Kiev abandons Debaltseve to the separatists

Ukrainian troops have begun retreating from Debaltseve, the epicenter of the war in eastern Ukraine and the city where the Minsk ceasefire has failed to take hold. Reporters from the Ukrainian outlet Hromadske TV say many of Kiev’s soldiers are leaving the city on foot, getting picked up by different Ukrainian detachments on the highway leading back to Kiev-controlled territory. “Units leaving the city have encountered resistance,” Hromadske TV says, “and forward scouts are clearing a path.”

Semen Semenchenko, (real name: Kostyantyn Hryshyn) a Rada deputy and the commander and founder of the Donbas battalion, confirmed the retreat, announcing today, “The withdrawal of troops from Debaltseve is being carried out orderly and according to plan.” Semenchenko says separatists are still mounting attacks south of the city, but Kiev’s troops are allegedly in control of the road leading away from the war zone.

Kiev has also withdrawn from Debaltseve the headquarters for its “Anti-Terrorist Operation,” as well as the Kryvbas battalion, one of Kiev’s volunteer military units in the Donbas. “We have men killed in action, men wounded in action, and men taken prisoner,” said Nikolai Kolesnik, the Kryvbas spokesperson.

Separatists say hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered. 

The 128th brigade and 40th battalion of Ukraine’s territorial defense group Kryvbas are leaving the city on foot. Hromadske TV reporters also encountered soldiers from the Lviv battalion on the road leading away [from Debaltseve].

On February 17, separatists announced they’d captured Debaltseve and fully encircled Kiev’s troops in the area, killing dozens of Ukrainian soldiers and taking captive as many as 300 men.

Ukrainian military officials later confirmed that rebels had broken through the defenses at Debaltseve and entered the city, though they denied claims that mass numbers of Kiev’s troops have been captured by separatists.