Marinka is under whose control. OSSE: Marinka remained under Ukrainian control. Further fighting in Marinka

Kyiv and the militia claim losses during the battles for Marinka. The numbers vary, but one thing is certain – the losses are significant, most likely on both sides. How much exactly did both Novorossiya and Ukraine lose in these battles, and why did they turn out to be so bloody?

Advisor to Petro Poroshenko Yuri Biryukov said that five Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the battles on July 3 in the Marinka area. The militia headquarters reported 15 dead and 30 wounded from the VSN, and DPR leader Zakharchenko said that Ukrainian troops lost 400 people killed and a thousand wounded. A captured Ukrainian soldier gave the figure of 200 people killed and many wounded “from his group throughout Marinka.” In turn, the headquarters of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine announced the death of one hundred militiamen, with the total number of groupings in the Marinka area up to 1,000 people. The Ukrainian group, including reserves in the area of Krasnogorovka and Kurakhovo, can be estimated at 1.5 thousand people.

“Such a meat grinder in half a day is something unprecedented even on the scale of a war that has already lasted a year.”

If we combine statements about the size of the Ukrainian group in the Marinka area with Zakharchenko’s statement, it turns out that this group is almost completely out of action - and this is obviously not the case. The figures given by Biryukov also seem extremely dubious.

Meat grinder near Marinka

In recent months, as a result of “brigadization,” parts of the VSN have become overgrown with bureaucracy and, consequently, a huge amount of paperwork. According to the newspaper VZGLYAD, this seriously irritates commanders and introduces an element of confusion, although it was originally intended to have a completely opposite effect. In reality, the list of brigades is still not very clear, and the real number of losses will become known only after some time, when the papers arrive along the chain from junior commanders to headquarters in Donetsk. However, it is possible to compare the stated figures with reality.

The composition of the infantry is approximately equal - 1.5 thousand from the Ukrainian side and 1 thousand from the militia, with reinforcement units from Ukraine from Kurakhovo and from the VSN from Donetsk. Based on these data, we can assume that the closest to reality is the testimony of the Ukrainian prisoner, who estimated the losses of his side at 200 people killed. Is it a lot or a little? So many. The figure could have been catastrophic if it had been announced three or four months ago. The VSN losses in such a stop should be close to one hundred irrevocable. The number of wounded on both sides should be approximately equal and fluctuate around 500.

Such a meat grinder in half a day is something unprecedented even on the scale of a war that has already lasted a year. Even at the height of the boilers, the increase in casualties occurred gradually, not overnight. Such a rapid jump was the result of a combination of all the unfavorable factors that one could imagine: the terrain, the strengthening of defensive positions during the truce period, the tactical ignorance of Ukrainian commanders and the “victorious euphoria” of the militia, as well as the inability to realize the scale of losses during a front-line clash in infantry combat .

The Armed Forces of Novorossiya (VSN) still categorically refuse to use artillery in densely populated areas of urban agglomerations, and Marinka is a direct continuation of the city of Donetsk itself. Ukrainian authorities have not given any information about how many of the 10,000 civilians listed in the 2011 census remain there. That is, you will still have to take combat losses as a basis. At the same time, no one can guarantee that the 28th brigade and “Kyiv” were formed to their full strength. It is possible that, planning an offensive operation in a completely new direction for such attacks, the Ukrainian command staffed the brigades, but no one can really confirm this.

No change at the front

Despite the fierceness of the confrontation and heavy losses, there was no significant change in the front line. There are several reasons for this.

At the moment, Marinka is conditionally divided in half, and the distance between the positions of the parties sometimes does not exceed 200 meters. At the same time, the center of the settlement, apparently, is not occupied by anyone, which is logical, since there are no objects worthy of a strategic collision there.

