A strange truce is in place but warring sides seem to expect the eventual restart of full-blown fighting - perhaps in April
'Colonel Cassad' is a Russian blog (reportedly from the pen of Boris Rozhin of Sevastopol, Crimea) that does not attempt to hide its pro-rebel sympaties, thus the referrences to Kiev government as "junta" etc.
Its value is in that it has sources on the ground and its reports frequently turn out to be more accurate than the reporting of the other side.
Also unlike most pro-rebel and pro-government blogs covering the conflict it does not tend toward sensationalism, but on the contrary tends to provide sober and reserved analysis.
This is an excerpt from an article that originally appeared at Colonel Cassed. It was translated at Colonel Cassad in English
Skirmishing
Two enemy T-64 tanks drove up to the front line and opened fire on the NAF positions between Uglegorsk and Lozovaya. After this they were destroyed based on the tip from our reconnaissance group, some of the tank crewmen perished. Some time ago one enemy self-propelled artillery mount was destroyed by mortar fire. Overall, such clashes continue to erupt periodically without growing into large-scale military action. This is most clearly evidenced by the hustle at Shirokino and Peski, where the low-intensity military action essentially hasn't really stopped.
Buildup in the northern sector
Regarding the information http://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/2084443.html (in Russian) from Gleb Bobrov about the north-Lugansk front. We managed to clarify things with some fairly competent people. Indeed, there is accumulation of enemy forces in the area of Stanitsa Luganskaya and Schastye. Over the last week the enemy forces increased here by about 2.5 thousand people + a redeployment of up to 150-170 various vehicles was noted. At this stage the enemy is preparing mostly for defensive actions: additional firing positions are equipped, they dig trenches and shelters, they prepare additional minefields. The defense is based on company-level strongholds. There is effectively no pullback of artillery, in contrast with the LPR, where the majority of heavy artillery has indeed been withdrawn, within the confines of implementing the Minsk agreements. The military action is expected to restart in April. The level of preparation of the junta for the offensive on Lugansk on this location is evaluated as low. The level of preparedness for the defense – sufficiently high.
Ukraine side claims killed high profile commander
The junta media spread yet another set of rumors of "Motorola" [well-known rebel field commander] being shot by a sniper. It is reasonable to speculate that this is already the 10th virtual death of "Motorola" and the "dead man" will soon refute this, even though it is clear that the junta has a thinly veiled desire to see him dead.
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