By the end of the past week, there was a lasting impression that Kiev had finally moved to a policy of terror against its own population, and not only in Donbass.
The Ukrainian troops continued to bombard the peaceful population. According to the DPR Defense Ministry, over the past week, the Ukrainian army opened fire on the territory of the Republic about 4,000 times, of which about 3,000 rounds were made from 122 and 152mm heavy weapons.
Especially intense was the shelling from the Ukrainian side of Donetsk and Gorlovka, the largest city in the north of the Republic.
Two days ago, residents of the northern, western and southern outskirts of the DPR capital reported in social networks on the incessant volleys of heavy artillery from the Ukrainian positions, which were heard until the morning.
According to yet unconfirmed information, yesterday the Ukrainian military shelled the outskirts of Gorlovka with MLRS «Grad», for the first time since signing the «Minsk-2" a year and a half ago.
The DPR military authorities reported that, as a result of the shelling, three soldiers of the DPR army were killed and another two wounded. Among the civilians the casualties amounted to two people dead and 12 wounded by shrapnel.
According to the local authorities, the attacks also led to the destruction or significant damage of 68 houses. In addition, yesterday, during the shelling, there was damaged a penal colony located to the south of Donetsk, with two prisoners injured.
At the same time, Kiev continues to strengthen its group with weapons and personnel in all three directions of the front. According to the DPR intelligence, tanks, 122 and 152mm howitzers, motorized artillery systems and MLRS «Grad» are delivered to the Ukrainian units on the forefront in dozens. In addition, over the past week, at the Donetsk segment of the front arrived about 200 radicals of the «Right Sector».
The observers of the OSCE mission also noted in their weekly report the lack of 60 tanks, 50 152mm howitzers, 24 122mm motorized artillery systems, 17 100mm anti-tank cannons, and over 10 MLRS «Grad» at the sites of the Ukrainian weapons storage.
Residents of Mariupol, the largest Kiev-controlled city in the south of Donbass, informed that on the outskirts of the city the Ukrainian military were hastily building new defenses. The local residents were surprised by the fact that these defenses were not located in the direction of the DPR, but that of Ukraine. It appears that Kiev does not intend to defend the city in case of a counter-offensive of the DPR army, but seeks only to prevent its further advance after the liberation of Mariupol.
In the Lugansk segment of the front, the international observers also documented the lack of 27 Ukrainian tanks, 14 152mm howitzers and 10 MLRS «Grad» in the storage areas. The LPR intelligence reported the arrival at the Ukrainian position of 45 tanks, 10 MLRS «Grad» and about 50 Chechen mercenaries.
In addition, the LPR intelligence sources on the ground informed that the Ukrainian military were mining banks of the Seversky Donets River, which forms the contact line, and continued to seize areas of the buffer zone.
In one of Kiev-controlled Kiev localities of the Lugansk region, the Ukrainian military also seized a local clinic. Locals, who are now banned to enter it, explain this by increase in the number of non-combat losses in units of the Ukrainian army.
However, on the whole, the situation in the Lugansk segment of the front was all this time considerably calmer than in the Donetsk Republic. According to the LPR People's Militia, over the past week, the Ukrainian side opened fire on the territory of the Republic about 900 times, including about 100 rounds from the heavy artillery.
In particular, at the beginning of the past week, the town of Stakhanov was shelled with the 152mm artillery, which resulted in four civilians wounded and 23 houses seriously damaged.
The OSCE observers documented the consequences of the bombardment and, on the following day, went to inspect a unit of the AFU 152mm artillery, which had allegedly shelled the town. However, on the outskirts of the artillery battery territory, they were stopped by the Ukrainian military who, threatening them with firearms, forced them to go back.
The relative calm in the LPR ended on August 6, when an attempt was made on the Head of the Republic. On the route of his vehicle, there was set a bomb which was remotely exploded when the car of the Head of the LPR was passing by.
The explosion was so powerful that the blast and shrapnel shattered windows in nearby houses and damaged the facade of one of them. The car was not burned, but badly mangled. The Head of the Republic survived, but is still in hospital.
It is noteworthy that on the same day, the head of the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) officially confirmed the information about the assassination attempt on the leader of the LPR, received, according to him, ‘from sealed sources’.
At the same time, according to preliminary data of the investigation held in the LPR, the bomb was handmade. It is not excluded that the Kiev authorities unleash terror in the Republics by the hands of radical nationalists who have repeatedly, on the air of Ukrainian television, spoken about the need and their willingness to carry out terrorist attacks on the territory uncontrolled by Ukraine.
Over the past year and a half, in Donbass, there were killed four prominent military leaders of the LPR, and made several attempts on the Speaker of the DPR Parliament and the Head of the Republic.
Moreover, the radical nationalists openly admit that they are not waging the war in Donbass only against men who have taken up arms, but also against women, children and the elderly. They call tortures, rapes and murders of civilians in the Kiev-controlled areas, for which they are now on trial in Kiev, the struggle against the ‘separatism virus’.
Due to resistance of the people of Donbass, Kiev failed a blitzkrieg. Now, with every passing day of the Republics’ defense, the information about what is really happening in eastern Ukraine, is becoming increasingly common in the world.
Last week, in Donetsk arrived the head of the UN monitoring mission on human rights in Ukraine. She visited places where Ukrainian prisoners of war are held and had an opportunity to talk with them personally. After her inspection, she said that she did not have any claims to the conditions of their detention.
At the same time, in Ukraine, a delegation of the UN Commission on Human Rights was not allowed in places of political prisoners detention, after which it left the country in protest.
Last month, international observers from Germany, Finland and Serbia came to monitor the opening of the primaries in the DPR. After spending several days in Donetsk, they made an official statement about having heard the night bombardments of the city from the Ukrainian side and seen their devastating effects.
Some time ago, the Ukrainian site of "enemies of the country" «Mirotvorets" (Peacemaker) published personal data of journalists, including Western reporters, who had received accreditations for work in the DPR. The publication caused a negative reaction in the world.
Last week, the website of the Ministry of Information DNI was hacked again, and a new list of journalists working in the DPR was published, however, in a less known resource.
At the same time, Kiev continues to lay the blame for its own provocation on the Republics.
After the shelling of the town of Stakhanov in the LPR, in spite of the documentary evidence by the OSCE observers, the official Ukrainian media announced that the town had been shelled by the LPR People's Militia.
Two weeks ago, the DPR army repelled 10 attacks of Ukrainian subversive groups, and a week later, the press service of the ATO staff made a statement about the revitalization of sabotage and reconnaissance activities on the part of the Republic.
Ukraine daily delivers to the frontline weapons and equipment in dozens, and on 5 August, the Secretary of the NSDC (National Security and Defense Council) of Ukraine said that, in case of aggravation of the situation in Donbass, another wave of mobilization would be announced in the country.
On the same day, the Head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko announced that if Kiev resumed the full-scale hostilities, the army of the Republics would move to an offensive which would not be followed by «Minsk-3».
The next night, a Ukrainian subversive group crossed the border between Ukraine and the Crimea, which was followed by a firefight between the group and Russian border guards, with one of them killed and several wounded. A part of the group is still at large.
The next day, August 7, Ukrainian "Grads" and armored vehicles were seen to be heading to the border with Crimea.
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