Nelli Verner of Levy Bereg (Left Bank) has filed a report this morning at 8:16 am Kiev time on the status of the Ukrainian forces surrounded by Russian-backed separatists in Debaltsevo. The following summary and excerpts are translated byr:

Yury Sinkovsky, deputy commander of the 40th Battalion, known as “Krivbass” is urging that the Ukrainian Armed forces send reinforcements to them or else help them come out of the kettle.





“Urgent, the 40th needs help. Especially the village of Oktyabrskoye, especially Kopye and Moysha (call-signs). They know there. They just say ‘Yes, help is on the way,’ but the guys don’t see it. They are almost in hand-to-hand combat there, street fighting has broken out. Measures must immediately be taken for the 40th, for Debaltsevo. Please, if there is such a opportunity, sound it right now and immediately, I’m knocking on all the doors to help the guys.”

LB was able to reach one of the fighters at a stronghold inside the kettle.

“They [militants] have moved right in rudely, making themselves at home. There is no shooting, they offer us to give up our arms. We’re already calling everybody so that they simply get us out of here.”

Some of these areas once held by Ukrainian forces within the kettle fell to

the militants yesterday, says LB. Yesterday, Russian-backed fighters issued an ultimatum: give up the positions by 23:00, and come out without arms. Otherwise, they would be destroyed. The ATO headquarters confirmed this ultimatum.

But Andrei Lysenko, spokesman for the ATO, said that while an ultimatum was given, he didn’t confirm other reports:

“Our soldiers are holding their positions. There is an opportunity to deliver ammunition and food to these positions. Using the ceasefire, the militants are approaching our positions with white flags and offering us to give up arms, that is, they are placing psychological pressure on our soldiers. However, the situation there is completely manageable, no one is intending to leave. There is ammunition. And in the event of attack, our soldiers are prepared to fend it off. There are communications, the commander of the battalion is in place, all the divisions are in place.”

He reiterated that the Russian-backed fighters were trying to put psychological pressure on the soldiers, but their discipline was maintained and no one was going to leave their position or drop their arms.

Meanwhile, the OSCE was blocked from coming to observe the situation, and Lysenko was asked when it would come. He said, “We can’t order the OSCE around, it is an independent organization.”

The wife of one soldier who was able to make contact with her husband did confirm that at least one Ukrainian position received food and ammunition.

Fifteen soldiers were reported dead as of 20:30 on February 15.

At 22:30, according to Ukrainska Pravda, Vladislav Seleznyov, speaker of the General Staff said that the militants continued to fire on the positions of the Krivbass battalion. He said Cossacks had come under white flags to try to persuade the men to surrender. He said the men were standing firm.

“Our position is clear. Our soldiers have taken up positions and are standing where they were. Our artillery is firing on those who advance. There is an offensive by the militants and there is a reaction. Earlier at 18:30, some of the units were cut off from each other, and when they tried to rejoin, they fell under shell fire and had to retreat. Thus, they are dealing with little kettles, and not one big kettle as they were in Ilovaisk.”

Food had run out nonetheless in some positions and some soldiers said they were now drinking just water, in solidarity with Savchenko.

The Ukrainian soldiers believe that if the OSCE mission could just make its way to them, they could be saved. They could help evacuate the wounded and the bodies of those killed. But as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin said, the DNR fighters were not letting the mission through to Debaltsevo.

As we reported yesterday February 15, Nikolai Kolesnik, advisor to Dnepropetrovsk Governor Ihor Kolomoyskyi, militants were shooting on three positions of the 40th Battalion, and they reported they were surrounded.

“Our fighter from one of the checkpoints near Chernukhino called another and said, ‘Borya, we’re surrounded,’ and said goodbye,” said Olga, a volunteer who is helping soldiers in the ATO zone. Based on the information from intelligence, she says that the main strongholds of the 40th are really surrounded now.

“For the people from here, it’s not a ‘kettle’ because they can get to Debaltsevo via other roads somehow. But for the guys there, it’s a kettle,” she said.

It is not clear from available reports whether the crossroads of Debaltsevo where four roads meet was under Ukrainian control or not; last week, Ukrainians were constantly fending off separatists’ attacks, says LB.ua.

The Krivbass battalion is located in a two-story building in Debaltsevo but this is now damaged and the men are in the cellar. Yuliya, the wife of one of the soldiers of the 40th who works at the headquarters office, said she had reached her husband yesterday morning:





“They are shooting, some Cossacks came and tried to come to an agreement. They have been encircled for a long time. Sinkovsky said already they were encircled. He said that they’re already in the cellars. That building, where the headquarters were, it’s already gone. Sinkovsky already said that the guys have no vehicles, if they were to retreat — I can’t even imagine how that would be done.”

Yuliya said the OSCE was supposed to come today but has not yet. She said the separatists have seized the 40th battalion’s radio station. Communications were somehow restored but she does not know for how long. Packages sent to them did not reach them.

Sinkovsky, deputy commander of the 40th, said:





“I can confirm there is no ceasefire there. Battles are underway at the strongholds. An hour ago a battle finished near Logvinovo. I urge the OSCE representatives to be invited there and see what kind of ceasefire it is, after all. There is no ceasefire. There are battles under way in Chernukhino, Logvinovo. It is not just an encirclement of the 40th, they have sneaked through to the strongholds and in part have surrounded the strongholds. I can confirm that fact.”

Rodion Korovkin, former chief of staff of the battalion said that according to his information, from some of the soldiers he had reached yesterday morning at 9:00 am, they were completely surrounded and had enough ammunition for 30-40 minutes of battle.

LB.ua reported that Lysenko could not confirm this, but meanwhile soldiers in the 40th said that most likely the military leadership did not know about their actual situation.

All night, there was shooting on the positions of the 40th, and one wounded man was brought out. He also denied the information published by Semyon Semyonchenko yesterday that the road from Debaltsevo to Luganskoye was clear.

He reiterated that the men were staying in position. “Not a step back, we’re standing our ground,” he said.

If they were to evacuate from the kettle, they had no vehicles, they would have to make a march out and look for vehicles along the way at checkpoints.

— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick