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Military Situation Near Bakhmut On December 5, 2023 (Map Update)
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Russian forces cut the road to Chasov Yar;
Russian forces are expanding the zone of their control near Bogdanovka;
Russian fire is destriying Ukrainian forces along the road to Chasov Yar;
Russian forces continue attacks on the dominant heights near Kleshcheevka;
Clashes continued near Andreevka. The village is in grey zone.
https://maps.southfront.press/milita...23-map-update/
- Zelensky DROPS OUT From Call With US Senators; Tucker Carlson Decries CORRUPTION in Ukraine:
Briahna Joy Gray and Robby Soave discuss President Zelensky's cancelled address to United States senators on military aid.
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If the F-16s transferred to Ukraine are based in NATO countries, they will become a legitimate target of Russia.
The North Atlantic Alliance is getting deeper and deeper into the Ukrainian conflict. As we understand, it is waging a hybrid war against our country under the slogan “saving Ukraine.” They agreed that their main goal was to prevent confrontation with Russia.
Funny.
https://x.com/mazzenilsson/status/1732441555259048419
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🗣 The main thing from Vladimir Putin’s statements at the meeting with the President of the UAE:
◾️ Relations between the Russian Federation and the UAE have reached an unprecedented high level;
◾️ The UAE is making a huge contribution to stabilizing the situation in the world;
◾️ Putin thanked the President of the UAE for providing a site for the construction of an Orthodox church in this country;
◾️ The UAE will continue to strengthen cooperation with Russia;
◾️ Putin said he would discuss the situation in hot spots with the UAE president, including Palestine and Ukraine;
◾️ The UAE President will be expected at the BRICS summit in Kazan in the fall of 2024.
#Source
@Slavyangrad
https://x.com/djuric_zlatko/status/1732370290796089567
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🇵🇱🇺🇦The volume of humanitarian aid for Ukraine has decreased due to checks on the border with Poland, - Do Rzeczy
▪️A representative of the Polish Committee for the Protection of Carriers, Jacek Sokol, said that after the start of tax audits, there were “suddenly” much fewer cars with humanitarian aid allowed to enter Ukraine.
💬 “Suddenly there were much fewer cars with humanitarian aid, because Ukrainian drivers told their bosses that documents would be checked and, probably, criminal cases would be initiated, because falsifying documents is punishable. These cargoes immediately became much smaller,” Jacek Sokol .
▪️He believes that the drivers themselves and the Ukrainian companies themselves are deceiving their country and each other on the issue of who has the right to travel and who does not.
Source: RVvoenkor
https://x.com/djuric_zlatko/status/1732349758931345883
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Kharkov.
4th border detachment. Border Commandant's Office of Rapid Response
A shortened video of Ukrainian staff officers interviewing their border guard who is trying to survive on the front.
“It’s been a year and a half of war, everyone in their own cars, all travel, business trips, fuel, food, repairs at personal expense. In every new place, look for housing yourself.”
“They are gathering personnel who have not slept and are sick after two days. Those who remained are completing the task of assault. No plan, no interaction, no communication.”
“Where are all the financial flows about which they write everywhere on the Internet going (ed. - talking about Western sponsorship of the war against Russia)? Where is the security? Why is everything that was issued to me - not even the entire machine gun, semi-automatic machine, everything else - personal? And so it is for the majority.”
“How can you go on an assault in the absence of thermal imagers, night lights, support, armored vehicles”
“They dug with their hands, because the shovels they gave were plasticine, but they said that there were trenches there. Keeping people under arty, what’s the point?”
“People are not trained to shoot. Do you know how our fire was carried out? We searched for the cartridges that we collected ourselves. They gave us grenades. Who threw the grenade? Nobody! People don't know how to use weapons. Where are you sending them for the assault, gentlemen officers?”
“Reconsider the composition of the commandant’s office. There are people here who are already 58. What kind of quick response will there be?”
