
"Currently, the city of Novoazovsk is captured by Russian troops, blocked by tanks, departure from it is prohibited from it. For tomorrow, according to the Russian military, the city will be laid."
The fighters of the ATO forces are blocked in the city of Ilovaisk and are waiting for the help, the Ukrainian media reports.
The Council of National Security and Defense of Ukraine later on Thursday confirmed that the Ukrainian military were forced to leave Novoazovsk as a result of the advance of the forces opposing them. The positions of the Ukrainian army on the outskirts of Novoazovsk were subjected to shelling from the Grad plant, and then the attack by two military columns.
Ukrainian forces have lost control of the Novoazovsky and number of settlements of Novoazovsky, Starobeshevsky and Ambrose -based districts of the Donetsk region, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, located on Twitter, said.
In Mariupol, which is 40 km from Novoazovsk, and where the Donetsk regional administration is based today, the situation is still calm, there are no panic in the city against the backdrop of rumors about the attack of the Russian military, the correspondent of the Donbass News Mikhail Bagan said:
- As for Mariupol, this is most likely at the moment hearing. As for Novoazovsk - this city is not so far from Mariupol, there is information about the attack of the military without identification marks. There are reports that there was a landing near Mariupol from the sea from two sides - from the east and the west.
- Some media reports that Novoazovsk has already been captured by Russian troops. In Ilovaysk, the ATO forces are surrounded. Do you know something about this?
- Yes, about Ilovaisk reports that the forces of the ATO there are surrounded by the military. As for Novoazovsk, it is under constant shelling. Today there were no official messages. There were reports that he had already passed under the control of unknown people in uniform. It is not yet said that this is specifically - the DPR or the Russian military. You can only build assumptions who specifically.
- What is the situation in Mariupol against the background of the messages that, presumably, Russian troops or separatists of the DPR are only 40 km from the city?
- Until yesterday evening, no panic was observed in the city. There were alarming moods on August 25, when messages about the attack on Novoazovsk began to appear. But there are no mass departure of people from the city. People, of course, are anxious, but there is no panic in the city yet.
- And many Ukrainian military in Mariupol, near Mariupol?
“The Governor of the Donetsk region states that there are two defense rings around Mariupol, but what we really see here is the Azov battalion directly in Mariupol. In Mariupol itself and nearby cities and villages there are units of the Dnipro battalion, Azov battalion and Donbass battalion, ”said Vladimir Shilov.
According to the assistant governor of the Donetsk region Sergey Taruta Konstantin Batozsky, volunteer militarized detachments are being formed in Mariupol:
- At night, the invasion of troops from the Russian Federation with painted identification marks, outwardly resembling the regular army of Russia, was recorded at night. The city of Novoazovsk was attacked. There are posted flags of the DPR today. More troops in the direction of Mariupol are not observed at the moment. There is no panic in Mariupol. Citizens are self -organized in the city. At 17:00 there will be a civilian rally against the invasion. Civil detachments are formed in the city. People are armed and are preparing to protect the city. The army is waiting for reinforcements.
- It is known that now in Mariupol there is all the power of the Donetsk region. No one is evacuated?
- Our officials work in Mariupol, hold meetings. We have a lot of refugees in the city with which we work. The work is in normal mode, ”said Batozsky.
The so-called "prime minister" of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko said that volunteers from Russia are fighting on the side of the separatists. Among them there are a lot of personnel military personnel, as well as those who went to the reserve, said the prime minister in an interview with Russia 24.
According to Zakharchenko, there were about three to four thousand volunteers from Russia. Including those who "preferred to spend their vacations not on the beach, but among us," said the representative of the DPR.
The representative of the Information Resistance group Dmitry Tymchuk believes that Russia is trying to break through the land corridor to the Crimea on the Novoaz Front:
- According to our data, testing, reconnaissance in the area in the Novoazovsk area is underway. According to my data, today, at 6 a.m., it was surrounded on three sides, and not completely blocked. What is happening there does not inspire optimism, but this, we believe, is only a trial stone. The Russians, apparently, try to break through the land corridor to the Crimea. We are sure that if you make it clear that we do not have sufficient forces in this direction, then the Russians will already be moved with complete force. Putin, as always, plays many ways. If it doesn’t work out to break through the corridor in the south to the Crimea, they will still distract the troops from the events in the northeast, ”says Dmitry Tymchuk.
Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer does not exclude the full -scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine in the near future:
- So far, this is a limited contingent, let's say. Because Russian aviation is not involved. The tasks are completely obvious. For Russia, a military defeat in New Russia is unacceptable. It is necessary to install some military balance on the battlefield so that there is a ceasefire. Some kind of more understandable boundaries are needed, i.e., it is necessary to round the territory that the rebels control, so that a stable ceasefire can be established, the troops to some extent, as in Transnistria, in Ossetia, Abkhazia. For this, Russia is more and more seriously supporting the rebels volunteers, weapons, and now already combat units.
- Russia previously categorically refuted ...
- Of course, we categorically refute it. But, besides the fact that the prisoners were taken, there are losses, and now Zakharchenko said publicly, even called the figure-3-4 thousand military. But we continue to refute, aviation does not participate. We will not bomb Kyiv yet, but this is very possible. When a full -scale war begins, and this can begin in the coming weeks, then it will be clear. Then we will bomb Kyiv, Odessa, Lviv to the Polish and Romanian border.
- It sounds very scary.
- If the aviation operation to seize dominance in the air, then it will be to the whole strategic depth.
- And what do you think, Russia will decide on such a step?
- Yes, if strategic goals are not achieved, which consists in the fact that it is necessary to prevent the military defeat of New Russia. The same Zakharchenko and others have repeatedly said that the conditions of the ceasefire and the beginning of a political dialogue are the withdrawal of all Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Now there will be a battle for Mariupol. It is quite obvious that Russia will not allow military defeat. If it is possible to achieve the goals with little blood, then it is good. If not, then further escalation. There is very little time left, because autumn comes - rains, bad weather. Now there is no one to surround anyone - neither near Ilovay, nowhere. Because it is August - the steppe is passable in any direction, not only for caterpillar, but also for wheeled equipment. But in October there will be a completely different picture. In October, it is necessary to conduct a new call, those draftees who will serve a year, must be dismissed in November. It is necessary to reformat battalion tactical groups. In general, it will not be up to the war. In principle, in the fall they do not fight in those places. We must wait for winter when everything freezes and it will be possible to go along the steppe in any direction. So Russians and Germans fought in 1941-1943 in the same places-either in summer or in winter, but not in the fall and not in the spring. This is Ukraine - wet chernozem.
- What do you think at what stage this war of this military confrontation can be legalized in Russia?
- If it turns out that Ukrainians will drop the Russian military, for example, from Mariupol, and this limited contingent will not be able to cope. Aviation and significant more serious military contingents that are collected there will join. There, about 40 thousands there may enter Ukraine. This all can happen in the very near future if it cannot be solved. The strategic task is to approve and achieve non -alignment status for Ukraine. To do this, you need to preserve Novorossia as the key to this. There will remain such a frozen conflict that will not allow Ukraine to join NATO, and there will be all the time Kyiv as a core tied to the leg. To do this, install a military balance on the battlefield. This can be achieved by escalation, which, in fact, is happening, ”says Pavel Felgenhauer.