For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.By Chris Covert
The ill-advised attack by Ukrainian forces at Frunze November 23rd is receiving sharp criticism, including from some Ukrainian officials, according to Ukrainian and Russian language news reports.
The nocturnal attack cost the Ukrainian 58th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade three men killed in action, four wounded and one captured.
According to information provided by official rebel accounts at the website of the Donetsk ministry of defense, the November 23rd attack and one that took place just prior, north of Gorlovka were part of military plans revealed accidentally on a Ukrainian ministry of defense website.
According to the defense spokesman for the Donetsk breakaway republic, details of ambitious plans by the Ukrainian staff in Kiev were displayed after a meeting in Kiev between parts of the MoD, including defense chief General Viktor Muzenko and the affected maneuver brigade commanders. The meeting took place the week before.
Donetsk rebel spokesman Lt. Colonel Eduard Basurin said in a November 26th press release that plans for renewed offensive action by the Ukrainians centered around the Svetodarsk arc region just north of Debaltsevo in eastern Donetsk/far western Lugansk. Part of the presentation included a number of printed cards to describe the Ukrainians plans, according to Col. Basurin. That data was promptly displayed on a Ukrainian ministry of defense page, which pro Ukrainian activists noticed and announced on social media.
Basurin said that by the time the error was discovered, the Ukrainian probe into Frunze was tipped off. The day before, the Ukrainian advance into Gladosovo and Travnevoye, which is west of the Svetodarsk arc, took elements of the Ukrainian 54th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade into an area Basurin claimed gave Ukrainian forces "no tactical advantage", due to it being surrounded by heights. The volunteer 24th "Aydar" Battalion also took part in the capturing of the villages.
The Svetodarsk region, which is primarily a road between Artemovsk surrounded by lakes, north of the Svetodarsk arc -- and a main logistics hub for the Ukrainians in the region -- and Debaltsevo, has been a severe issue between the fighting forces since the fall of Debaltsevo in February, 2015. The month long battle was extremely bloody for both sides, including the rebels who captured the town.
Since early 2015, Ukrainians have attempted to mount two major attacks meant to break the line of dug-in rebel troops in front of Logvinovo. Logvinovo is the only settlement of any size on the highway between Artemovsk and Debaltsevo. The attacks were costly for the Ukrainians. The rebels have yet to reveal the extent of their losses.
Col. Basurin pointed out in another news release that the failure of the Frunze attack could be laid solely at General Muzenko's feet.
Now, according to a separate news account in Vesti-ukr.com, the attack on Frunze is being characterized as "unauthorized", which could be true, since Col. Basurin hastened to add in another account that responsibility for the failed attack was not on the newly appointed Ukrainian commander in the region, Lt. General Mykhailo Zabrodsky.
According to the vesti-ukr.com account, adviser to Ukrainian president Piotr Poroshenko, Yury Biryukov said the attack was undertaken by unidentified officers within the staff of the 58th Motorized Rifle Brigade, who were "seeking glory."
Lugansk
Rebels and Ukrainian media said that both sides exchanged artillery fire in Lugansk.
Ukrainian media said that the rebels fired 82mm mortar fire into Krymskoye on Sunday.
Rebels said that Ukrainian forces fired 82mm and 120mm mortar fire on towns south and east of the Svetodarsk region, including at Kalinovka, Kalinovo, Logvinovo and Slavyanoserbsk.
Donetsk
On Monday, Ukrainian media reported exchanges of gunfire in southern Donetsk, at Vodnovo and Gnutovo. Near Donetsk city, rebels fired on Ukrainian positions at Avdievka.
On Sunday, according to a news report in gorlovka-pravda.dn.ua, a residential building in Zaitsevo was destroyed by fire after it was hit by Ukrainian artillery fire.
Also on Sunday, the Donetsk ministry of defense website said that two more buildings in Dokuchaevsk were damaged by Ukrainian direct fire from infantry fighting vehicles and heavy machine guns.
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.