Operational data from Information Resistance:
As the number of shelling attacks by Russian-terrorist troops in the ATO zone has increased, the enemy is making active use of armored vehicles (including tanks) and 122 mm and 152 mm cannon artillery – in addition to the “traditional weapons set” (small arms, grenade launchers, mortars of both the main calibers). Militants are gradually switching from individual shelling raids to the mass utilization of their weapons. The activity of enemy DRGs has increased sharply, as has reconnaissance on all levels, with wide use of UAVs and ELINT [electronic intelligence].
Militant activity remains the most intense in the area of Avdiivka. The enemy there is actively using mortars in permanent mode [meaning self-propelled and vehicle mounted], grenade launchers and heavy machine guns. Several times, militant infantry groups attempted to leave the “industrial zone” area, drawing closer to the ATO forces’ positions to an effective firing range. At the same time, terrorists made fire strikes from 152 mm artillery (hitting areas beyond Yasynovskyi Lane and northwest of the “industrial zone”). Those strikes came from the positions of five militant 152-mm “Akatsiya” self-propelled guns spotted south of Yakovlivka.
In the Zaitseve and Zhovanka area, terrorists fired up to 300 mortars, shells and SPG-9 grenades at Ukrainian troop positions in the first half of the day [03.31] alone. Near Horlivka, the artillery group of the militant “3rd separate motorized rifle brigade,” after receiving extra ammunition, fired at the northwestern outskirts of Holmivskyi (where the terrorists’ own positions are located), following which hysteria broke out in the “DNR” media about the “shelling of civilians by a despicable Ukrainian punitive unit.”
In the coastal regions, the enemy is actively using 120-mm mortars in addition to other weaponry: firing on the northern outskirts of Vodyane, the ATO forces’ checkpoint on the motorway to Mariupol near Vodyane, as well as on Ukrainian troop strongholds and observation posts east of Talakivka and Hnutove.
South of Donetsk, well-trained groups of militant snipers have appeared in several sections at once (Hranitne, Pavlopil, Vodyane). Terrorist sniper groups are also active in the area of Opytne and Pisky, operating simultaneously with shelling from grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.
In the Avdiivka area, militants are using Russian POM-2 “Otyok” antipersonnel mines, set in place using remote mine laying methods. These landmines are prohibited by international convention.
Due to the activities of “LNR” militants, the “Zolote” entry-exit checkpoint in Luhansk Oblast was closed immediately after being opened. When attempts were made to enter/exit the occupied territory through this checkpoint, terrorists would stop vehicles on their side [of the checkpoint] and beat the people travelling in them (several cases were noted). Commanders of the armed gangs operating in the area asserted that the Ukrainian side “did not coordinate” the opening of the checkpoint with them. Predictably, the local “LNR” population blames Ukraine for the checkpoint closure.
In Horlivka, following the casualties in the “3rd separate motorized rifle brigade” (the “Horlivka Brigade” – up to 10 terrorists were destroyed on 30.03.2016), the militants began to spread rumors about the “arrival of snipers from the US Marine Corps at the front.” These rumors are universally believed in militant circles.
An inspection committee from the “[DNR Army] Corps HQ” is starting work in the “100th Brigade” of the “DNR Army,” checking for fraud involving payments and allowance issued to “ghost employees.” Before the commission arrived, the brigade commanders seized so-called “military service cards” from the militants under their command.
The “1st Army Corps” is considering constructing its own military medical treatment center, since civilian hospitals are unable to meet militants’ needs (mainly due to a lack of medicines and medical equipment). A preliminary decision has been made to set up another “field hospital” in Yenakijeve.
In Sverdlovsk, the high command of the “2nd LNR Army Corps” is conducting an investigation into an incident where a militant from the “4th separate motorized rifle brigade” threw a grenade at civilians. As a result of the militant’s action, six persons were injured (two of them, gravely). The militant was under the influence of alcohol.
The “LNR Ministry of State Security” held a meeting to discuss combating the rumors currently being spread among the local population about an imminent “return of Ukraine.” According to these rumors, spreading particularly actively among officials of “LNR state structures,” severe punishment awaits all those who have collaborated with the terrorists, after the arrival of Ukrainian troops expected in the near future. The “Ministry of State Security” suggests that, in addition to identifying and “neutralizing” the disseminators of such rumors, “counter-rumors” should be spread: stating that in the case of Ukrainian forces’ arrival, all inhabitants, without exception, will pass through filtration camps and be forced to relocate to other regions.
Video: Ukrainian troops repel attack near Avdiivka. Posted on April 1, 2016 by Military TV of Ukraine:
Source: http://maidantranslations.com/
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