Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

RUSSIA’S SHIFTING ROLE IN UKRAINE

Moscow denies involvemen­t, but signs are clear that its military is training rebels

- By Nataliya Vasilyeva Associated Press

YENAKIEYEV­E, Ukraine — On a recent spring morning, an important visitor watched Russianbac­ked rebels conduct infantry maneuvers on the sunlit training grounds outside this town in eastern Ukraine.

“The general is very pleased,” rebel battalion commander Ostap Cherny told his troops, referring to the figure in camouflage encircled by five armed guards.

The man — almost certainly a Russian military officer — became alarmed when he saw two journalist­s approach. His entourage shielded him from all sides, warning that photos were forbidden. The group soon sped off in a four-car motorcade, with the “general” safely inside a black Toyota SUV with no license plates.

Nearly a year into the conflict in Ukraine, the extent of Moscow’s direct involvemen­t has become clear: The Russians may wear camouflage, but their presence in eastern Ukraine is hardly invisible.

At the same time, there has been a recent shift in tactics that appears aimed at minimizing Russia’s military presence as part of an effort to persuade the West to lift its punishing economic sanctions.

Visits by The Associated Press to training grounds and interviews with dozens of rebels reveal that Russian armed forces spearheade­d some of the major separatist offensives, then withdrew quickly.

More recently, as a shaky cease-fire has taken hold, Russia has kept fewer troops in Ukraine but has increased its training of rebels to make sure they are capable of operating sophistica­ted Russian weaponry and defending the territory they control. NATO and an independen­t London-based Russian scholar estimate that Russia has several hundred military trainers in eastern Ukraine.

Since hostilitie­s began around mid-April of last year, the Ukrainian government and the West have accused Moscow of waging an undeclared war in Ukraine by sending thousands of Russian troops to fight on the side of the separatist­s and providing the weapons to drive back the Ukrainian military. At least 6,000 people have been killed on both sides.

While the Kremlin acknowledg­es that many Russians have fought in Ukraine as volunteers, and such volunteers are regularly seen at checkpoint­s in rebel-held areas, Russia denies sending its troops across the border or arming the rebels.

Throughout the conflict and often a few days before a new flashpoint of fighting would erupt, AP reporters would see as many as 80 armored vehicles a day, mostly coming from the direction of the Russian border, carrying troops and towing artillery. Their origin was impossible to establish, and the rebels strongly discourage­d reporters from photograph­ing such convoys or following them.

While rebel commanders avoid talking to journalist­s about Russia’s role in the conflict, separatist fighters routinely confirm that clothing and ammunition are among supplies they receive from Russia.

“Yes, our brothers are supplying us — you know who,” one fighter who goes by the nom de guerre Taicha said in November at a checkpoint in the crossroads town of Krasny Luch. Most rebels won’t reveal their full names for fear of retaliatio­n against their families.

Months later, on the front line west of Donetsk, a sniper who goes by the name of Kvadrat, or “Square,” showed off his new rifle from Russia. “Uncle Vovka is helping us,” he said, using a nickname for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Rebels often thank sia for the weapons Rusthey use, and two of them expressed gratitude to Russian troops for joining them in battles that they said they would not have been won without Russia’s help.

When the town of Debaltseve finally fell to the separatist­s Feb. 19 after weeks of fighting over the strategic railroad hub, the true victors were long gone.

“Our friends helped us,” Andrei, who fought in Debaltseve and is based outside Luhansk, said with a shy smile. Unlike his platoon, which had nothing newer than a T-72 tank, he said the Russians had modern T-90s.

“They had everything, of course,” said Andrei, who like other rebels would not give his last name because his family lives in an area controlled by Ukraine’s government. “If they hadn’t gone in (to Debaltseve), I don’t know what we would have done.”

Andrei and another fighter, Alexei, said Russian troops stormed a fortified area outside Debaltseve that the rebels had been trying to capture for weeks.

Alexei, who was still based in Debaltseve in March, also saw fighting last summer in Ilovaysk, a battle where the involvemen­t of Russian troops was suspected.

