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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Donetsk rebels planning to expand naval forces |
| 2016-03-01 |
| Donetsk rebels are planning to expand their naval forces to operate in the Sea of Azov, according to Ukrainian military journalist Dmitri Tymchuk in a Facebook post. According to Tymchuk, the rebels already have commandeered several fishing boats and are trying to get the Russian government to give up an unknown number of two of its latest classes of small patrol boats. The Donetsk naval forces, dubbed the Sea of Azov Flotilla already has five vessels, consisting of five fishing and pleasure boats. This writer has watched YouTube videos from Fall 2014, when a small squad of infantry were being transported aboard a fast rebel watercraft. No guns were seen mounted, and the only heavy weapons aboard were RPGs. Two of the boats on the Donetsk rebels' Christmas list include Project 12150, a small craft which displaces 23 tons, and Project 12200 which displaces 53 tons. Project 12150 is deployed within the Russian Federation Border Guard (RFBG) with 14.5mm and 12.7mm machine guns. The RFBG has 56 vessels in its inventory. Project 12200 is deployed within the RFBG with 2 SAM launchers, one 14.5mm machine gun and an automatic grenade launcher. The RFBG has 22 in its inventory. According to Tymchuk, the Donetsk naval forces also has a marine unit, the establishment of which is paid for from funds formerly used on the dismantled 9th Separate Motorized Rifle Regiment. So far in Donetsk rebel official websites, there has been no indication that their naval force is to be expanded. Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com and on Twitter. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraine by clicking here. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 Thats strangez-vous, the ISIS/ISIL want a Navy as well. Likely safe to say ditto also as per an ISIS/ISIL Air Force. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2016-03-01 20:15 |