Ukrainian army tanks move past a checkpoint as they patrol the area near eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve August 3, 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Ukraine’s Frontline Troops, Surrounded By Enemies -- Washington Post
KIEV, Ukraine — The calls home from the front line are very brief, often just two words conveying all that really matters.
“I’m alive,” Marina Bershadskaya’s little brother, Sergey, tells her. Then he hangs up to pass the communal cellphone to one of his fellow paratroopers in the 79th Airborne Brigade deployed to Ukraine’s border with Russia.
It has been this way for almost three months, especially in the past few weeks, amid a major Ukrainian offensive against pro-Russian rebels in the east. Even as each day brings new Ukrainian gains and the map of rebel-held territory shrinks, the calls have seeded a gnawing fear in the families of troops positioned in the thin, treacherous buffer zone between Ukraine and Russia in the rebel strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk.
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My Comment: This is what a personal family friend who is also a member of the Ukrainian parliament told me about two weeks ago ....
.... The fighting is extremely intense on the front lines in eastern Ukraine. Even in the "liberated zones" .... Ukrainian soldiers never venture out alone. And when they move out it is always in large groups and/or in convoys .... but even then snipers and IEDs are being used to deadly effect. Air support is now minimal .... too many planes and helicopters have been shot down. Supplies are a problem .... and it seems that they never have enough ammo. The casualty rates are higher than what is being publicly announced .... especially the wounded. Morale is good and bad .... it apparently depends on where you are deployed and who are your commanders. Russian Ukrainians in the military have shown a reluctance to to participate in the fight .... and their loyalty is always being questioned. There is little if any public support in eastern Ukraine for the Ukrainian military .... and while Ukrainian Russians are critical of the rebels, most of them blame Kiev for their misery and want their soldiers out. He does not see the conflict ending even when the rebel strongholds have fallen .... what he sees (and predicts) is a long occupation and growing resentment among the population on their presence.
His worries and concerns are not surprising. He has a son who is going to turn 18 in a few months, and he will be eligible for the draft. I have also noticed in recent news reports that he and his fellow parliamentarians are becoming more vocal in their opposition to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's war goals objectives .... to the point that they are now being accused of being a "fifth column". Bottom line .... tensions are rising in Kiev, and as long as this war drags on .... these tensions are going to rise even more.
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