Meanwhile, on the western border of Ukraine, border residents live very well. They take money from draft dodgers and smugglers.
https://x.com/mazzenilsson/status/1732441126135611850
SIMPLICIUS The Thinker Ѱ provides an update provided by a Ukrainian Telegram channel on different sectors of military activity. I've bolded certain text as well. Update provided on X, 7:48 PM · Dec 6, 2023:
------------⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️ Ukrainian military channel NachShtabu writes⚡️:
The situation at the front is becoming quite sad. Our units are beginning to experience a shortage of ammunition. The enemy has significantly increased the number of shelling with artillery shells. If a month ago there were from 25 to 35 thousand shells per day, now this figure is over 60 thousand per day.
Currently, the enemy continues to actively attack in Kupyansk, Limansk and Bukhmustk directions. It can be emphasised that the Russians are trying to use less equipment and are operating in small assault groups. In some cases, they are supported by BMP fire.
In the Bakhmut direction, our units have had some successes. Our fighters managed to capture several positions north of Belogorovka. However, there the enemy regularly carries out assaults along the railway. In the area of Kleshcheyevka the enemy has gained the initiative, which allowed the occupants to push back the units of the 80 Oddshbr.
Near Avdeevka, the Russians are cutting our flanks. They are actively using aviation. They are also storming practically without equipment.
Maryinka is almost completely taken. According to our information, fighters from 79 Odshbr were forced to withdraw from several positions. Only a few lines of streets remain under our control.
On the left bank of the Dnieper is difficult but controlled. South-west of Krynok the Russians stormed our positions. However, they were forced to withdraw. Then 26 guided aerial bombs were thrown there⚡️⚡️⚡️
There has been, last I looked, a solitary response to that tweet from a commentator who still labours under the delusion that, quote: "...time is still on Ukraine's side.". The levels of naivete in such statements beggars belief really.
It's been an unmitigated human tragedy for Ukraine spurred on by sponsors in the West, and encouraged by corrupt proxies in Kiev, who continue to double-down on their sunk-cost fallacy. Stupid is as stupid does, and it's worse than that even as anyone who has being paying attention over the last nearly two years ought really to be aware.
In the meantime body language speaks louder than the word. To whit, how Vladimir Putin presents on the global stage: this is not the demeanour of someone who is 'losing', anything, or about to lose - whatever that even really means - anything. :flower:
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From the report of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation dated December 8, 2023.
Enemy losses yesterday were:
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780 military personnel
24 armored vehicles
11 artillery systems
45 units of special vehicles
9 UAVs
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During the period from December 3 to 8, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out 30 group strikes with high-precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles on the military airfield infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the locations of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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During the week, air defense systems shot down three MiG-29s and two Su-25s , as well as one Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force.
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In the period from December 3 to 8, 11 HIMARS multiple launch rocket system missiles, two HARM anti-radar missiles, two S-200 anti-aircraft missiles converted to hit ground targets, and one JDAM guided aerial bomb were intercepted.
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Within a week, 12 Ukrainian servicemen were captured.
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In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the following have been destroyed: 550 aircraft, 257 helicopters, 9,577 unmanned aerial vehicles, 442 anti-aircraft missile systems, 13,894 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,188 combat vehicles of multiple launch rocket systems, 7,279 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 16,056 units of special military vehicles.
https://x.com/GeromanAT/status/1733132101413662999
Nine Russian Tu-95MS bombers pound Kiev – Su-34s launch salvo of four FAB-500s – 40 bombs dropped on Donetsk alone! 08/122023
Russia began heavy bombing
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Russia launched massive air strikes against Ukrainian targets for the first time since August.
On the morning of December 8, nine Tu-95MS bombers fired cruise missiles against Kiev's military and industrial facilities. According to Ukrainian sources, explosions occurred in Kyiv and in the Irpin and Boryspil regions.
An air raid alert was declared in most of the country.
According to media reports, the missiles entered the Ukrainian capital from Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.
It is noted that the last time such large-scale rocket launches were carried out by the Russian Aerospace Forces was in August this year. Since then, the Russian military has been limited to using "Geran" kamikaze UAVs and "Oniks" and "Kalibr" cruise missile launchers.
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https://warnews247-gr.translate.goog..._x_tr_pto=wapp
"Nuclear" bomb from Russia: "We will decide with a referendum the annexation of the whole of Ukraine" - Will the "New Russia" Army continue the war?
08/12/2023
A senior Russian official made a shocking statement revealing that the "annexation of the whole of Ukraine will be decided by a referendum"!
It is the first time since the beginning of the war that such a thing has been officially heard, a fact that shows that Russia's goals have changed after the collapse of the Ukrainian Army and the cessation of funding from the US (and perhaps the EU).
Until now, Kharkiv, Nikolaev and Odessa were mentioned as targets, but not the whole country and certainly not "total annexation of it to Russia".
It is the people of Ukraine who could make such a choice, as the people of Crimea and other Russian regions have expressed their will to join Russia , said Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee Yuri Shvytkin.
For the chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma to express this opinion means that there are "big plans" in the Kremlin...
His comment, which upset the US, came in response to US Senator Chris Murphy's recent statement that Ukraine could return to the control of the Russian Federation.
"It's a shame that an American senator decides on Ukraine.
They have driven Ukraine to the point of real collapse.
Ukraine is essentially on the brink of an abyss.
It has ceased to exist as a state," Yuri Shvytkin said, adding that Russia's primary goal is to achieve the goals of the special military operation.
Chris Murphy, a member of the US Senate from the Democratic Party, expressed the view that Ukraine could become part of Russia if the US fails to approve an additional aid package to the former Soviet republic for 2024.
Will the "Army of the New Russia" continue the war?
The worst scenario for Ukraine is to continue the war even after the total occupation of Donbas, Zaporizhia and Kherson. The continuation of the war will be undertaken by the "Army of New Russia", i.e. those forces that come from the territories that have already joined Russia.
The new Army will move for the "liberation" of the entire country and its integration into Russia. There is relevant information that points in this direction.
"Many Ukrainian prisoners of war do not want to be exchanged and returned to Ukraine for fear of being charged for their capture and sent back to the front line," said Darya Morozova, human rights ombudsman for the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
“Many of the Ukrainian prisoners want to stay in Russia because they understand that once they return to Ukraine under an exchange agreement, they may face criminal cases for captivity and are absolutely sure to be sent to the front lines.
They don't want to fight, they want to live a peaceful life, even if they don't see their families for a long time.
They are ready to stay here, not go to war," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
The Ukrainian government said earlier that about 35,000 Ukrainian soldiers are being held captive in Russia.
The “Bogdan Khmelnitsky” Order shows the way…
In addition, the first volunteer battalion composed entirely of former Ukrainian soldiers was formed at the end of October, after prisoners of war (POWs) decided to fight in the Russian army.
This volunteer battalion, named “Bogdan Khmelnitsky”, was named after one of the most prominent figures in Russian and Ukrainian history.
According to military sources, the volunteer battalion joined the tactical formation "Cascade" and included about 70 soldiers. The vast majority of them voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered to the Russian army.
Ukrainian volunteers even signed contracts with the Russian armed forces on the same terms as any other Russian. In fact, members of the new "Bogdan Khmelnitsky" battalion confirmed that they joined the unit voluntarily and also received Russian citizenship.
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https://warnews247-gr.translate.goog..._x_tr_pto=wapp
Vicus comment:
I really don't know what to make about this article...in RT ,Sputnik and Pravda is nothing about...
Biolabs at Work? 'Antimicrobial Resistance' Sees Alarming Spike in Ukraine - CDC 4 hours ago
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Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops have spent nearly two years shedding light on the extent of US military-biological activities in Ukraine, from the deliberate infection of Ukrainian servicemen with deadly viruses to gauge response to work on deadly new pathogens designed specifically to target certain genotypes.
Resistance to antimicrobial medicines which prevent and treat infectious diseases has experienced an explosive rise in Ukraine.
That’s according to a new report by the US Centers for Disease Control released Friday, which indicated that “in Ukraine, the confluence of high prewar rates of antimicrobial resistance, an increase in the prevalence of traumatic wounds, and the war-related strain on health care facilities is leading to increased detection of multidrug-resistant organisms with spread into Europe.”
The report, made possible through collaboration between the CDC, the Center for Public Health of Ukraine (UPHC), and other local health authorities and “international partners,” including the World Health Organization and the US State Department, used data collected in hospitals in the western and central Ukrainian regions of Ternopol, Khmelnitskiy, and Vinnitsa.
The study found that in the period between November and December 2022, some 14 percent (50 out of 353) sampled patients suffered from health care-associated infections, with 30 of the 50 infected with a carbapenem-resistant organism – a type of bacteria that can produce chemicals that destroy antibiotics.
Among 19 patients infected with kebsiella, a bacteria known to cause respiratory, urinary and wound infections, a whopping 100 percent showed resistance to antibiotic agents. Meanwhile, among 20 sampled patients with klebsiella pneumoniae (a genus of kebsiella typically associated with pneumonia among patients suffering from diabetes and alcohol abuse), 100 percent once again showed resistance to cephalosporin, a third-generation beta-lactam antimicrobial.
“These rates are substantially higher than those reported from a 2016-2017 European Union-wide point prevalence survey, which included more than 300,000 acute care hospital patients and 100,000 long-term care facility residents,” the CDC said, noting that “among these respondents, the study found a health care-associated infection rate of 5.5 percent.”
The CDC blamed “inadequacies in surveillance of health care-associated infections, implementation of infection prevention and control measures such as recommended hand hygiene, and monitoring, evaluation and feedback to the hospital staff members” for the alarming spike in antibiotic resistance in Ukraine.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231208/bi...collaboration2
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🇷🇺🛢🇺🇸🛳 A ship with oil products from Novorossiysk arrived at the US Navy base
On December 7, the tanker AVENCA brought 50,000 tons of oil products from the Russian Federation on a direct flight from the port of Novorossiysk to the Norfolk naval base.
This was reported by the head of the Ukrainian monitoring group of the Institute of Black Sea Strategic Studies, Andrey Klimenko.
At the same time, the tanker belongs to Germany, another country that is part of NATO, and Norfolk is one of the most significant and largest American bases on the east coast, which serves ships that perform operational missions in the Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean.
Norfolk is the main base of the US Navy and the largest military harbor in the world. It houses 75 ships, including aircraft carriers, as well as 134 aircraft, ammunition and fuel depots.
R_Diplomat
https://x.com/dana916/status/1733134748346646637
Re ‘ Bogdan Khmelnitsky’
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🇺🇦❤️🇷🇺 Ex-Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered are now begging to fight along side the Russian army to defeat Zelensky.
The new volunteer battalion "Bogdan Khmelnitsky" will be incorporated into the DPR army.
Currently, the battalion is undergoing the procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship, signing contracts, combat coordination, and is preparing for further actions at the front.
https://x.com/Alex_Oloyede2/status/1717870351353274604
Re,
‘ A senior Russian official made a shocking statement revealing that the "annexation of the whole of Ukraine will be decided by a referendum"!’
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BREAKING ⚠️ MAJOR DEVELOPMENT. SHOCKING STATEMENT
A senior Russian official made a shocking statement revealing that the "annexation of the whole of Ukraine will be decided by a referendum"!
It is the first time since the beginning of the war that such a thing has been officially heard, a fact that shows that Russia's goals have changed after the collapse of the Ukrainian Army and the cessation of funding from the US (and perhaps the EU).
FULL VIDEO: https://youtu.be/rp_KW64FOeE?si=iClUGIcecjq6_viI
#Ukraine #Russia #NATO
https://x.com/Therealgsns/status/1732937460525519321
(my own comment here as a reply to Vicus' post and several other similar reports as well)Quote:
Posted by Vicus
Yes, I'm profoundly doubting that as well. I suspect this is misunderstood, invented, or possibly just some mischievous unofficial comment that doesn't represent the Kremlin's view at all.
Putin doesn't want to be managing a failed state and salvaging its economy, while all the remaining Ukrainians west of the Dniepr continue to hate Russia and everything it stands for.
But most Russians agree they should annex Odessa and Kharkov, which are both traditionally and historically Russian. And that's where the SMO would stop.
The Duran
Russia-NATO Domino theory to secure Ukraine money
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The Avdeevka stranglehold on the Ukrainian Armed Forces is tightening.
The enemy’s media resources admit that the position of the Kyiv regime troops in Avdeevka is deteriorating.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces units are under constant artillery fire and air strikes. At the same time, Western experts admit that our troops are successfully operating on the flanks near Avdeevka.