The only thing worthy of attention is the exit from the town in the north, towards Kurakhovo and Krasnogorovka. There recently stood a memorial “stone” in honor of the founding of Marinka in 1843 by collegiate assessor Semyon Zhebunev - the only local landmark. The closest reserves of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are located in Kurakhovo, therefore control over the “turn with a stone” is the only tactical position that has at least some significance.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine almost twice in 12 hours of battle traveled from the outskirts of Marinka to its center and back. In other words, this is a frontal infantry clash, which both sides preferred to avoid throughout the entire year of the war. Something similar happened previously in Peski, which completely copies Marinka in geography, only four times smaller. Then, during the general counteroffensive, which ended with the Debaltsevo cauldron, the VSN immediately broke into the village and were stuck there for several days.

In Marinka, both sides attacked almost simultaneously, and then almost mirrored each other’s moves. All this happened in a very small area, which was one of the decisive factors that led to such serious losses. At the same time, neither side had an advantage in operational defense. Is it possible that in the final phase of the battle the Ukrainian side nevertheless used the missile defense system, since the threat of a serious defeat was obvious.

The reason for such significant losses could also be a moral factor. The Kiev volunteer battalion actually fled, which resulted in a lack of controllability, with significantly higher losses. The 28th brigade, which offered organized resistance, obviously had lower losses, but even despite this, the hospitals closest to Marinka are overcrowded with the wounded.

Many parts of the VSN are prone to “combat euphoria”, when the first successes of the battle, which in the case of Marinka was the retreat of the Kyiv battalion, overshadow real planning and a realistic assessment of the situation. The VSN suffers serious losses precisely during attempts at frontal assaults.

Wounds speak volumes

In hospitals in Dnepropetrovsk, journalists were told that military personnel were brought in with gunshot fractures of the bones of the lower extremities, as well as fragmentation lesions of soft tissues and mine explosion injuries. However, based on such fragmentary data, we cannot establish what the main nature of the injuries was. The presence of such statistics would be very useful, as it would help restore the picture of what happened.

For example, the predominance of bullet wounds over shrapnel wounds indicates close infantry combat as the main phase of the collision. Before the battle for Marinka, shrapnel wounds predominated in all sectors of the front - a direct consequence of the overly massive use of artillery in all phases of the battle.

It is obvious that this kind of frontal battles in large populated areas, which were well fortified during the truce period, will lead to increasing losses. The nature of the war has changed, and it is unlikely that in the future it will be possible to avoid a bloody struggle even for not very important settlements. This means that the level of losses will only increase.

Perhaps, after the battle in Marinka, both the VSN command and the Ukrainian officers will reconsider their attitude towards the war. Although it’s hard to believe in Kyiv - the Ukrainian General Staff is simply stupidly increasing the size of the group, not paying too much attention to losses. Ukraine’s mobilization resources are still greater than those in Donbass, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces will always have a numerical superiority. Poroshenko still firmly believes that there was no cauldron in Debaltseve. In such a situation, the General Staff, represented by General Muzhenko, will continue to provide him with unrealistic loss statistics. This is much easier than changing battle tactics.

The OSCE published a special report on the battle in the Marinka area on Wednesday, June 3. It follows from it that both sides used heavy weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements, and that as a result, Marinka remained under the control of the Ukrainian security forces.

The agency’s own sources also spoke about the night shooting in Donetsk and the battle in Marinka. The urgent report of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) was published in English on June 4. Here is the full translation of this report.

Summary

The battle broke out in the area of government-controlled Marinka (23 km west-southwest of the center of Donetsk) on the morning of June 3. The SMM observed the movement of large quantities of heavy weapons in areas controlled by the “Donetsk People's Republic” (“DPR”), primarily in a westerly direction towards the contact line, closer to Marinka, before and during the battle. Calm returned in the early evening.

Details

Between 10.30pm on 2 June and 5.30am on 3 June, the SMM located in the “Donetsk People's Republic” (“DPR”)-controlled Tekstilshchik territory in Donetsk (14km east-north-east of Maryinka) made a number of observations. She observed, among other things, eight tracked armored vehicles moving west, four of which were main tanks, at 2230 hours; four tanks at 23.03; a westbound military truck towing a 122mm cannon at 11:45 p.m.; two T-64 tanks moving west at 4.30; and a column of one infantry fighting vehicle (BMP-2), three military trucks (one carrying a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun) and two T-72 tanks moving west at 4.50. In addition, the SMM there heard approximately 100 outgoing artillery rounds fired from a position 1-5km north-northwest of the SMM position, between 4.30 and 4.40; an outgoing salvo from a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher fired from a position 1-5km west of the SMM position at 4.55 am; and 100 outgoing artillery rounds fired from a position 5km north-northwest of the SMM position.

