Thread by @doctoradmiral

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟰𝘁𝗵-𝟮𝟮𝗻𝗱, 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟰
Ten Years Ago.

As the Ukrainian security services scramble to contain an FSB-led invasion of the Donbas, the Russian warlords now in charge of significant territory begin exercising their newfound powers through torture & terror.
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— Beginning on the 6th, aggressive separatist mobs started taking over administrative buildings throughout the east. "People's Republics" were declared in Donetsk and Kharkiv, though the Kharkiv one was swiftly neutralized on the 8th.

The Ukrainian Interim government, headed by President Turchynov and PM Yatseniuk, attempted to stop the unrest by way of negotiations and concessions. On the 11th, Yatseniuk attended a meeting in Donetsk to discuss the situation with local elites.

However, on the 12th, a group of uniformed and heavily armed men seized administrative and police buildings in Sloviansk & several nearby towns. The government scrambles its forces and declares an "Anti-Terrorist Operation" (ATO)

The next morning, Russian forces in Sloviansk kidnap two civilians to take their car and wound another driver. Later in the day, they use this vehicle to ambush gathering government forces, leading to a firefight that left one SBU operative dead.

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟰𝘁𝗵

— At 10 AM, a separatist crowd gathers in front of local Interior Ministry HQ in the town of Horlivka, northeast of Donetsk. Unlike in most other cases, some policemen resist, building barricades and fighting off intruding separatists.

The separatists manage to break through. One policeman shouts "What do you think, that I came here from Lviv?!" while another is badly beaten with bats in a nearby hallway. The station's chief Andrii Krischenko is nearly lynched. The Russian flag is raised above the station.

As the separatists take control of the station, many policemen defect. They are met by a camouflaged man who introduces himself as a "Colonel of the Russian Army," and proceeds to give out orders and appoint a new police chief.

Under the guidance of the "colonel," the separatists proceed to take over the city hall. They continue to rampage, attacking the office of a news website and newspaper "Criminal Express," kidnapping it's chief editor and taking him in an unknown direction. gorlovka.ua

— The SBU publishes an intercepted call between the leader of Russian forces in Sloviansk, callsign "Strelok," and either a financier or a powerful ally of theirs. They discuss yesterday's firefight, reinforcements from Luhansk, and Strelok requests more anti-tank weaponry.

— “Day and night” Interior Ministry and SBU receive applications from “patriots of the country” coming from eastern regions most at risk of Russian occupation. “We don't need to bring in recruits from other regions to refill manpower,” says Pres. Turchynov.

This is likely meant to calm the fears of easterners. A recent poll among Donetsk residents showed that even though the majority of respondents wished to remain part of Ukraine, over 60% considered “Banderites” from the western regions the greatest threat to their well-being.

— Turchynov also continues to attempt de-escalation by concession: “Many talk of a referendum now. We are not against such a referendum. [...] in this referendum, which may occur on the same day as the elections (May 25th), I am certain that most will vote for a united Ukraine"

— The "People's Mayor" of Sloviansk, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, makes an appeal to Vladimir Putin:
“We ask you to help us in our struggle for the Motherland.”
Ponomaryov, "Strelok," and the rest of the Russian forces & local collaborationists expect Russia to follow through.

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟱𝘁𝗵

— SBU uncovers identities of "Strelok," the commander of Russian forces in Sloviansk, and the "Colonel" that led yesterday's takeover of Horlivka.
The former is Igor "Strelkov" Girkin - a Russian ultranationalist from Moscow and an FSB officer.

Girkin spent his youth fighting in post-Soviet conflicts of the 90s, including in Transnistria and Ichkeria. Later on, he would fight for the Republika Srpska in Bosnia. Girkin then participated in repressions during the 2nd Chechen War as head of an FSB anti-terror unit.

The "Colonel" from Horlivka is a retired colonel of the GRU Igor “Bes (Demon)” Bezler. Bezler moved to Ukraine in 2002, but was retired and moved to the reserve only in 2012. By February 2014, the GRU re-established contact with Bezler.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗞𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗸 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱

The airfield is located next to Sloviansk's sister city, Kramatorsk, just a short ride south. It is a garrisoned military object belonging to the air force. Right now, the airfield is of strategic importance:

Should Girkin's fighters take it, it can allow Russia to land troops and equipment. Sloviansk and Kramatorsk are often called the "Gates to the East" because of their important location - right inbetween three 1 million+ Russophone cities of Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Donetsk.

On the 15th, Girkin's fighters with pro-Russian civilians surround the airfield. They break through onto the landing strip. Shots ring out and the situation devolves into chaos.
3rd Special Purpose Regiment, already spread thin, rushes to reinforce the airfield⬇️

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟲𝘁𝗵

— On the evening of the 15th, commander of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade Yurii Sodol orders 3 battalions located within the border areas of Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts to regroup near the town of Aleksandropol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, roughly 150km away

As they arrive, they are almost immediately on the move again by sunrise. Neither the soldiers nor the old Soviet vehicles they’re driving have received any rest from the 150km ride. Their orders are simple: by 17:00 they must reinforce the garrison at Kramatorsk Airfield.

