During 2014 while being deployed in the ATO zone with my unit I was an active user of social media trying to show the world what was happening in Ukraine, which wasn't easy with the massive Russian propaganda machine working on full power. It was during this time that I came into contact with Dima, he was an senior Lieutenant with the 76th VDV but had recently been discharged and got an contract with one of the Russian PMCs that sent him and his six man team to sector M (Area between Donetsk and Mariupol). Me and Dima used to argue all the time presenting what we considered to be the truth in all of this, we never were rude towards each other but rather had a mutual respect.
This continued all thru the operations of Marinka, Ilovaisk and some kind of an friendship grew between of us. When I was deployed at Shyrokino, Dima sent me an warning. In this private message he told me that a major attack would be launched against Shyrokino and that his group would take part in it. At the time I didn't believe him, but time would tell that his warning was real and Im not sure if it helped my group or not, but still the gesture was appreciated.
Dima and me made an agreement that if the two of us would survive the war we would meet up on neutral ground and share an ice cream, sadly only one of us would made it out alive. Dima went quite for a while and life passed on as normal for me, when I suddenly was contacted by a friend of Dima asking for a favor. The contact with Dima had been lost for a while and his family couldn't get in touch with him, so they were afraid that he was captured by the Ukrainians and asked me to find any information about this.
I was given his rank, full name, date of birth and all the other data I needed to ask my friends within the Ukrainian structures. After a week the answer came, there was no prisoner that would match Dima, and I informed his friend. One week passed and his friend contacted me again, telling me that Dima and 4 of his soldiers had been killed in an ambush just outside Zorya, the ambush was considered an accident committed by the separatist group ’Oplot’ but it happened just after Dima refused to follow orders. Apparently Dima wanted to defect to the Ukrainian side, he was tired of the war and the killings, this I didn't know of until I received the messages from his friend. Dima left a wife and two small children behind when buried in an unmarked grave north of Stila in Donbas.
I asked his friend to send my regards to Dimas wife and went on with my life until one day I get the most peculiar email, where one of the contractors for LNR contacts me and wondering why some officers from GRU wanted him to contact me. I reply that I had no idea and that I wanted no part in whatever schemes Russia was trying to play, the next email that comes from ”Ivan” explain a bit more on why he contacted me and it turns out that Dima had a lot of friends within the Russian army that didn't approve of how Russia have handled the matter. For a couple of emails we try to establish some kind of feeling for each other and then ”Ivan” starts explaining how Russia where sending equipment into Ukraine, how they set up training camps in Rostov and how Russian special forces where sent into Ukraine.
The email dating from December 2014 explaining how most of the PMC contractors had left Ukraine and behind was parts of the regular army and the volunteers from Russia, mostly being hardcore socialists, drunks or ex prisoners given a choice to fight and be free. Specialists from the Russian army where frequently sent into Eastern Ukraine to support the Russia backed separatists trying to build an army with the equipment Russia sent them thru the parts of uncontrolled border.
In order for Russia to send equipment and personel into Ukraine they used Rostov as an FOB and all personel would have to sign up there, while being in Rostov their passports and phones would be taken from them and stored in Rostov, then they would be given documents showing that they where properly enlisted in the Luhansks Peoples Republic, once their formal affairs was finished they would be sent by bus to the Ukrainian uncontrolled border and pass into occupied Ukrainian territory where they would be met by an officer from the local separatists. Ivan was assigned as an military advisor in May 2014 and got to oversee a lot of the operations planned by Russia and executed by the local separatists, one of these operations where to ship equipment from Russia into occupied Ukraine.
In the very early events, Russia didn’t supply anything, they were just sending the Cossacks to secure the elections, they were accompanied by a few volunteers, most of them carried their own (light) equipment, there was very few given to the locals
This would soon change as resistance grew and Russia understood that this would require a lot more help, massive amounts of small arms and ammunition where sent to LNR, most of it would be leftovers from the Georgian conflict. During this time the Cossacks grew in numbers and so did the volunteers, all of them were trained by Russian or by Russia appointed instructors, some of them were trained outside of Rostov in special weaponry such as tanks (T-64), GRAD or handling of manpads, while infantry training was carried out inside the territory of LNR by several nations from within the Russian federation.
Also around April 2014 there was a temporally camp on the outskirts of Rostov where local volunteers where trained in the use of special equipment like ATGMs, MANPADS, tanks and artillery. Base was moved in August to near Kvaisi, outside of Russia
When the summer came in 2014 Russia was pouring in weaponry into the Ukrainian occupied territory including so called "volunteers" from Ossetia, Chechnya, Abkhazia and Buryatia with them came equipment painted with Ukrainian markings, all not to show the heritage of the equipment. Within Russia documents would say that the equipment passing thru belonged to the small states and was given to the separatists as support against an oppressive Ukrainian government. With the fake volunteers came full units of VDV- and GRU units that would oversee and commit covert operations within Ukraine.
All major operations, like the big attack on Airport (Donetsk) where carried out by these guys and some other experienced groups under GRU command in Rostov
As well as most tanks (exception are the captured ones). Yes they were really captured, or bought from Ukraine side, it was more than you’d expect in a civil war, so there’s some truth in that, problem is, it went to the local groups
To be able to move troops and to attack fairly unnoticed by the OSCE, officers would approach the OSCE and tell them that is wasn't safe to go into that area due to fighting and while OSCE was waiting for things to slow down they would bring in full battalions to attack and then retreat leaving only local separatists in the area, all of this was possible due to the fixed schedule of the OSCE drone patrolling the borders, a schedule everyone was aware off. During the late summer Russia kept sending equipment and even decided to send very unique equipment since they noticed that the west really didn't care even tho it couldn't be any question marks regarding who that was supporting the separatists. Now T-72 and RPOs started to flow cross the Russian/Ukrainian border.
In late summer we received more advanced equipment, even some T-72, lots and lots of RPOs, which were damn effective and I think more GRADs than the whole Ukraine ever had (not really but you get me I guess)
The volunteers turned out to be a complicated group to control and several fights broke out between regular Russian army and the local warlords wanting to go on an rampage against what they saw as growing fascism in Ukraine, they where considered to be a liability for the Russians since they refused to follow orders and caused more trouble then expected, they where behind a lot of the rising criminality in the area. By december most of the local warlords within LNR was dealt with either by force or by politics, meaning that those that didn't get killed ended up moving to Donetsk Peoples Republic, where they could have a more free reign under Motorola or Givi. Maybe the most infamous group to leave LNR for DNR was the battalion under Alexandr ”Batman” Bednov, within this battalion was the only known openly neo-nazi group fighting for a ”Novorossiya”
Now the majority of the fighting force in LPR are under Russian command, there’s still smaller groups of locals, which resist but they’re the minority
In November 2014 a surge of Russian soldiers was sent into Ukraine, but their main mission wasn't to wage war but to keep the separatists under control and provide them with enough weapons and equipment for the separatists to be able to fight on without winning, this mission have led to quite a few bursts of openly hostilities between Russian armed forces and local warlords, killing at least two commanders of the ”Novorossiya” forces. But the leadership within the two ”states” are under control and they control most of their forces without any trouble.
Well I met Motorola twice, he’s a charming guy, very entertaining but he has no real military experience as a leader and his group refused all orders to stop fighting...
Continued...
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