Between 4.30 and 5.00 am, the SMM in central Donetsk heard several outgoing salvos from multiple rocket launchers and approximately 100 incoming salvos from heavy artillery.

Between 0700 and 0800, the SMM, moving through an area 6 to 9 km east of Maryinka, observed seven T-64 tanks facing west. In addition, she heard, on two separate occasions, more than five salvos from multiple rocket launchers (BM-21) and heavy mortars, as well as 12 salvos from Grads and mortars.

At approximately 0600, an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle observed intense shelling directed at the intersection of the H15 highway, 3.5km south-west of Maryinka. The drone identified four self-propelled 152-mm howitzers 2S3 "Akatsiya" 9 km southeast of the city at 15.30.

The SMM made several attempts between 10.45 and 12.11 to contact senior DPR officials, including the “Prime Minister”, the “Speaker of Parliament”, the “Minister of Defense” and the “Chief of the General Staff” of the “DPR”, in order to facilitate an end to battle in the Marinka area. All of them were unavailable or did not want to talk to the SMM.

At 15:00 the SMM received a letter from the Ukrainian Defense Minister stating that heavy weapons of the Ukrainian Armed Forces would be deployed along the contact line in order to deal with the “real threat” manifested in the battle in Marinka, which they said began at 6:00. that morning. Ukrainian officials later publicly acknowledged that the weapons were used, noting that their use was necessary to counter the DPR attack.

A representative of the Russian Armed Forces with the Joint Control and Coordination Center told the SMM at 15:00 that the ceasefire in the Maryinka area would take effect at 17:00. He told the SMM at 21.00 that the situation around Marinka was currently calm. At around 19.00, a representative of the command of the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Kramatorsk and the “Minister of Defense” of the “DPR” confirmed to the SMM that Maryinka is under government control.

The SMM will monitor civilian and military incidents in Maryinka in its reports.

The attack of terrorist troops in the Donetsk region was stopped by artillery fire. The enemy retreated to their original lines, suffering significant losses.

Group Information Resistance summarized and analyzed all the information on yesterday’s battle for Marinka.

Yesterday, 06/03/2015, at approximately 04.10 in the morning, Russian-terrorist troops began massive shelling of the positions of Ukrainian troops in the area of \u200b\u200bMarinka. Starting from 6.45-7.00 in the Marinka-Krasnogorovka sector, Russian-terrorist troops began active offensive actions.

The following militant units took part in the attacks:

Two units of 122-mm self-propelled guns 2S1 “Gvozdika” (about 18 units in total);

Eight 152-mm Msta-B guns;

At least six 152-mm self-propelled guns 2S3 "Akatsiya";

Three units of 152-mm self-propelled guns 2S5 "Gyacinth".

Several “roaming” (actively maneuvering) batteries of 122-mm D-30 howitzer guns were also recorded - 14 guns, divided into 2 units. 120-mm and 82-mm mortars were used en masse, including in a mobile version (on transport platforms).

After an unsuccessful attempt to attack the positions of the ATO forces, the militants used multiple launch rocket systems. Massive strikes were carried out three times from the BM-21 Grad MLRS both on the front line and on the tactical rear of our troops (in addition, at approximately 11.30 a salvo of the 9K58 Smerch MLRS was recorded on the tactical rear of the Ukrainian troops and civilian objects in the area of the village). village Kurakhovo).

From 10.00, the terrorist formations went on the attack with the forces of two tactical groups, each numbering a reinforced “infantry” (motorized rifle) battalion:

One t.g. - along the Donetsk ring road from Aleksandrovka (along an almost open area, which became fatal for it);

Second this year - through Staromikhailovka to Krasnogorovka (along a rather narrow section between two reservoirs).

