While the Ukrainian front line troops are breaking the chains of systemic idiocy that plagued the Russian imperial and later on the Soviet armed forces, things in the rear look exactly like they were in the 1980s. Servicemen from the 204th Sevastopol Brigade of Tactical Aviation stationed in Lutsk, Western Ukraine are busy... draining the puddles on the almost non-existent road leading to their facilities because the Tsar , General Secretary Prseident is about to pay the unit a visit. Since no specialized equipment was in the inventory, the puddles were drained manually with empty plastic bottles and shrubbery.

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I'm trying to distance myself from Ukrainian news as there is more than enough depressing issues going around in my neck of the woods with COVID pandemic and de facto country-wide Marxist insurrection. But when the Ukrainian news appear on my facebook wall they are of this content.

31 year old Leutenant Taras Matviiv from the 24th Infantry Brigade was killed on July 11th, 2020 during shelling of Ukrainian positions. He managed to carry out two wounded servicemen to safety, but was killed himself in the process of doing so. For his combat valor during the war on July 13th, Lt. Taras Matviiv was awarded the highest Ukrainian state honor, Hero of Ukraine, posthumously.

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Berkut -- always appreciate your photos, thank you. Curious if you could provide a brief summary of Ukranian Air Force combat operations in the East -- do either Ukraine or Russia deploy any aircraft (fixed or rotary wing) in combat ops? Thanks in advance.

RL
 
Berkut -- always appreciate your photos, thank you. Curious if you could provide a brief summary of Ukranian Air Force combat operations in the East -- do either Ukraine or Russia deploy any aircraft (fixed or rotary wing) in combat ops? Thanks in advance.

RL

List of Ukrainian aircraft losses during the War in Donbass

This should answer your questions. I had exchanged a few messages with the officers from the 299th Tactical Air Brigade, and they claimed that 2 of their Su-25s were brought down by Russian MiG-29s which fired long range AA missiles from the Russian territory.

Ukrainian air force was quite active during summer months of 2014, but the lack of long range stand off smart munitions, low skill level of combat pilots, lack of aircraft, and the poor state of the available inventory along with the modern Russian supplied and manned anti-aircraft "umbrella" put an end to the Ukrainian air force operations over the East of the country.

That being said quite a few pilots showed incredibly skills and tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds.

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"I'm trying to distance myself from Ukrainian news as there is more than enough depressing issues going around in my neck of the woods with COVID pandemic and de facto country-wide Marxist insurrection. But when the Ukrainian news appear on my facebook wall they are of this content."


DON'T STOP.....this is the worst year of my many on this globe for a host of reasons many of which you share, there aren't too many hero's left anymore on either side of the globe, the tipping point is upon us. They are among those who stand for something...something GOOD, something GOOD for all people Great and Small. They do that for only one selfish reason but an unselfish motive to make right in the world!! If we don't know of their existence, of their passing, then we won't know how many hero's are left and how important they were to us, and how long we have left after their passing because their existence is fleeting and we can see it now......... So don't, DON'T STOP - Keep posting.
 
List of Ukrainian aircraft losses during the War in Donbass

This should answer your questions. I had exchanged a few messages with the officers from the 299th Tactical Air Brigade, and they claimed that 2 of their Su-25s were brought down by Russian MiG-29s which fired long range AA missiles from the Russian territory.

Ukrainian air force was quite active during summer months of 2014, but the lack of long range stand off smart munitions, low skill level of combat pilots, lack of aircraft, and the poor state of the available inventory along with the modern Russian supplied and manned anti-aircraft "umbrella" put an end to the Ukrainian air force operations over the East of the country.

That being said quite a few pilots showed incredibly skills and tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds.

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Berkut -- thanks for taking the time to respond. I don't understand Ukrainian, but I got the gist of the video. I suspected the challenges for the Ukrainian AF were as you declared. Tough environment, and much respect to those Airmen that were going into the fray back in the Summer of 2014.

RL
 
Berkut -- thanks for taking the time to respond. I don't understand Ukrainian, but I got the gist of the video. I suspected the challenges for the Ukrainian AF were as you declared. Tough environment, and much respect to those Airmen that were going into the fray back in the Summer of 2014.

RL

Here are a couple of amateur videos for you. SU-25s were flying CAS missions armed with nothing more than S-8 unguided rockets and primitive flare dispensers. However, if there was no AA assets available, these attacks were absolutely devastating on the Russian forces.

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Ukrainian Mi-24s over Donetsk airport. When the 3rd Special Forces Regiments snipers disposed of Russian paratroopers and Chechens armed with Manpads, Mi-24 like SU-25 were effective under these circumstances.

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Here is an interesting video of MI-24 shooting down Russian UAV

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Outstanding!! Thank you, sir!!! Hats off to those Airmen flying CAS missions in an environment that must have been thick w/ AA, if not a healthy dose of MANPADs. That takes courage.
 
Few days ago pro-regime 35 brigade lost several soldires in Donbass, near Zaitsevo. Ordianary story for ukrainian pro-regime troops there - recce group tried to get close to the enemy positions and entered the minefield, some of them were killed and were left on the field, other wounded and retreated.

Today rebel officials revealed names of the killed persons. They were foreign mercenaries, one of them US citizen Shon Fuller (not sure if the real name or not, he was known as "Shon" there) and other was Nikolay Ilin, estonian citizen of ukrainain origin.

Rebels official report on the event:

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More photos (NSFW): https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/6023547.html
 
On July 13th, 2020 after completing mission behind enemy lines a member of the Ukrainian recon team from the 35th Marines Brigade stepped on a anti-personnel mine and was killed by a shrapnel. This set off a chain of events that haven't played through even a few days later.