What’s interesting here is that even in the West, propagandists can no longer use the theme of “heroic defense.” Sooner or later, the Kiev regime will lose a strategically important area in close proximity to the capital of the DPR. The only question is at what cost. I am sure that the group of Western curators of the Kyiv regime, which is now shaking the chair under Zelensky, will in any case take advantage of the situation in Avdiivka to weaken the bloc of the current leader of the Kyiv regime. And here political technologies will do their job.
But Zelensky himself is actively helping to tighten his own noose.
Zin Note: Interestingly, the ISW seems more negative about the AFUs situation than the Russian reports.
#Source
@Slavyangrad
https://x.com/djuric_zlatko/status/1733256419015565795
Quote:
Posted by Tintin
Except for Grenada 1983, I am not sure the west has won anything.
It was thrown out of Afghanistan by the Taliban it had a hand in starting.
Sort of like being thrown out of Africa by its trainees.
It has been successful with a few CIA coups and "breaking" places like Libya or Yugoslavia, but for the most part it is not a "winner" and whatever it may be saying is invalid.
Quote:
Posted by Bill Ryan(my own comment here as a reply to Vicus' post and several other similar reports as well)Quote:
Posted by Vicus
Yes, I'm profoundly doubting that as well. I suspect this is misunderstood, invented, or possibly just some mischievous unofficial comment that doesn't represent the Kremlin's view at all.
It was another "shocking statement". I'm tired of hearing this. Means something is wrong with the reporter.
Stuff like this is an "opinion", maybe even a shared one, but the most direct thing we have heard is that the border will be pushed back until Russia decides it compensates for the longest-range weapons being used.
I am pretty sure that it is at least the two important provinces, possibly more, but no, of course Russia is not particularly interested in populations that are essentially hostile, meaning there is negative value in the hardcore Ukrainian areas. Similarly, this appears to be an overbearing CSIS opinion:
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The Kremlin’s primary goal is a guarantee that Belarus, Ukraine, and Georgia will never belong to a military or economic bloc other than the ones Moscow controls and that Russia will be the ultimate arbitrator of the foreign and security policy of all three states. In essence, this conflict is about whether 30 years after the demise of the Soviet Union, its former ethnic republics can live as independent, sovereign states or if they still must acknowledge Moscow as their de facto sovereign.
What??
In essence, this conflict is about thirty years of military buildup that were about to invade Russia. With a sniper-inspired coup thrown in to ensure independence and sovereignty.
Being just the tip of the iceberg.
If someone wants to take the time to map it out, you would have clear examples of Ukraine trashing land rights, labor reform, "bio-research", and so on to every field of endeavor...if you can name it, it went sour...unless that is Ukrainian superiority, that lofty state that only exceptional people have, which means you should always get your way because you want to.
Russia will surely push it back across the river--which one, I am not sure yet--and I bet all of this NED hubris will go on auto-play long after no one is listening....
Polish Media Debunks Zelensky Narrative That Ukraine is Fighting for West's Freedom 19 minutes ago
https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/im...7eb5c87262.jpg
Ukraine’s president and his ministers have spent nearly two years parroting the line that Kiev is fighting for the West’s freedom, and that if Russia is allowed to win, it will attack other European countries. But some Poles no longer buy these claims.
Kiev’s “cunning propaganda” suggesting that a Russian victory in Ukraine will inevitably be followed up with attacks on NATO countries are little more than a form of “demagoguery” and “blackmail” completely detached from reality. That’s according to an editorial published in Polish politics journal Mysl Polska.
“An Estonian military officer has formulated the following thesis: that ‘there are only two options: either Ukraine will win, or there will be World War III’. This ridiculous proposition is probably shared by a large part of Ukraine’s supporters in our country,” the alternative conservative media outlet wrote, pointing to efforts by some actors to convince the public “that a Ukrainian defeat will mean we will definitely be attacked by Russia.”
But the latter claim is little more than a “cunning propaganda move by Kiev aimed at maintaining Western policy of unconditional military and financial support,” with these kind of “demagogic statements…often used by Ukrainian politicians as blackmail (for example, during the Polish truckers’ protests). This trick is also used by the failing administration of Joe Biden, which frightens the countries of NATO’s eastern flank with the prospect of an attack by Russia,” the journal emphasized.