In addition, in the second echelon of Russian-terrorist troops there was a reserve for further increasing efforts in the direction where success would be indicated (in total - 2 “infantry” groups of up to a reinforced company each, and 1 tank company).

At the same time, groups of enemy infantry were spotted in the area of Novgorodskoye (with a total strength of up to a reinforced company), which tried to advance north of Avdeevka. As a result of several tactical maneuvers and attempts to act through the flanks, the militants, after an hour and a half of close fire combat, were forced to retreat towards the western outskirts of Gorlovka.

All tactical groups of Russian-terrorist troops operating in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk towards the village of Marinka included armored vehicles and vehicles.

Artillery was used centrally, adjusted and controlled from one center. It was noted that the militants' artillery used one of the most difficult artillery firing techniques - accompanying fire (although one of the vanguard groups of the advancing terrorists pulled ahead and came under attack from their own artillery). In addition, enemy artillery periodically delivered alternating fire strikes both at the front edge of our troops and at the tactical rear, trying to prevent the approach of reinforcements.

As a result of a firefight on the western and southwestern outskirts of Marinka, the enemy managed, at the cost of losing several units of armored vehicles and vehicles, to reach the forward checkpoint of the Ukrainian troops and occupy it (this was the maximum achievement of the Russian-terrorist troops in a day).

Militant units operating north and south of Marinka came under fire from defending Ukrainian units, as did several groups of terrorists trying to bypass Krasnohorivka from the south.

As a result, in a relatively small area between Aleksandrovka and Marinka, the enemy suffered such significant losses from the fire of Ukrainian troops that he was forced to stop. After which he began to again concentrate artillery fire on strong points and positions of Ukrainian troops - mostly to no avail.

In turn, starting at 13.00, Ukrainian troops pulled up artillery to the front line, while simultaneously deploying tactical reserves behind Marinka. Ukrainian troops launched a combined strike with cannon and rocket artillery on the line that the enemy forces had reached at that time. A counterattack was also carried out against the previously abandoned checkpoint of the ATO forces.

The militants were forced to leave the previously occupied checkpoint and retreat towards Aleksandrovka to the starting line. At the same time, the reserve units of the Russian-terrorist troops moving behind the first echelon came under an artillery attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and could not influence the course of the battle for Marinka.

By the end of the day, units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces had finally suppressed enemy resistance in the Marinka area. At night, the enemy carried out active shelling of positions of anti-terrorist operation forces, without attempts to resume offensive actions.

Alexey Martynov, political scientist, consultant to public structures of the DPR, answers the questions “The World and We”

In the case of Marinka, as in many others, an unprecedented falsification of losses on the Ukrainian side is being carried out, while the ATO command treats the corpses of its dead soldiers in the most monstrous manner.

— Are the hostilities in Marinka an isolated incident, or will they be followed by large-scale hostilities on the part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces?

— In this case, the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the National Guard carried out reconnaissance in force. They wanted to achieve local success, to take part of the suburbs in the Petrovsky district. This was a local operation, designed to create a bridgehead for an attack on the Petrovsky district and “cut it off” from Donetsk.

Ukrainian troops launched artillery strikes primarily on the Petrovsky television center, from where Russian channels are broadcast. Because of this, terrestrial television practically did not work for a day. But their plans were thwarted - a militia counterattack began. Then the DPR army was forced to stop, as the Ukrainian Armed Forces brought up their reserves, which significantly exceeded the reserves of the militia in artillery and armored vehicles.

— Under whose control is Marinka now?

“It is partly under the control of the militia, partly under the control of the Ukrainian army - about 60% in their favor and 40% in ours. This territory is an agglomeration of several settlements - Marinka, Krasnogorovka and Georgievka. The militia forces that were advancing on Krasnogorovka had to be withdrawn because they were under heavy artillery fire from near Kurakhov.

Most likely, in the near future, Ukrainian troops will again target the area. For the last 2-3 days they have been shelling the north and north-west, Kuibyshev and Kiev regions, the number of drone flights is increasing. All this indicates that they are preparing new reconnaissance in force, massive artillery attacks and local breakthroughs.

