1. Donetsk, Lugansk and surrounding towns and villages being bombarded ceaselessly by Uke forces using every weapon in their possession, Grad, Hurricane, Tornado and Smerch MLRS and arty up to 20.3 cm.
2. In last 4 days over 300 civilians in the aforementioned areas have been killed and a like number and more wounded. Civilian and industrial areas completely devoid of any Army of Novorossiya facilities and troops are targeted as is infrastructure such as gas, water and electric services.
3. Shoot down of MH17 has focused all world eyes on the aircraft. The Ukes are using this to unleash an assault on the civilians of Novorossiya with unprecedented savagery. Entire MLRS volleys are being fired in to cities, towns and villages away from the prying eyes of the press.
4. The Cauldron has not been reduced. Although the remaining two battalions of airborne and armor troops have been decimated and have lost most of their equipment and transport both are still dangerous.
5. The Ukes are pressing Army of Novorossiya very strong. There has been a noticeable change of tactics in some areas of fighting by the Ukes, obviously a change of command or advisors.
6. Heavy fighting around both Lugansk and Donetsk Aerodromes. Neither side seems to have an advantage.
7. Situation in and around Slavyansk and Kramatorsk is grave. Little food and water, some electric in certain areas. Many roads blocked by Uke block posts. Military age men and some women are still being arrested.
8. The fate of the Militsiya detachments from Slavyansk and Kramatorsk arrested after Strelkov withdrew are still unknown. No information or contact to any of their families since 05 July afternoon.
9. Travel by private vehicle in areas of Novorossiya from the Kherson Oblast/Novorossiya border is dangerous. In the countryside at some small road intersections there are one, two or three civilian cars and trucks with the occupants shot dead.
10. At one intersection of two country dirt roads two cars are shot. Lying beside one of the cars are three local villagers, one man and two women, obviously shot to death while trying to either help the wounded occupants of a car or trying to remove the bodies. Locals are terrified and rarely leave their villages. Crops are untended.
11. One small natsgardia/right sector unit of 8 was ambushed in Kherson/Novorossiya Border area by unknown assailants and their bodies left neatly arranged along the forest path, weapons and equipment removed by unknown personnel. Near the ambush sight a young woman was found dead. She had been outraged and murdered.
12. Civilian travel in east and southern areas of Kherson Oblast can be dangerous. In the areas north of the Krimea/Kherson Oblast border numerous patrols of natsgarda/right sector.
13. Vehicles and the few trains coming to Krimea from Kherson Oblast are searched for valuables and most of the military age men detained and taken ‘to the office’. They either pay a large bribe to be allowed to continue to Krimea or are press ganged in to Uke service and sent to the fronts.
14. The refugee situation in Krimea is difficult. No one is left without succor that need it. As in reports from Cassad and Strelkov there are many entire families of refugees fleeing to Krimea, arriving in cars and vans packed with personal belongings, food and drink, vehicles often with the tell tale ‘special’ license number arrangements. Russia tells all they will be moved to other oblasti in Russia. Many of this category of refugees demand to be housed ‘near the beaches’, demand refugee status and demand services.
15. 35000 refugees are in Krimea alone, over 300000 refugees have fled to Rostov Oblast and many moved to other oblasti. It is estimated that a like number of refugees are staying with family and friends in Russian Federation. Another 50000 have fled west to Ukeland.
16. In the area around the MH17 crash scene the Ukes are using the local truce for the crash investigation to move and gather units for an assault designed to split Donetsk from Lugansk. OSCE and foreign press on sight fail to see armored columns gathering in the general area.
17. Novorossiya is being hard pressed. The Ukes are using their overwhelming numbers of armor, arty and MLRS to ‘mob’ the Army of Novorossiya. Opinion is the situation is in balance and could tip either way, victory for Novorossiya or total defeat.
Thank you Juan for confirming the reports I have been seeing of military/Nazi Guard checkpoints throughout the Southeast of Ukraine/Northwest of Novorossiya. As I understand it, these checkpoints are to be found in an arc from west of Kharkov to north of Odessa and everywhere south and east.
Thus Novorossiya proper should be thought of as existing right now under military occupation, because the Ukrainians sure as heck don’t trust their so-called fellow citizens in these ares.
good look to novorussia
a friend from germany
“In last 4 days over 300 civilians in the aforementioned areas have been killed and a like number and more wounded”
That may be or may not be. Fact is that we don’t see it in the Western press. Just as with allegations about things that go wrong in Slavyansk and Krasni Lyman there are no details.