The reality is the exact opposition, and “there is no country in Europe that should be more interested in ending the war than Poland, which will be the first to face the consequences if the military situation escalates. Poland should be among the first countries to demand an end to this war, just like the Hungarians are doing. However, no political force in our country will dare to formulate such a demand... Why? Because the dogma of ‘fighting to the end’ continues to applies. The fact that it means ‘to the last Ukrainian’ is something no one in Poland cares about.”
The political journal lamented that “no one in Poland is talking about the fundamental change in the West’s policy toward Russia towards dialogue and the creation of a security system in which all parties (Russia and the West) will feel safe. To achieve this, we will need to end NATO’s march to the east, clearly declare that Ukraine will be a neutral country, end the policy of endless sanctions and revive all institutions that could be a platform for dialogue between Russia and the Europe (e.g. The OSCE). Someone might say, but isn’t that impossible? If so, they will be admitting that the Estonian military officer quoted above is right – that the alternative is World War III,” Mysl Polska summarized.
Kiev leaders and their supporters in the West have said repeatedly over the past 20+ monhts that the proxy war against Russia is in Ukraine is actually a “fight for the West’s freedom,” with now ex-defense minister Oleksii Reznikov suggesting earlier this year that Kiev was “eliminating” the “threat” posed by Russia to the Western bloc. “We are carrying out NATO’s mission today. They aren’t shedding their blood. We’re shedding ours. That’s why they’re required to supply us with weapons,” he said, adding that Kiev was “defending the entire civilized world, the entire West” from the Russians.
Russian officials have indicated repeatedly over the past year and a half that there would be no proxy war in Ukraine today if Kiev took steps to end the Donbass crisis, and if the US and its allies refrained from crossing Russia’s red lines by trying to pull Ukraine into NATO.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231209/po...115500113.html
The front collapsed: Dozens of forts fell - The Russians destroyed the Ukrainian defenses around Chasiv Yar - They are trapped in the Channel!
The Ukrainian front collapsed in Bakhmut: The Russians are advancing from two axes!
Russian forces register significant territorial gains on the Bakhmut front, three 24 hours after the start of the general offensive.
The Ukrainian front in the area appears to have collapsed as the Russians push the Ukrainians at high speed towards the Chasiv Yar channel formed by the Siverski Donets-Donbass River. The retreat of the Ukrainians at this point is expected to happen as soon as they lose the settlement of Ivanivske (Krasnoe).
The problems for the Ukrainians have multiplied and are now focused on 3 axes: the Klysifka front, the Bogdanovka front and the Ivanivske (Krasnoe) front that opened in the last few hours.
The Russians have swept dozens of Ukrainian strongholds from the right and left sides around Chasiv Yar.
It is worth noting that the Wagner forces tried during the siege of Bakhmut to occupy Ivanivske as it is considered a strategically important settlement, but they did not succeed.
https://warnews247-gr.translate.goog..._x_tr_pto=wapp
Russia to Target FrankenSAM Production in Ukraine as Soon as It's Up and Running
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Washington has announced the transfer of technical documentation for the localization of production of arms from the FrankenSAM program – the air defense ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ created by combining Western missiles with Ukraine’s Soviet-era launchers and radars. Veteran military expert Andrei Koshkin explains why the program is destined to fail.
The White House released a press ‘fact sheet’ Wednesday indicating that “the Department of Defense and industry partners” had “provided Ukraine with technical data to start local production of some of the FrankenSAM projects that seek to enable Ukraine’s legacy air defense systems by integrating certain Western munitions.”
“Parallel production of these systems in Ukraine and the United States will allow for faster fielding and enable Ukraine to contribute significantly to the sustainment of its air defense system,” the statement said.
“These initial deliverables,” combined with other US assistance, “will not only expand US-Ukraine cooperation and provide Ukraine with the capabilities it needs to be successful on the battlefield in the short term, but will support Ukraine’s long-term economic recovery and defense,” the White House assured.
The FrankenSAM program, revealed to media in October, is designed to kill two birds with one stone, compensating for losses taken by Ukraine’s NATO-sourced air defense systems to Russian missile and drone strikes, and presenting the Pentagon with a chance for some penny-pinching as resources allocated to Kiev run dry amid wrangling in Washington over US President Joe Biden’s request for over $60 billion in additional aid.
