Ukraine crisis: Poroshenko bruised by army retreat

[polly7]

20 February 2015 Last updated at 08:48
By David Stern
BBC News, Kiev


Damage in Vihlehirsk, near Debaltseve, testifies to the intensity of the fighting

Tensions in the ranks
Already there are rumblings of public discontent.

"I have seen this with my own eyes, on the battlefield and in the army headquarters, how military action is planned and executed," Semyon Semenchenko, commander of the volunteer Donbass battalion, told the BBC.

"I can assure you that we lost Debaltseve not because of the Russian military advantage, but because our generals refuse to take responsibility," he said.

Mr Semenchenko has proposed a "parallel" co-ordinating structure for the volunteer battalions fighting in the east. So far 13 battalion leaders have signed up, including Dmytro Yarosh of the nationalist Right Sector.

Mr Semenchenko insists this is not to replace, but to help, the army's general command in "information exchange, planning, logistical assistance and facilitating mobilisation."

Still, his announcement raised concerns. Eight battalion commanders have refused to join the body, calling on Mr Semenchenko to "end his daily populist and PR statements".

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31552773

[jakeXT]

1. Half Ukrainian fighters killed by poor kit and friendly fire

AN ELITE soldier who resigned from the British MobArmy to train Ukrainian forces fighting Russian-backed separatists has revealed the true extent of disarray in Kiev’s military.

He said the string of bloody defeats for Ukraine, including last week’s fall of Debaltseve, was due largely to a failure of command and a lack of skills and discipline.

The 40-year-old, a naturalised Briton of Ukrainian descent, who served in Afghanistan and the Middle East, said Ukraine’s forces, made up largely of volunteers and conscripts, suffer great casualties because of frequent incidents of friendly fire and the mishandling of weapons.

“Six out of 10 casualties among the Ukrainian volunteers occur because of blue-on-blue shooting [the army term for friendly fire] and the inability to handle weapons,” said the man, who would give only his nom-de-guerre Saffron.

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Europe/article1522268.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2015_02_21

[polly7]

2. What a horrible waste of human life.

I bet they never imagined in their lifetime they'd be fighting and killing fellow Ukrainians ...... let alone their own troops. So sad all around.

[bemildred]

3. It reminds me of the way Stalin used the Russian army in WWII, now I think of it.

I think Happyslug was talking about that a few days back. The very definition of "cannon fodder".

[MisterP]

4. those numbers are through the roof--it's turning into the Chinese Civil War