Consequence is that over a month we may see yet another Amnesty report that claims that only dozens of people have disappeared in government controlled territory while hundreds have disappeared in rebel held territory.
Saw in a french newspaper that Russia stopped her help after the crash…any information about that? it would be a political suicide for Putin if he let down Novorossia
Apologies for this diversion from always much appreciated sitreps from Juan. I just want to point out that this exists and, I suppose, will soon demand discussion.
What Makes Strelkov Feel “Melancholy” – Military-Political Situation Report, July 20, 2014.
Translated by Gleb, original Text: Cassad.Net by Colonel Cassad
I think maybe a separate post and thread might develop around this piece. Heavy stuff mostly new to me with serious implications.
http://slavyangrad.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/what-makes-strelkov-feel-melancholy-july-20-2014/
it is claimed this is from the Luhansk area being attacked with white phosphorus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pKi-zAu1AA
It is hard for me to imagine the soul so emptied of compassion to be able to do this to someone they never even met.
I bet that it is necessary for the border to be less porous right now.
I agree. There is no way Putin can keep his current popularity in case of a final defeat for Novorussia.
For crying out aloud. Putin needs to stand up and yell his narrative and go in. Hire a god damn good pr company and get the message across. As for the mh17 if it was captured buk that shot it down explain how it could have been used as a slave in a Ukrainian integrated set up and how it was left easy to capture, IE a Trojan horse. The su25 might not have shot at the mh17 but it certainly was attracting attention for flying so close, the flight path changing, the Ukrainians lying they didn’t have their buks close by, the fake video of transportation of buk, possible target designations from Ukrainian linked buks etc.
Wim Roffel said…
“In last 4 days over 300 civilians in the aforementioned areas have been killed and a like number and more wounded”
“That may be or may not be. Fact is that we don’t see it in the Western press. Just as with allegations about things that go wrong in Slavyansk and Krasni Lyman there are no details.
Consequence is that over a month we may see yet another Amnesty report that claims that only dozens of people have disappeared in government controlled territory while hundreds have disappeared in rebel held territory.”
Perhaps, sir/madame, you should follow some of the links provided in this blog and see what the other side of the conflict says, or you can come to Sevastopol and work with the refugees with us. What I have reported of what they say and said is but the tip of the iceberg. I think I’ve mentioned that fact also.
Amnesty. Only ‘dozens’? ONLY DOZENS???!!! How would your like, sir/madame, to be one of the ‘only dozens’?
Just to start you:
http://vk.com/videos-57424472 Discretion is advised, some videos are not for the weak of stomach.
http://vk.com/strelkov_info
http://cassad-eng.livejournal.com/
Anonymous 11:03
I have no idea if Russian Federation is or is not giving aid to Novorossiya, no one of import has told me personally one way or the other.
Friends, You’re doing an immeasurable good work.
But, (yes there has to be a but) the site has to be made much more social media friendly very quick. Sorry to emphasize but it’s a moral imperative owed to the victims of Facist Junta in Kiev.
Let’s suggest that you add some twitter facebook pinetrest butons for each post. Or addthis widget 5free at Addthis.com).
Plus insert Hastags in all post title #Ukraine #DPR #NAf etc this will facilitate friendly posters to replicate your article in twitter and giv ethem more exposure in seconds.
Best regards,
Greg Galloway
Much as I hate to say it, Putin is basically a self-described Conservative and sees himself as a “partner” or ally of the EU, US, Canadian, and Australian heads of state. He seems almost puzzled why they don’t accept him, and to believe that more grovelling and low-towing will gain him the acceptance as “one of the club” that he seems to crave.
The EU, US, Canadian, and Australian Presidents, on the other hand, see him, or more precisely Russia, Belerus, and Kazakistan only as targets to be seized and exploited. No amount of knocking on the door is going to get Putin into the Imperialist “club”.
I fear Putin has let things to deteriorate much too far, and unless Russia takes immediate military action to assist Novorossiya, which is very unlikely now, they will shortly find NATO aircraft and tanks stationed all over Ukraine.
Right now, while the Ukrainian tanks, troops, and aircraft are concentrated in and around Donetsk and Lugansk, a powerful airstrike, led by cruise missiles to take out the Buks and other air defences, just like the US did in Libya or Iraq, could pretty much wipe out the Ukrainian Army without having to attack other areas of Ukraine. But I don’t see any indication Russia is about to do that.