FrankenSAM consists of at least three projects – one involving the creation of a ground-based, short-range air defense system using AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles, a second involving fitting AIM-7 Sparrow missiles to early version of the Buk missile system, and a third involving the modernization of the HAWK medium-range SAM system.
All three American weapons systems are old, going back to the 1950s.
When fused with Ukraine’s stocks of old Soviet-era launchers and radars, FrankenSAMs promise to provide Kiev with a vintage air defense army, but will have difficulty fighting off modern Russian strike systems.
But in a situation where additional US funds for Ukraine remain stalled in Congress, and where NATO is forced to organize a global scavenger hunt to slap together new weapons and ammo assistance packages for Kiev, the FrankenSAM project makes sense, retired Russian colonel and veteran military expert Andrei Koshkin told Sputnik.
“When it comes to the relevance of creating some kind of monster, some kind of Frankenstein containing elements from Western weapons systems and Soviet weapons systems allowing for the use of available ammunition, this is very relevant today, given a situation in which the ‘dollar shower’ falling on Ukraine has dried up,” Koshkin said.
continue: https://sputnikglobe.com/20231208/ru...115485502.html
Military Situation In Ukraine On December 9, 2023 (Map Update)
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Russian strikes destroyed Ukrainian ammo depot near Volchansk;
Russian strikes targeted military infrastructure at Kulbakino airfield;
Russian strikes damaged an infrastructure facility in Kherson;
On December 8, Russian strikes hit targets in the Kiev region;
On December 8, Russian strikes hit targets in the Dnepropetrovsk region;
At least 11 Ukrainian boats with Ukrainian servicemen on board were reportedly destroyed and damaged in the Kherson region at night;
The AFU shelled the Donetsk city agglomeration 10 times over the past day;
Russian forces repelled Ukrainian attacks near Serebryansky forestry;
Clashes continued in Krynki;
Clashes continued near Kurdyumovka, Andreyevka and Kleshcheyevka;
Clashes continued near Pyatikhatki, Verbovoye and Rabotino;
Russian forces eliminated 105 Ukrainian servicemen, three motor vehicles, as well as one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system in Kupyansk area;
Russian forces eliminated 155 Ukrainian servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles and three motor vehicles in Krasny Liman area;
Russian forces eliminated 200 Ukrainian servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, one Msta-B howitzer, and one D-30 gun in Donetsk area;
Russian forces eliminated 80 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as two motor vehicles in South Donetsk area;
Russian forces eliminated 35 servicemen, two motor vehicles, one D-30 howitzer, one Gvozdika artillery system in Zaporozhye region;
Russian forces eliminated 50 Ukrainian servicemen and three motor vehicles in Kherson region;
Russian air defense systems shot down 11 Ukrainian drones over the past day.
https://maps.southfront.press/milita...23-map-update/
Vicus comment:
If you go to this page you can zoom on the map.
And you can see that those hyenas scum pack continue to shell Donetsk capital ...
I know... its just to attract the Russian attention, but civil people continue to die everyday !
Text:
🇷🇺🇺🇦AFU POW speaks about his service and ‘care’ of his commanders
‘They threw me into a minibus like a kitten,’ says Pyotr Shcherbaty, an AFU serviceman, about mobilization ‘like they do it in Ukraine’. – ‘They mobilize everyone, they don't even ask for their surnames. One guy was badly beaten and kept in the basement’. The prisoner of war complains that there was no medical examination at the enlistment office and he was sent to the troops in the evening.
Pyotr Shcherbaty assures that he did not undergo any training, he was only given an opportunity to fire a couple of rounds. Then Shcherbaty was taken to the front line, where were treated as ‘disposable’. Faced with supply problems, Ukrainian servicemen even had to steal food from local residents.
At positions in the forest, Shcherbaty's group stumbled upon the Russian units and surrendered. The serviceman says he does not want to go back. He is sure that it is better to stay in captivity. The POW urges Ukrainians not to join the army to avoid mobilization at all costs.
Russian Defense Ministry
https://x.com/dana916/status/1733501152199688693
Quote:
Posted by Ravenlocke
¤=[Post Update]=¤
Text:
Kherson direction, news from the front:
🖋"Tonight 6 enemy boats were destroyed and 5 more were damaged.