Then they will strive to gain a foothold based on local breakthroughs. This is their current tactic.

The problem is also that the most powerful artillery systems were concentrated in Krasnohorivka, which fired at Donetsk in the winter. The Ukrainian Armed Forces, without going on a full offensive, provoke the militias into a counterattack. Since we need to suppress their artillery, and since we can’t always reach it, we have to launch counterattacks. Now they are not launching large-scale offensives, as was the case in August, but are conducting massive shelling and, by concentrating equipment and personnel in a specific direction, launching, if possible, global, deep counterattacks, such as, for example, on Marinka. This situation is similar to their attempt in April to enter Spartak, from where they were forced out.

— What is the balance of forces on this and other sectors of the front?

- In general, their forces are much greater than ours. In certain areas they try to achieve superiority by two and even three times. They have much more powerful artillery and missile systems, which are usually deployed in three lines. If the first line has a one-to-one ratio, then the second and third lines follow. In addition, they are constantly adding to their reserves and have more opportunities to do so. For us, 120 km is the maximum rear. And their rears are in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

If they finally disrupt the Minsk agreements, then the Marinka-Kurakhovo-Constantinople direction is very promising. If we hit and reach Kurakhovo, then we get the Kurakhovskaya Thermal Power Plant, and then it’s only 30 km and we reach the Dnepropetrovsk region. Thus, the theater of military operations will move significantly to the west.

Most likely, the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the National Guard will go on the offensive in mid-July. This will probably coincide with provocations in Transnistria. This is how our military experts see the development of the situation - among the militias there are those who went through both Abkhazia and Transnistria. Obviously, there will be provocations in Transnistria, as well as an attempt to bring in NATO peacekeepers.

— Does the resumption of active fighting mean a complete failure of the Minsk agreements and the very format of these negotiations?

— These events really cancel this format. But this has not been news to us since the beginning of September. We understood perfectly well that this would happen. The militia was preparing for such a development of events.

The cancellation of these agreements is evidenced by the withdrawal of OSCE Special Representative Heidi Tagliavini from the contact group. The OSCE, which was the guarantor of Minsk, has actually withdrawn from this process. This will probably be used to declare the inconsistency of the Minsk agreements, confirm this at the OSCE level and further pursue the issue with NATO peacekeepers.

— In light of the constant falsifications on the Ukrainian side about the number of deaths during the punitive operation, how do you assess the emergence of Internet resources that publish true information about the losses of the Ukrainian army and civilians, and where eyewitnesses and relatives of the victims can leave detailed information about this? Do such sites help expose the lies of Ukrainian propaganda?

— Of course, such resources are extremely necessary. For example, here is one of such sites - “Wailing Wall of Ukraine”. It is very important because it makes the true information about losses public. There has long been a need to create a resource where any eyewitness can leave information about the deaths of people during the punitive operation of the Kiev junta, both from the people’s republics and from the Ukrainian army. This is a very important factor in the information war with unprecedented falsification of losses, which is constantly carried out by the Ukrainian authorities.

The attitude of Ukrainian punitive forces towards their dead soldiers is a separate issue. Even after Ilovaisk and Izvarino, the DPR is carrying out work to account for the losses of Ukrainian troops. This information is being collected, but the Ukrainian side does not want to take it. Moreover, they do not want to take the corpses of their soldiers. All that remains is to contact their relatives privately, for example, to find them via the Internet.

But many corpses do not even have medallions, so they cannot be identified. Those “cyborgs” that remained at the airport due to decomposition processes are now in such a state that it is extremely difficult to identify them.

It is characteristic that even the prisoners do not know about the losses that are known to us - such an information vacuum is created on the Ukrainian side. They do not know that they are being exposed to counterattacks, that neighboring units along the front line are suffering serious losses.

The DPR is constantly collecting a database of dead Ukrainian military personnel. But these are the corpses that are on our territory that we identify or dig up. And those that are located on their territory or in neutral zones - there are much more of them there. But the junta troops constantly shell these areas and do not allow the remains to be taken away. They don't want to document them or make them public.

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