Updated to explain Mariupol in one paragraph
On Friday, the interior ministry did its job by recapturing the administrative building. After that, the civilian authorities are supposed to take over. But they aren't. Either because of fear or venality, they aren't reasserting legitimate government control and renewing government activities in the captured buildings.
This seems to explain the strange spectacles in eastern Ukraine, where Russian sponsored militants seize a building somewhere, then Ukrainian forces take it back over, and then they give up their positions, so the militants can return. This happened yesterday in Mariupol, when, for no evident reason, the Ukrainians just marched out of the building they had captured.
Today, when the Dnipro volunteer battalion from Dnipropetrovsk arrived at the Mariupol militia headquarters, it was attacked by 60 armed terrorists. Today, there was an armed attack by 60 terrorists on the town's militia building. The battalion fought them off, suffering the loss of it deputy commander and a soldier. Had the interior ministry reinforced the battalion, Yuri Butusov says they could have neutralized the attackers completely. But the interior ministry forces weren't battle-ready (not sure why, maybe after yesterday's fight they ran out of ammo or something).
Boris Filatov, one of Kolomoisky's deputies in Dnipropetrovsk, seems to blame it (without specifying) on "the local Mariupol authorities -- dirty, cheap, treacherous, regional [referring to the Party of Regions, I'm assuming] rats...who will kiss up to any dictator for the chance to steal and pillage the people. A treacherous tribe of genetic slaves. But the solution is coming...and with the deaths of our guys, you have approached your own end."
Gennady Korban, Kolomoisky's other deputy, sounded more charitable: According to Yuri Butusov Бyтycoв, Korban said that in the towns of Donetsk and Luhansk, the local authorities are frightened and paralyzed by the terrorist attacks. The Dnipro battalion that took over the the administrative building in Mariupol aren't able to return it to the authorities. Holding the building without any government authorities in it makes no sense. The authorities are scared, they're afraid to walk through city, saying that terrorists are kidnapping people right off the streets."
Butusov suggests appointing temporary military commanders in the occupied towns, with total power for a limited time -- like 3 months. Maybe.
Source: Borys Filatov
https://www.facebook.com/borys.filatov?fref=nf
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