The only other hope would be a major uprising in the rest of Novorossiya, especially Kharkov and Dnipropetrovsk, but there is no indication of that happening either.
Dear The Saker,
I am a bit baffled by the Junta Govt. about the black boxes and it raises some questions:
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140722/191108456/Flight-Recorders-of-Crashed-Malaysian-Boeing-to-Be-Analyzed-in.html
The ICAO hasn’t announced or agreed who will get the boxes so why are they already saying they will go to the UK? That is one country who is biased in this. Why won’t they send to Moscow or a neutral country to be examined? Why are they speaking before the ICAO specialists have arrived?
This doesn’t feel right to me…….
Rgds,
Veritas
Juan
Good to see you are OK. Thanks for the report.
вот так
NATO/EU/USA are pushing what amounts to infinite supplies into the Kiev side- limited only by what current ‘politics’ makes possible from a PR point of view.
In reality, this means Kiev has access to unlimited Military Intelligence from the West and unlimited propaganda assets in the zionist controlled mainstream media AND pseudo-independent media run by George Soros.
The West places its military advisers anywhere in Kiev that they are not as risk of being killed or captured by the Novorussia defence forces, which does limit their usefulness. At the present time, the West mostly limits military supplies to Kiev to those that Kiev might be expected to have access to already- in other worlds the West ships in general, ‘third world’ equipment from the supposed non-aligned weapons dealers- the time is still not right for blatantly NATO sourced weapon systems to appear on the battlefields.
Given that the neo-Nazis from Kiev are being encouraged by the West to use crude terror bombing of villages, towns and cities, while Kiev can maintain boots on the ground, it hardly needs anything more sophisticated.
More importantly, the West is ensuring unlimited waves of cannon fodder to ravage Novorussia- the same tactic the West uses in Syria. The theoretical maximum size of the rebel army is finite, and once it approaches that size, it can only diminish. On the other hand, every neo-Nazi the rebels kill is replaced by at least two more.
It gets worse. The longer Putin stays on his knees, and refuses to intervene, the more British Military Intelligence expects to induce in-fighting amongst the rebels. As the rebels suffer major defeats (at least in terms of territory lost), it becomes increasing difficult for the rebels to maintain a unitary focus. Small differences of opinion can easily be blown into intractable ideological divisions.
If Russia refuses to help, what are the rebels even fighting for? The ‘glory’ of utter defeat at the hands of an absolute evil? How many brave, foolish forces fell to the Nazis in wars they could never have hoped to win? Or perhaps Putin is so stupid, he thinks one day the zionist mainstream media will reveal the truth, and then he can enter as the humanitarian saviour? In the real world, the zionist mainstream media will paint Putin and the rebels in an every worse light as the days turn. Yesterday was a better day to intervene than today. And today is a better day to intervene than tomorrow.
NATO/EU/USA are pushing what amounts to infinite supplies into the Kiev side- limited only by what current ‘politics’ makes possible from a PR point of view.
In reality, this means Kiev has access to unlimited Military Intelligence from the West and unlimited propaganda assets in the zionist controlled mainstream media AND pseudo-independent media run by George Soros.
The West places its military advisers anywhere in Kiev that they are not as risk of being killed or captured by the Novorussia defence forces, which does limit their usefulness. At the present time, the West mostly limits military supplies to Kiev to those that Kiev might be expected to have access to already- in other worlds the West ships in general, ‘third world’ equipment from the supposed non-aligned weapons dealers- the time is still not right for blatantly NATO sourced weapon systems to appear on the battlefields.
Given that the neo-Nazis from Kiev are being encouraged by the West to use crude terror bombing of villages, towns and cities, while Kiev can maintain boots on the ground, it hardly needs anything more sophisticated.
More importantly, the West is ensuring unlimited waves of cannon fodder to ravage Novorussia- the same tactic the West uses in Syria. The theoretical maximum size of the rebel army is finite, and once it approaches that size, it can only diminish. On the other hand, every neo-Nazi the rebels kill is replaced by at least two more.
It gets worse. The longer Putin stays on his knees, and refuses to intervene, the more British Military Intelligence expects to induce in-fighting amongst the rebels. As the rebels suffer major defeats (at least in terms of territory lost), it becomes increasing difficult for the rebels to maintain a unitary focus. Small differences of opinion can easily be blown into intractable ideological divisions.
