Ukrainian security forces are continuing their operation against pro-Russian separatists April 16. After pro-Russian armed groups seized a number of administrative and security buildings across eastern Ukraine in the past week, the Ukrainian military and security forces on April 15 recaptured an airfield near Kramatorsk and cleared the area of separatist forces.
A buildup of forces, fuel and supplies in Izyum, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, preceded the operation. From there, a mechanized force of reportedly 500 personnel moved into the vicinity of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk and set up checkpoints to isolate and contain the immediate region. Separatist groups had seized buildings in both cities as well as the main airport that services them. Next, elements of the Security Service of Ukraine raided the airport and retook it in what appears to have been a combined air assault and land attack. After the operation, the Ukrainians announced that their forces had beaten back an attempt to retake the airfield late in the afternoon by armed men in "green uniforms" and with no insignia.
The operation was an apparent success, but separatists are still dug in throughout the region and Russian troops are ready for rapid mobilization along the border. Russian officials have condemned the operation, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who called the use of force "unacceptable."
These concerns were highlighted in the second day of active operations by Ukrainian security forces, when they proceeded into a few urban areas in force. In Kramatorsk, significant numbers of infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers drove into town, where crowds of protesters blocked their way. There have been conflicting reports that a number of these troops either defected with their vehicles or had their vehicles taken by protesters. Several of the vehicles appear to be BMD infantry fighting vehicles, which are typically operated by the elite 25th airborne unit. Significant defections among such an elite unit would be very worrisome for Kiev.
In many ways the operation at Kramatorsk airfield was the easiest part of the operation to pacify the unrest in eastern Ukraine because it involved the seizure of an air base in a mainly isolated, non-urban environment. As Ukrainian security forces move toward clearing other sectors, they will have to enter densely populated urban terrain with large numbers of pro-Russian protesters, particularly in Luhansk and Donetsk, increasing the likelihood of collateral damage in firefights with armed militants. Since Kiev wants to avoid giving Moscow more excuses to overtly and militarily intervene in mainland Ukraine, such a scenario is fraught with risk.
Because pro-Russian militants have seized so many buildings, the Ukrainians cannot depend solely on their reportedly loyal but meager interior special operations forces to spearhead operations. As a result, regular forces — even if rather elite ones, like the 25th airborne division — will have to be utilized. Bringing regular troops face-to-face with civilian protesters will put the loyalty of the security forces to the test because they will have to decide whether they are willing to conduct what are sure to be violent operations in the east against what in many cases would be people from their own cities and regions. As the defection or abandonment of equipment in Kramatorsk showed, such a situation could backfire.
There are also substantial signs that Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (or GRU, the country's foreign military intelligence agency) is present in the east. These signs range from well-organized militant outfits with considerable equipment (likely coordinated by GRU operatives) to reports of specialized vehicles with communications equipment. The head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, even said April 16 at a closed session in the parliament that 23 Russian GRU officers had been arrested in operations so far. Whether the GRU presence is real or not, a substantial number of the militants are noticeably organized. Aside from offering significant resistance to Ukrainian operations, they have reportedly also struck at cellphone towers across the east to disrupt communications and impede Kiev's operations.
Finally, as the Ukrainian forces move to quell the uprisings, they also have to remain alert to the large Russian military presence on their borders. The limited numbers of combat-effective troops available for Kiev now have to be stretched even further as some are dispatched to the border and others are tasked with quelling domestic uprisings across the east.