From what we could see: 15 enemy personnel - 200, about 40 Armed Forces personnel - 300. Enemy ammunition and provisions sank.
Enemy personnel on another 7 boats refused to sail for rotation to our shore."
Two majors TG
https://x.com/GeromanAT/status/1733355068408074585
No, it's about the rotation of small units of men — one group being replaced by another so that they can rest, sleep, eat, recover, and so on. (And/or because the group needing to be replaced had suffered a large proportion of deaths or casualties.)Quote:
Posted by Ewan
It appears that some of those scheduled for rotation (to go to the front lines to replace their beleaguered comrades) refused because they figured they were just being sent to their likely deaths.
Understood, but why would Ukraninan soldiers expect to find 'rotational' relief with the 'so called' enemy?Quote:
Posted by Bill RyanNo, it's about the rotation of small units of men — one group being replaced by another so that they can rest, sleep, eat, recover, and so on. (And/or because the group needing to be replaced had suffered a large proportion of deaths or casualties.)Quote:
Posted by Ewan
It appears that some of those scheduled for rotation (to go to the front lines to replace their beleaguered comrades) refused because they figured they were just being sent to their likely deaths.
(Even if they understood it would be a route free from the trauma and horrors it wouldn't be 'rotational' relief).
No no no, read it again carefully. :thumbsup:Quote:
Posted by EwanUnderstood, but why would Ukraninan soldiers expect to find 'rotational' relief with the 'so called' enemy?Quote:
Posted by Bill RyanNo, it's about the rotation of small units of men — one group being replaced by another so that they can rest, sleep, eat, recover, and so on. (And/or because the group needing to be replaced had suffered a large proportion of deaths or casualties.)Quote:
Posted by Ewan
It appears that some of those scheduled for rotation (to go to the front lines to replace their beleaguered comrades) refused because they figured they were just being sent to their likely deaths.
(Even if they understood it would be a route free from the trauma and horrors it wouldn't be 'rotational' relief).
"Enemy personnel on another 7 boats refused to sail for rotation to our shore."This is stated from the Russians' point of view, and the east shore of the Dniepr is 'their shore'. But the Ukrainians are defending small front line positions there, after small boats had already crossed the big river to establish them.
It's those Ukrainian units that need to be rotated with other Ukrainian units waiting in reserve on the west shore, and it's those Ukrainian units on the west shore that have refused to cross the river themselves to replace them.
It's like a substitution in football/soccer. But the replacement players don't want to get off the bench on to the field. (Understandably!! :))
Oh dear. I am so slow sometimes. Thank you Bill.Quote:
Posted by Bill RyanNo no no, read it again carefully. :thumbsup:Quote:
Posted by EwanUnderstood, but why would Ukraninan soldiers expect to find 'rotational' relief with the 'so called' enemy?Quote:
Posted by Bill RyanNo, it's about the rotation of small units of men — one group being replaced by another so that they can rest, sleep, eat, recover, and so on. (And/or because the group needing to be replaced had suffered a large proportion of deaths or casualties.)Quote:
Posted by Ewan
It appears that some of those scheduled for rotation (to go to the front lines to replace their beleaguered comrades) refused because they figured they were just being sent to their likely deaths.
(Even if they understood it would be a route free from the trauma and horrors it wouldn't be 'rotational' relief).
"Enemy personnel on another 7 boats refused to sail for rotation to our shore."This is stated from the Russians' point of view, and the east shore of the Dniepr is 'their shore'. But the Ukrainians are defending small front line positions there, after small boats had already crossed the big river to establish them.
It's those Ukrainian units that need to be rotated with other Ukrainian units waiting in reserve on the west shore, and it's those Ukrainian units on the west shore that have refused to cross the river themselves to replace them.
It's like a substitution in football/soccer. But the replacement players don't want to get off the bench on to the field. (Understandably!! :))
Not slow at all! :bearhug: It was confusing, and all these reports are written assuming any reader is already fully up to speed with whatever the heck happened the previous day.Quote:
Posted by Ewan
To add some more context, here's an extract from a BBC article I posted a few days ago. The relevant parts are in red.
Quote:
Posted by Bill Ryan