If Russia refuses to help, what are the rebels even fighting for? The ‘glory’ of utter defeat at the hands of an absolute evil? How many brave, foolish forces fell to the Nazis in wars they could never have hoped to win? Or perhaps Putin is so stupid, he thinks one day the zionist mainstream media will reveal the truth, and then he can enter as the humanitarian saviour? In the real world, the zionist mainstream media will paint Putin and the rebels in an every worse light as the days turn. Yesterday was a better day to intervene than today. And today is a better day to intervene than tomorrow.
Putin and Russia have a Moral duty to step in and stop the slaughter of civilians.If they do not Putin’s days could be numbered.He has went back on his promise to step in if civilians lives were being lost in numbers and this is now the case or does he believe that doing business with his “partners” takes priority?time for him to decide. He has to say fuck NATO and the US and do what is morally correct.
Foreign Policy has an article “‘Strike Him with an Axe’: A pro-Russian separatist’s how-to guide for terrorizing eastern Ukraine includes advice on robbing banks, sabotage, and staging drive-by shootings.”.
It links to a “Methodological Guide for Struggle Against the Junta” on the blog of Gubarev. It is a cynical kind of guerrilla handbook with advice like “Don’t pass up any opportunity to engage in some atrocity that can be blamed on the junta’s fighters.”
I would like to hear Saker’s and other’s comment about it.
I would appreciate it if commenters felt responsible for a minimum of education on the issues. Sick to death of immature narcissist parading their ignorance as opinion.
herb
Thank you. Wish you and your family remain safe and all the people of Novorussia.
Lugansk (July 22, 2014) Press-conference of the head of Lugansk People’s Republic Valery Bolotov
[transcript (reproduced in full below) source: https://www.facebook.com/TruthfromUkraine%5D
[original video (no English): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osmn1WjwsTU ]
Bolotov: In the light of recent events, a loss of Lisichansk and Severo-Donetsk by Mozgovoi, and a difficult, critical, humanitarian situation in Lugansk, resulting from it’s blockade, I ordered the Ministry of Defense and all armed units of the Army of Lugansk People’s Republic to launch a counter-offensive. Its goals: first – to end the blockade of Lugansk; second – to help units, refusing to surrender and holding positions in Lisichansk and Severo-Donetsk, in order to de-blockade those cities. The order should be executed as immediately.
Question: What is the situation in Lugansk? Is it surrounded completely?
Bolotov: No, Lugansk is not completely surrounded. Last night the enemy suffered a heavy blow to its ranks and equipment. We had successful attacks. As you can see, the enemy has almost stopped shooting back, except for insignificant confrontations. As I said, in the nearest future, we will launch a counter-offensive.
Question: As I understand from your words, there are still groups holding out near Severo-Donetsk?
Bolotov: Yes, those people and units, which didn’t follow orders from Mozgovoi, are still holding some towns and positions. Another words, some towns have not been completely surrended. There are still areas of resistance, which we will aid in the nearest term.
Question: Are there still any corridors for refugees to leave the city?
Bolotov: From whih city? Lugansk? Of course, through Krasnodon, Izvarino.
Question: What about the train system?
Bolotov: Trains are still functional.
Question: What is the situation near Georgievsky Bridge and the airport?
Bolotov: Ukrainian forces are still remaining at the airport, but in the nearest future, I can assure you, we will be done with the airport.
Question: What is the basis for such confidence?
Bolotov: Based on the state of forces we posses right now.
Question: So it’s a real possibility?
Bolotov: Yes. I think in the next three days we will not only be done with all covert groups, but also with the units surrounding the city.
The biggest single question here is ‘WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH Putin?” back in early March I predicted–though I avoided such language in this blog that Putin would “rat out” on his duty to Russians in the eastern Ukraine” For a while it looked like this was wrong, but in April that’s exactly what he did. Why?
(1) Was it because Putin, for all the hype about his control, does not–cannot- control Russian foreign policy. Does the real power reside, as elsewhere in oligarchs, banksters, MIC, etc?
(2) Was it because of person things, his intense animosity for Strelkov. Or does Washington (or someone in Moscow) have access to–and has threatened to release- information that would destroy his political career? Someone, in some way, stared Putin down.
(3) Or did they? Are the miserable half policies being pursued “the real Putin”.
These weak–indeed detestable–policies mean a collapse of confidence for Russia in adjoining states and real trouble down the road.
Even now it would take only a few days for the Russian military to put the Ukes to an ignoble flight with huge implications–as the troops returned to the west But there is no sense talking about what the Russians could do if all they do is whimper.