As the column drives, some vehicles begin to break down. The formation soon breaks, and the column becomes a disorganized trickle. As they approach Kramatorsk, they split up further according to the plan. One part of the force flanks the city, while another has to pass through.

Alexii Ievkun, who was chief of staff of one of the battalions at the time, recounts: “We were ordered to enter the town and pass through. Unfortunately, they were waiting for us. [...] We were stopped by concrete barriers and surrounded by a well-coordinated group of civilians."

Armed Russians took lead of the crowd, standing among them. There was no room for maneuver. The only way to pass was to open fire, which is what the separatists counted on." Most soldiers reach the airfield, but at a cost of 4 BMDs and a "Nona" abandoned to the separatists/

— A separatist mob’s assault on a Mariupol military garrison, with the goal of seizing weapons, leaves one person dead. Separatists throw explosive and incendiary devices into the facility. After receiving no reaction to warning shots, the garrison opens fire - injuring dozens.

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟳𝘁𝗵

—Volodymyr Rybak, a local Horlivka politician affiliated with the “Batkyvschyna” party has been kidnapped under Bezler's orders. As he tried to change the flag above the city hall back from RU to UA, causing a ruckus, he's led away by masked men.

— A large pro-UA crowd protests in occupied Kramatorsk. Despite the city being a hotbed of separatist activity, only yesterday nearly forcing an entire paratrooper brigade to turn around, the city’s residents are not scared off. Similar protests are held in also-occupied Luhansk

Fighting in Mariupol continues through the night and well into the day. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov claims a retaliatory mission is still ongoing, and reports 3 dead and 63 arrested from among the assailants.

— Foreign Minister of Ukraine Andrii Deshytsia meets his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva as part of talks organized by the EU and the US. Among declarations is that all involved parties will cooperate with OSCE to de-escalate the situation in the East.

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟴𝘁𝗵

— Both sides agree to a tenuous truce for a multitude of reasons. Officially its to adhere to the Geneva talks and to observe Orthodox Easter. But also, the government barely has anyone blockading Sloviansk, allowing separatists to use the time for smuggling

Separatist mayor of Sloviansk Ponomaryov asks residents to report “suspicious” people to the “People’s Druzhina” - especially those that speak Ukrainian. This is only the start of the separatist terror in the city.

Ponomaryov became mayor only days earlier, after accusing the previous mayor Nelya Shtepa, who greeted Girkin’s men with flowers and asked residents to collaborate, of ties to the Right Sector. At the moment, Shtepa is unaccounted for.

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟵𝘁𝗵

— Girkin's fighters clamp down on journalism in the city. Several kidnappings are already alleged to have happened when, according to local activist Oleh Zontov, a group of armed militiamen entered the police station where a large number of journalists was:

"Apparently someone gave an order to arrest me as they attacked me and tried to bend back my arms, but I wrestled myself free. I was warned to stay low for some time."

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝘁𝗵

— ATO forces, consisting of a company from the 80th Airborne Bde on BTRs, two Mi-8 helicopters, members of National Guard special forces units “Omega” and “Vega” as well as agents of SBU’s “Alpha” unit, establish an operational headquarters codenamed “Luna”

"Luna” is on a small mountain near the city of Izium, 43 km northeast of Sloviansk. The atmosphere is tense, many fighters being young conscripts.

— Three cars of the “Ukrainian Volunteer Army” (UDA), a militia headed by Right Sector organizer Dmytro Yarosh, are headed towards Sloviansk from the west. Their target is to take back control of a TV tower on Mt. Karachun south of Sloviansk

The UDA is not part of any official security structure, weapons & training are ostensibly provided by sympathizers, reportedly including powerful figures in Dnipro Oblast Admin like oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky and allegedly, President Turchynov himself

As they approach a separatist checkpoint, both sides open fire in a chaotic gunfight. The driver of the first car is killed on the spot. Two of the cars catch fire. Suffering casualties, UDA fighters retreat on the remaining vehicle.

The fight is reported by Russian media as an indiscriminate Right Sector attack on civilians at the check-point. So much is made of Yarosh’s business card, supposedly found at the site of the clash, that it becomes a meme.

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟭𝘀𝘁

— The creation of the “People's Republic of Novorossia,” is announced in Odesa, to be headed by a certain Valery Kaurov, leader of the pro-Russian far-right “Alliance of Orthodox Citizens.”

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟮𝗻𝗱

— The bodies of Volodymyr Rybak and another unidentified male, showing signs of brutal torture, are found dead on the banks of a stream near Sloviansk. The country, and many among the international community, is outraged and demands a response.

Turchynov announces that the truce is over, in part because of disorder, kidnappings and murders in occupied territories. The Anti-Terrorist Operation is on.
By this point, Girkin's delusion of RU military intervention must be fading. What he faces is a siege.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴!
I have about a month of backlog, so I'll post threads covering periods of around a week each until I catch up and can post daily OTDs again.
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