He was flippant about the Russian presence in Ilovaysk, saying “just a couple of tanks pushed through.” But when asked about Russians in the battle for Debaltseve, he became animated: “I’m not going to hide it: Russians were here. They went in and left quickly.”

In March, the independen­t Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta published a rare interview with a Russian soldier who said he fought outside Debaltseve.

Dorji Batomunkuy­ev, said his brigade of 120 troops and 31 tanks crossed into Ukraine in February, wearing no insignia and leaving behind all identifyin­g documents.

He recalled how the rebels were often reluctant to attack, while he and his fellow Russian soldiers had no choice but to obey orders and advance. Batomunkuy­ev, a native of Siberia, could not be reached.

Igor Sutyagin, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, has spent months collecting evidence of the Russian presence in Ukraine, coming up with an exhaustive list of combat formations.

The presence of large numbers of Russian troops has been a “permanent feature of the conflict” since August, Sutyagin said, with the number peaking at about 9,000 troops in late February at the end of the battle for Debaltseve.

His estimate stems from calculatio­ns based on sightings of weaponry on the ground as well as informatio­n that soldiers routinely post on social media.

Sutyagin corroborat­ed the rebel fighters’ descriptio­ns of Russian troops entering Ukraine and leaving promptly after a battle is won. By his calculatio­ns, several hundred Russian servicemen are in Ukraine, training local troops and coordinati­ng rebel forces.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to numerous calls and faxes seeking comment for this story. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said recently that Russia “firmly denies” reports of a Russian military presence in Ukraine.

NATO insists Russian troops continue to operate in eastern Ukraine despite the cease-fire, but it is unable to give exact figures. In recent months, according to Lt. Col. Jay Janzen at NATO headquarte­rs in Brussels, Russia has transferre­d more than 1,000 heavy weapons to the separatist­s, including tanks, armored vehicles, rocket systems, surface-toair missiles and artillery.

NATO and the Ukrainian government in Kiev are convinced that Russian military personnel in rebelheld territorie­s are providing training to a proxy force.

Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander of NATO forces in Europe, said the alliance’s intelligen­ce indicates that trainers from Russia’s special forces have been instructin­g fighters in eastern Ukraine about sophistica­ted weaponry the Russian military has supplied. Breedlove estimated that 250 to 300 advisers are supervisin­g the training.

One evening in November, a rebel garrison on the outskirts of Donetsk was on the move. Fighters busied themselves hauling their belongings into the back of pristine military transport trucks. One middle-aged rebel fighter, who identified himself only by the nom de guerre Kesha, said he and his comrades were leaving for training.

The instructor­s, Kesha let slip, were Russian nationals. Asked what his combat-hardened battalion still had to learn, Kesha said with a chuckle: “All kinds of things.”

In visits to three training grounds in eastern Ukraine in March, AP reporters saw coal miners, drivers and handymen taking part in military drills involving hundreds of people and dozens of armored vehicles.

Although hostilitie­s in the region have subsided since a truce was reached in mid-February, continuing skirmishes in some areas feed anxieties that the conflict could flare up again across the entire 280-mile front line.

None of the rebel fighters interviewe­d said they believed the war was over, adding that they are preparing for battles.

 ?? VADIM GHIRDA/AP 2014 ?? A pro-Russian rebel,
left, rides on a tank flying
Russia’s flag near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. At least 6,000 people have been killed on both sides.
VADIM GHIRDA/AP 2014 A pro-Russian rebel, left, rides on a tank flying Russia’s flag near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. At least 6,000 people have been killed on both sides.
 ?? MSTYSLAV CHERNOV/AP ?? Pro-Russian rebels line up in March in front of their commander during an exercise near Yenakieyev­e, which appeared to show Russia’s role in training eastern Ukraine’s rebels.
MSTYSLAV CHERNOV/AP Pro-Russian rebels line up in March in front of their commander during an exercise near Yenakieyev­e, which appeared to show Russia’s role in training eastern Ukraine’s rebels.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States