Skip to main content

Sabotage and Spetsnatz threaten Ukraine

Kalynivka depot explosion. (Photo: REUTERS)

As the night fell, a large Ukrainian armed forces ammunition storage was engulfed in flames at Kalynivka. The fires spread rapidly across the facility that contained 188,000 tons of munitions. Luckily most of the compartmentalization features, such as bunkers and steel walls have managed to limit the damage to about 30 % of the munitions stored there.

This is the third ammunitions dump fire in Ukraine recently. All of these have been active facilities that are storing relevant and modern munitions and all have been feeding the Ukrainian Army units defending Ukraine against the Russian aggression. These are not some half-derelict old depots, looked after by the washouts the military wants to hide from sight.

The Ukrainian security service has claimed that the previous fires/explosions were Russian sabotage operations. The Balakliya dump was claimed to have ignited by an explosive device dropped from a Russian drone. Similar claims have already surfaced from the latest explosion.

The SBU’s chief made a statement earlier that the Russian intelligence services are conducting a sabotage and terror campaign within Ukraine. He directly blamed that Russia was involved in several assassinations and attacks.

Members of the 22nd Spetsnatz Brigade

Interestingly Russia activated several military units right before the ammo dump exploded and at least the 22nd Spetsnatz brigade was activated immediately after the incident. 22nd Brigade has been active in clandestine operations since the Soviet era and it's a unit likely to be sent to operate in Donbass. Some sources claim that the unit is training expendable volunteers that are special forces in name only.

Other noteworthy unit that was moved close to the Ukrainian border, was a battalion of the 42nd motor rifle division stationed near Grozny in Chechnya. The Chechen formations have been used both in Donbass and in Syria. Most attack and special operations helicopter formations in the region are also currently conducting nigh operations training.
Ukrainian Army might soon run low on heavy munitions. (Photo: AFP / Sergei Supinsky)

While there isn’t a real invasion force in place that could immediately threaten the survival of Ukraine, but many of these elements could be used to escalate the situation in Donbass and drain the dwindling ammunition stocks of the defenders.

Comments

  1. Great informative site. I'm really impressed after reading this blog post. I really appreciate the time and effort you spend to share this with us! I do hope to read more updates from you. It is my pleasure to read this. For any kind of academic writing work. Visit here

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is really a good source of information, I will often follow it to know more information and expand my knowledge, I think everyone should know it, thanks
    Create Discount master, Product discount app, best autoketing

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi was just seeing if you minded a comment. i like your website and the thme you picked is super. I will be back.
    autoketing
    Shipping Bar for Shopify
    Free shipping bar

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's great, wish you success in the next blog, this is a post that we all should read at least once,
    friv jogos gratis, kizi 2 unblocked, pbs math kids games

    ReplyDelete


  5. food games 2019 online
    basketball games
    soccer games online
    It's great, wish you success in the next blog, this is a post that we all should read at least once,

    ReplyDelete
  6. Currently it sounds like BlogEngine is the best blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
    friv free online juegos
    2player games for kids
    io jogos 2019

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great post i must say and thanks for the information. Education is definitely a sticky subject. However, is still among the leading topics of our time. I appreciate your post and look forward to more.
    miniclip pool , a10 games for kid, Jogos grátis

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick guide to identifying the Russian tanks Part 1: Updated Dec. 2021

  As most of the western nations have reduced their inventories to a few or mostly one type of main battle tank model in their active inventories, the myriad of tank platforms and distinct versions employed by the Russian armed forces may feel overwhelming. Here is a quick guide to identifying Russian MBTs. When you come across an image (or the actual thing), follow the steps to identify it properly. Updated 15.12.2021: T-90 modifications Family of the tank Russian Armed Forces currently operates, or at least storage, the following tank platforms/families: -            T-55 (<2000 in storage) -            T-62 (2000 in storage) -            T-64 (2000 in storage) -            T-72 (2000 active duty, 8000 in storage) -            T-80...

The Russian ”Tank Circus”

The Russian media has published several articles about the latest round of live fire drills by the Russian tank forces. The first brief mentions caught my attention as they described a new tank tactic based on the experiences of the Russian expeditionary force in Syria.  T-72B1 at Pogonovo (Photo: © RIA Novosti / Andrey Stanavov) The details about the new tactic were scarce but there were mentions of continuous movement and a steady barrage of main gun fire. On 4th of July, the RIA published an in depth article about the 20th combined Arms Army’s field training of the new tactics (Translated to English by Sputnik ) The “Tank Carousel” is simply a drill in which a tanks of a formation, be it a platoon or a company, move around a set perimeter firing the from vantage points or openings in a berm and then move off to safety while another one moves in to the same spot to fire.  This does allow the unit to maintain sustained 125 mm tank gun fire at a target ...

Energy deal ties Finland to the Russian Nord Stream 2

A Finnish energy company Fortum has been negotiating with the German E.ON to buy a German energy company called Uniper. The deal has been controversial in Finland as it would include a large number of coal fired power plants that do not fit the Fortum’s strategy of becoming a sustainable and green energy producer. As 50,8 % of Fortum is owned by the Finnish government, the deal has an obvious political angle. (Photo: Nord Stream) The most disturbing aspect of the deal is that Uniper owns a 950 Million € share of the Russo-German gas pipeline project Nord Stream 2 . The Finnish minister responsible for directing the state owned companies is the Center Party’s Mika Lintilä. He stated that he didn’t have any information about the Uniper’s share of the gas pipeline. He also stated that the Finnish government would not veto the deal even if it would link Finland to the controversial pipeline and Russian geopolitical interests. Finland, unlike the Baltic States and Sweden,...