Novorissiya Military Briefing - as of August 22nd
http://slavyangrad.org/2014/08/25/novorossiya-military-briefing-situation-as-of-august-22-2014/1. By August 22nd, 2014 it became completely obvious that the Junta will not be able to occupy Donetsk either by August 24th, 2014 or by September 1st, 2014. The general offensive that began on July 1st, 2014, and which was intended to crush Novorossiya, has chocked. The junta suffered key defeats near Shakhtersk and Krasniy Luch, when it was unable to cut off the DPR from the LPR, following which it became mired in bloody battles for Ilovaysk and Yasinovataya. At the same time, the southern battlegroup was crushed and routed in the Southern Cauldron.
2. It may still be too early to tell, but, overall, there is every indication that the army of Novorossiya is winning the strategic defensive operation. In the last several days, there has been a clear weakening of the Junta’s onslaught on the People’s Republics, as evidenced by the convulsive attempts to advance on Ilovaysk at all cost and the meandering of the semi-encircled troops to the south-west of Lugansk.
3. The fact that Yasinovataya and Ilovaysk were able to withstand the Junta’s onslaught completely derailed the announced assault on Donetsk. And the column of white trucks [Note: the Russian humanitarian aid convoy] that passed in the direction of Lugansk on August 22, 2014 vividly demonstrated that the plan of complete encirclement of Lugansk had failed and the breakthrough to Novosvetlovka and Khryashchevatoye had been pushed back. At the same time, the situation is worsening daily for the enemy troops that operated to the south-west and south of Lugansk, as the self-defense militia forces are conducting increasingly bolder and more decisive actions aimed at creating a new cauldron, which threatens to trap various units of three separate brigades and the attached support assets. Remember that only 4-5 days ago they were shouting that they were already in the center of Lugansk, sweeping the city.
4. On the whole, the Junta’s offensive has stopped, and the front has gradually stabilized. The Militia begins to nibble on the battlefront, probing for weak points in the positions of the Junta troops in order to cut off many of the incursions in the front line. Only a lack of forces stops the Militia from going on a full-scale offensive, which for now is replaced with actions of the saboteur-reconnaisance groups (“SRG”) and the creation of tactical encirclements. Nevertheless, the overall trend favors the Militia forces, who over the last 2-3 days have been successful in their defensive battles, in inflicting serious losses on the Junta and in driving the enemy forces out of a number of settlements.
5. The Junta is facing serious problems. It is necessary to stop the offensive to replenish depleted units, move up the reserves, concentrate armor, and resume the attacks in the new operational environment. The Junta instead continues to persist in trying to advance in the framework of the already thwarted plan and with the same forces, the very forces that could not succeed even when they were still at full strength. Theoretically, the Junta’s persistent attempts to break through the wall with its head are good for the Militia, as the Junta expends a great deal of infantry and armored vehicles in these attempts to take “something, anything” – attempts which have already lost their operational significance. Daily reports from our side and tantrums from the enemy show that the Junta forces every day lose dozens (on some days – hundreds) troops dead and missing. Military hardware losses are also heavy, and the worst thing for the Junta is that some of these vehicles fall into the hands of the Militia, which then uses them against the enemy troops.
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