A website called – SKELET -info received a message from the Lumen service stating that the site allegedly violated copyright and posted a photo of Igor Lunev in an article without his consent.
As a result, Google removed our dossier from the search results, which contains a biography and compromising information on the commander of the MTR Igor Lunev.
It is known that in this way dishonest characters try to clean up the information space from information they do not like.
Igor Lunev. Who does the Ukrainian army work for? PART 1
Major General Igor Lunev headed the first special forces in Ukraine – the Special Operations Forces (SOF). Viktor Muzhenko himself appointed him to this position. They speak of Lunev as the first military general and a respected person. But is it?
We figured out why the military handed over weapons and military equipment to the separatists, how the DAP fell and who killed the head of the DPR Alexander Zakharchenko.
Through thorns to the Ukrainian special forces
In September 2014, President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree “On urgent measures to protect Ukraine and strengthen its defense capability.” The Ministry of Defense has a task – to form the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
What is the Special Operations Forces (SOF)? This is a special branch of the army, which includes high-class fighters, ultra-modern weapons and an analytical apparatus. Their task is to carry out pinpoint and especially important operations in the conflict zone. In fact, this is a modern Ukrainian special forces.
The concept of creating the MTR was coordinated for 1 year, without coming to a common denominator. In 2015, a large-scale conflict was taken out of the General Staff for general review.
The head of the General Staff, Viktor Muzhenko, said that the fault for the lack of a concept lies with the head of the special operations department of the General Staff, Sergei Krivonos. Supporters of Krivonos accused Muzhenko of bias due to a personal conflict.
There really was a conflict between Muzhenko and Krivonos. It arose during the defense of the Kramatorsk airfield. Krivonos with a group of landing and special forces held the defense of the airfield for 47 days. Noticing a column of Girkin’s separatists, he reported to the General Staff. They promised to “cover with fire”, but instead, the column calmly left for Donetsk. Krivonos became furious and told Muzhenko in a special communications conversation: “Comrade General, you are a traitor to Ukraine!”
The conflict dragged on, and Muzhenko tried with all his might to remove Krivonos from the process of creating the MTR. He succeeded. According to the official version of the General Staff, Krivonos “did not cope with the task.”
Viktor Muzhenko was simultaneously developing his own concept of MTR. Its essence was to combine highly mobile landing troops with special forces. With this “idea” the head of the General Staff almost broke off relations with NATO. The Alliance has sharply criticized the idea and declared a violation of standards. By the way, the American partners allocated $20 million for the first stage of training the fighters.
Frightened by NATO criticism, in April 2015 a working group of the Administration of the President of Ukraine was created to form the SOF. Among others, Irina Vasilyevna Friz , the permanent press secretary of Petro Poroshenko, a deputy from the BPP, who oversees NATO issues, entered it and actually headed it . The group met only a few times. But Irina Vasilievna began to “command” the special forces. Of course, being in the shadows.
In 2016, the name of the person who will head the COO became known. It was Major General Igor Lunev. The appointment was announced by Viktor Muzhenko.
Two candidates fought for the chair – Igor Lunev and the scandalous Sergei Krivonos. By the way, Irina Friz connected all her connections in the AP so that Krivonos passed. According to SKELET-info , Irina Vasilievna has warm feelings for Krivonos and the couple is dating. But Muzhenko was unshakable.
Igor Lunev became a compromise figure. On the one hand, he is a protege of the Chief of the General Staff, and on the other hand, he is loyal to Poroshenko. Krivonos Freese was able to knock out a supporting role – the first deputy commander of the MTR.
So, who manages the SSO and whom do a good half of Ukrainians place their hopes on?
From gunners to paratroopers
The biography of Igor Vasilyevich Lunev in open sources is very “modest”. It is known that he was born on April 25, 1962. In 1979-1983 he studied at the Odessa Higher Artillery Command School, then at the Academy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (1997-1999).
Conventionally, Lunev’s military career can be divided into 2 stages: artillery and landing. At the first stage, Igor Vasilievich commanded a self-propelled artillery battalion of an artillery regiment, at the second – in 2001-2003 he was the commander of the 25th separate Dnepropetrovsk airborne brigade (OPDBr), then – deputy chief of staff of the 6th corps (operational-tactical formation as part of the ground forces of Ukraine).
BMD-2 of the 25th Airborne Brigade at a checkpoint between Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, May 11, 2014
When the ATO began, Igor Lunev was the deputy commander of the Highly Mobile Airborne Troops (VDV) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He planned and led the units of highly mobile landing troops, which liberated Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Debaltseve, Uglegorsk, Zhdanovka, Nizhnyaya Krynka.
How equipment and weapons were given away
In open sources , SKELET-info found a lot of references to the incredible tactical decisions of Lunev, which led to the destruction of the enemy. However, there is another side of the coin – Igor Lunev commanded the Dnepropetrovsk paratroopers (the same 25th separate detachment brigade), whom he sent to the Donetsk region without topographic support. Its fighters voluntarily gave weapons and military equipment to the separatists.
The story took place in April 2014 near Kramatorsk and caused an unprecedented resonance. Local residents blocked 6 armored vehicles of the 25th OPBR, “green men” in masks, with weapons and St. George ribbons, arrived in time for them. As a result of the negotiations, the Ukrainian military was released from the encirclement, but they gave up the bolts and strikers from the machine guns, without which the weapon would not be able to fire.
And also the separatists took away 6 pieces of equipment for themselves, hoisted the flags of the Russian Federation on them, they calmly left.
But not far… The cars were seen in Slavyansk (Donetsk region) near the White Night cafe. There, the separatists and fighters of the 25th Brigade ate sandwiches with Igor Girkin himself. By the way, this technique later fought against the Ukrainian troops.
Information about the capture of equipment plunged the Ministry of Defense into shock. Oleksandr Turchynov , the then acting president, called the Ukrainian military traitors and demanded that the unit be disbanded and the military sent to prison.
“The 25th separate airborne brigade, whose servicemen showed cowardice and handed over their weapons, will be disbanded, and the servicemen responsible for this will be held accountable ,” Turchynov said.
Ukrainians also condemned the 25th OPDB, saying how it was possible to voluntarily hand over their weapons. Under Stalin, this threatened to be shot.
Few listened to the military themselves. It turns out that they had an order: do not shoot and hand over machine guns and equipment. Moreover, the airborne troops were deliberately led into a trap. A column of military personnel (about 50 vehicles) was moving towards the border of the Donetsk region, but pro-Russian activists blocked their way. The column took a detour. One group was led by Senior Lieutenant Yaroslav Anika. In the center of Kramatorsk, the military was ambushed by “locals”. It was the lieutenant who transmitted the order from the leadership to unfasten the stores from the machine guns so as not to irritate the locals, and also to give the cars back. Then he went over to the side of the separatists and agitated the soldiers to join the Russian army.
The media hushed up the name of the head of the operation – Igor Lunev. All the “bumps” fell on the military. The head of the Center for Military-Political Research Dmitry Tymchuk supported the guys. He posted a rebuttal on his Facebook page.
Turchynov nevertheless signed a decree disbanding the 25, but the order was soon canceled, and the brigade continued to operate in eastern Ukraine.
By the way, the 25th brigade suffered the biggest losses during the ATO – more than 100 people were killed, 500 were injured. But the real figure can be very different from the official one, according to the fighters themselves.