Ukrainian troops in ‘full, chaotic retreat’ as Putin opens ‘third front’ in stealth war

The Washington Times: 27. August 2014
(update from EMPR)

A tank with a flag of so called "Novorossia" drives in central Donetsk late on August 23, 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stealth war of attrition may be paying off. As evidence mounts that pro-Russian separatists are being supplied with new weapons from across the border, some Ukrainian soldiers are now refusing to fight.

In Novoazovsk, a Ukrainian unit staring down tanks, artillery and infantry personnel responded to shelling by sitting down, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

“Anybody who refuses to fight, sit apart from the others,” a commander from the 9th Brigade from Vinnytsia ordered, The Times reported. Eleven men obliged.

“Some troops were in a full, chaotic retreat: A city-busload of them careened past on the highway headed west, purple curtains flapping through windows shot out by gunfire,” The Times said.

The newspaper said that the presence Russian troops in the northern border town of Novoazovsk constitutes a “third front” in the battle for control over eastern Ukraine.


Russian tanks entering Novoazovsk. (Aug. 27, 2014).

Somewhere around midnight (LT) it has been confirmed (by УНН - Украинские Национальные Новости/Ukrainian National News Agency) Novoazovsk was captured by Russian troops. Completely blocked by tanks. Locals show no intention of leaving the town.

Some 30 Russian tanks, 500 infantry soldiers entered Novoazovsk. Ukrainian ATO forces left the city.
In Novoazovsk no more shelling or shootout can be heard, Russian military vehicles & military with DPR flags can be seen patrolling the city.
Right now Russian tanks are in 40 minutes drive from Mariupol. The battles happen in the area of the settlement Bezimenne and in Sahanka (15 km from Mariupol). 

Anounced reinforcement to Ukrainian defenders in Ilovaysk, after 4 days of waiting, never came, and at 23.05 (LT) 2 Russian tanks move in to Ilovaysk - (Donbas battalion commander Semen Semenchenko reported to the media).
5 hours ago, in attempt to avoid inevitable encirclement and annihilation, Ukrainian forces left strategic height Saur-Mohyla.

“Russia is clearly trying to put its finger on the scale to tip things back in favor of its proxies,” a senior American official told The Times. “Artillery barrages and other Russian military actions have taken their toll on the Ukrainian military.”