East Ukraine: Terrorist leaders allegedly leave warzone, chemical plant mined in Horlivka (upd)
Igor Strelkov-Girkin (‘Strelok’) and Igor Bezler (‘Bes’) have fled the combat zone, euromaidanpress.com reports.
The two are not present in the area of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO), or in places where other rebel leaders are in hiding, a source close to the headquarter of the ATO says.
According to intercepted telephone conversations, accomplices of the two do not know the current location of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic’s warlords, and have been looking for them. Terrorists are convinced that the two have fled, rather than left in a strategic retreat. The rebels are panicking, as most of the supply chain of money, weapons, and reinforcements are cutoff, the source states. This may mean a transition to the final stage of the Donbas’ ATO.
Troops of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) have completely blocked the town of Horlivka, the ATO press office wrote on its Facebook page.
‘During the day [Sunday] advanced detachments of the ATO forces continued to attack certain areas and narrow the ring around gangs. Horlivka is completely blocked,’ the report reads.
After Messrs Girkin-Strelkov and Bezler disappeared in an unknown direction, the ‘power’ in Horlivka has been transferred to terrorist ‘Botsman’ who threatens to blow up Stirol, a local chemical plant, if the Ukrainian army continues the offensive. This was stated by reservist Colonel General Volodymyr Ruban, ukrinform.ua reports.
{movie}’Botsman’ from terrorist Arsen Pavlov’s (‘Motorola’) squad|right|17672{/movie}
‘Today the Ukrainian army launched an offensive in the area of Horlivka, firing on the positions of terrorists, including with Grad rocket launchers and guns. This created panic in the town, because the locals were not ready for such a situation. The most dangerous thing is that ‘Botsman’ threatens to blow up Horlivka’s Stirol and other hazardous facilities if the Ukrainian army does not stop shelling the positions of militants,’ Ruban said.
The press service of Dmitry Firtash, Stirol’s owner, confirmed the information about its mining.
‘All large-scale production, including the synthesis and processing of ammonia was stopped May 8, 2014, after the aggravation of the situation in the region. The enterprise has no stocks of ammonia and other hazardous substances. Therefore, possible explosions at the plant can destroy production shops, but will not lead to a chemical accident with serious consequences,’ the press-service informs. After receiving information about the mining, all the company’s employees were evacuated.
