This is one of the best and easiest to read Ukraine sitreps on the Net. Please feel free to read and repost.
New map of the fighting dated February 1-2. Click to enlarge. Use this map to locate the towns described in the sitrep.
Not much has changed in the past day. 3,250 NAF forces have still surrounded 8,000 Ukies in the Debaltsevo area. As you might gather, the main problem that the NAF has in this area is a lack of forces. This is true overall across the entire front.
Today it was reported for the second time that the NAF had seized Chernuhino. The earlier report was in error, and this one is also. The NAF have still not taken the town and street to street fighting is ongoing. There are many civilians still here, and there situation is very dire. Reports out of Chernuhino are contradictory. Some say that the NAF have been routed and pushed out of the town after taking heavy casualties. Others say that the Ukies have gained control over much of the town and have reinforced their positions there, but the NAF still holds part of it. At any rate, the news out of Chernuhino is not positive for the NAF.
Although the NAF retains Uglegorsk, the Ukies continue to shell the town. NAF control over Uglegorsk is less than full as the Ukies are still on the outskirts of town.
The NAF did overrun several checkpoints in the area in the south of Debaltsevo pocket. One area is south of Kamyanka (between Nikishno and Olhovatka) southwest of Nikishno where it says Mogila Ostraya on the map. The other area is south of Slavne, a bit north of Maloorlovka.
Otherwise there were few changes in the Debaltsevo pocket as efforts to evacuate civilians continue.
The Ukies are said to control Troitskoe, but this is not completely true as a major NAF push into the city has resulted in the a Ukie battalion being surrounded.
There is still heavy fighting in Poposnaya, and much of the town has been destroyed. The NAF is still stuck in the eastern outskirts and unable to advance. This battle is stalemated.
From Popasnaya east to Stanitsa Luganska, all is quiet. This front has been stalemated for a while now.
The NAF lost ground west of Gorlovka just east of Dzerzhinsk around Shumni. The Ukies are now back in the northwest suburbs of Gorlovka and Gorlovka is once again under heavy shelling.
Heavy fighting continues in Peski, but the pace has slowed in the past few days. The report a week ago that the NAF took Peski is in error. In truth, they took most of the town, but the Ukies are still in the eastern outskirts and fighting is ongoing.
Dokuchaevsk once again came under heavy Ukie shelling.
In the first heavy action in Mariupol in a while, the NAF overran a Ukie checkpoint east of the city.
Peace talks are ongoing, but they are not likely to be very productive. Kerry is threatening to arm the Nazis, but this may be an empty threat. The best proposal still entails no independence or recognition for Novorussia, only very limited self-rule and decentralization and no lifting of the sanctions on Russia. This is clearly unacceptable from the Russian and NAF point of view. Lavrov recently suggested the rebels do not have strong ties to Russia. “Don’t think that they follow orders,” he said. This implies that Russia is going to take a hands-off approach to the NAF and let them do whatever they want to within limits. Most recent proposals to allow the NAF to acquire their newly conquered territory in the past few weeks.