The Ukrainian officer killed by a mine was identified as Dmytro Krasnogrud. As a recon unit officer he was camera shy and only one photo of him has been released.

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A local ceasefire was arranged between all the sides and was monitored by OSCE observers. Ukrainian retrieval team wearing white helmet covers and vests with proper insignia went in to retrieve Dmytor's body. The team was ambushed and fired on by the Russian forces. A marine was injured and a combat medic rushed to his aid, but was cut down by machine gun fire.

The medic has been identified as an Estonian citizen, Mykola Illyn 36 years old and a native of Belarus.

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Back in 2006, Mykola / Nikolay took part in anti-Lukashenko protests was arrested and badly beaten by the Belarus authorities. He was granted an asylum in Estonia and lived there until 2018 when he moved to Ukraine, signed a contract with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and became a combat medic in the 35th Marines Brigade.

According to the Estonian law, Estonian citizens are allowed to serve in the official units of the foreign militaries only with prior approval from the Estonian foreign ministry. According to the Estonia government, Mykola didn't have this approval or even applied for it. Mykola's salary in the Ukrainian armed forces was about $500 monthly.

Mykola didn't have a family of his own, according to his wishes he wanted to be cremated with the ashes spead over Ukraine, Belarus, and Estonia, but given all the legal complications even the final resting place hasn't been settled on.

The Ukrainian side hasn't released the name of the third Marine who bled to death in the no-mans land.

Even though, the Ukrainian version of events was accepted by the international authorities and the Russian side was condemned, there is a significant outcry from Ukrainian public as to why no retaliatory military measures were taken.

The Ukrainian president established a commission of inquiry and sent in Chief of Staff to investigate. This didn't sit well with the public either, especially since the president referred to the "responsible treacherous other side", but didn't name the said side.

Only on July 16th, 2020 in his speech to the parliament, the president elect Voldymir Zelensky has finally acknowledged that the Ukrainian state is fighting off Russian aggression and despite all of the election promises there is no end in sight to the war.
 
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^^^
NAF soldiers retrieved bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers and transferred them to Ukrainian side but they kept helmet cams.

Videos show a discussion on Ukrainian position about what to do after receiving report about the recon group failure.

Video from Illyn's helmet cam shows what he was doing during evacuation and how he got killed by a mine.

The Ukrainian story about organised evacuation with white helmets doesn't look good.
 
^^^
NAF soldiers retrieved bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers and transferred them to Ukrainian side but they kept helmet cams.

Videos show a discussion on Ukrainian position about what to do after receiving report about the recon group failure.

Video from Illyn's helmet cam shows what he was doing during evacuation and how he got killed by a mine.

The Ukrainian story about organised evacuation with white helmets doesn't look good.

Not checking the info on the Russian side. I honestly don't give a flying hoot about them. I've suggested ad nauseam for the "Russia stronk" crew to create their own thread to no avail. By the way, so far Ukrainian side confirmed the transfer of just the Dmytro's body. Nothing about Mykola or the second marine.
 
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Killed soldier's possessions.
View attachment 239056
On left side Illyn's documents.

Unidentified body was transferred over to the Ukrainian side, presumably that of Mykola Illyn. I'm still of an opinion, that the commanding staff of the 35th Marines Brigade should severely punished and perhaps the whole unit re-organized and even disbanded for the incompetence, cowardice, and the cover up of this incident.

By the way, the body of the third Marine hasn't been recovered by the Ukrainian side, and he is listed as MIA, but presumed dead.

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On July 13th, 2020 after completing mission behind enemy lines a member of the Ukrainian recon team from the 35th Marines Brigade stepped on a anti-personnel mine and was killed by a shrapnel. This set off a chain of events that haven't played through even a few days later.

The Ukrainian officer killed by a mine was identified as Dmytro Krasnogrud. As a recon unit officer he was camera shy and only one photo of him has been released.

View attachment 239037

A local ceasefire was arranged between all the sides and was monitored by OSCE observers. Ukrainian retrieval team wearing white helmet covers and vests with proper insignia went in to retrieve Dmytor's body. The team was ambushed and fired on by the Russian forces. A marine was injured and a combat medic rushed to his aid, but was cut down by machine gun fire.

The medic has been identified as an Estonian citizen, Mykola Illyn 36 years old and a native of Belarus.

View attachment 239042View attachment 239043View attachment 239044
Back in 2006, Mykola / Nikolay took part in anti-Lukashenko protests was arrested and badly beaten by the Belarus authorities. He was granted an asylum in Estonia and lived there until 2018 when he moved to Ukraine, signed a contract with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and became a combat medic in the 35th Marines Brigade.

According to the Estonian law, Estonian citizens are allowed to serve in the official units of the foreign militaries only with prior approval from the Estonian foreign ministry. According to the Estonia government, Mykola didn't have this approval or even applied for it. Mykola's salary in the Ukrainian armed forces was about $500 monthly.

Mykola didn't have a family of his own, according to his wishes he wanted to be cremated with the ashes spead over Ukraine, Belarus, and Estonia, but given all the legal complications even the final resting place hasn't been settled on.

The Ukrainian side hasn't released the name of the third Marine who bled to death in the no-mans land.

Even though, the Ukrainian version of events was accepted by the international authorities and the Russian side was condemned, there is a significant outcry from Ukrainian public as to why no retaliatory military measures were taken.

The Ukrainian president established a commission of inquiry and sent in Chief of Staff to investigate. This didn't sit well with the public either, especially since the president referred to the "responsible treacherous other side", but didn't name the said side.

Only on July 16th, 2020 in his speech to the parliament, the president elect Voldymir Zelensky has finally acknowledged that the Ukrainian state is fighting off Russian aggression and despite all of the election promises there is no end in sight to the war.

Dmytro Krasnogrud funeral, Liman Donetsk region.

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