Use as open thread for today for any topic discussed at the Saker Blog and not already discussed in other threads.
Comments:
How about those sanctions? European Gas Buyers Switch to Ruble Payments – It’s reported another 14 firms – on top of the existing 20 – have requested the paperwork to set up accounts too. Italy and Germany – huge consumers of Russian gas – are among those that have switched. Draghi Says “Most Gas Importers” Have Opened Ruble Accounts With Gazprom
Ukrainian refugees are showing their mettle by knifing and killing a man in Poland who stepped up to defend a young woman that was harassed by the refugees. Other stories are coming out of Europe of refugees refusing to live next to people that are not white and four of them just decided to grab a villa in France, belonging to a Russian, and they moved right in. This trend can only continue.
A further trend: All of the reliable commentators on the SMO indicate that it is soon over. We do not know the shape that it will take though. Martyanov speaks about a definite trend on accelerating demoralization of VSU and the pronounced trend on the collapse of the VSU defenses as we can see from lack of equipment, ammo and very high losses. Ritter in his last video, talks about days or weeks. Larry Johnson talks about a Ukraine headed for defeat.
Today the Russian delegation to the UN will take the latest documents on military biological activities of the United States on the territory of Ukraine to the Security Council.
Zelenski is not dominating the MSM headlines in the last number of days.
For this open thread, the moderation policy will be in full effect.
The cracks are starting to show in the Ukraine foundation, as others and myself had theorized, the events that would signal this would Zelensky calling for negotiations with Putin, he has just done that today.
https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-war-live-updates-1706081
The U.S defense secretary also had a call with his counterpart in Russia asking for an immediate ceasefire, it doesn’t say who initiated the call but I suspect it was the U.S. This is the same guy who was in Ukraine saying he permanently wanted to weaken Russia, must have had to swallow his ego.
https://www.axios.com/2022/05/13/lloyd-austin-russian-minister-of-defense-invasion
I suspect Russia is about to deliver a death blow to the Ukraine armed forces in the east and most likely placed their nuclear assets/strategic assets on some type of higher alert in case of any attempted U.S interference, the U.S probably detected that and now wants to talk.
Yes, Austin called Shoygu. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3030753/readout-of-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iiis-call-with-russian-minister/
Cardinal rule of thumb: the west only visit you when they want something.
The call for cease fire is a telling sign, Russia appears close to collapsing the UAF in parts of the east most likely. The Pentagon does not wish to have Ukraine collapse as I get the sense the Pentagon does not want to fight militarily against the Russians at the moment. It’s the U.S state department which is egging this on.
As for Zelensky is time on earth is coming to close in the next hours/days/weeks. I do not believe once the UAF collapses that he will allowed to leave alive by his own leadership/NATO/US, he knows too much and would be a big liability, especially if Russia/China/unfriendly state got their hands on him and got all the details from him. I’m sure it will be disguised how he passes away but I doubt he comes out alive.
A lot of the higher level leadership around Zelensky that is privy to what has happened is most likely going to be terminated by their western partners, pretty soon this is going to turn into a cleanup operation for the US/NATO/West.
Just wait and see, it’s over at least as far as Ukraine is concerned for this round.
“The call for cease fire is a telling sign, Russia appears close to collapsing the UAF in parts of the east most likely.”
All the more reason for Russia to not stop and to continue even harder for every time it gives Ukrainian fascists a break, they use it to kill more Donbas civilians and they also kill people in the areas where Russians leave/retreat. They murder civilians for “cooperation” which includes even giving Russian soldiers cigarettes or for the fact that they didn’t leave when Russian soldiers came means they are separatists.
Russia should stop falling for U.S. and Ukraine’s games to buy more time to kill civilians.
” I’m sure it will be disguised how he passes away but I doubt he comes out alive.”
My bet is on an ‘accidental’ drug overdose.
The same yank filth that have been pouring tens of billions of dollars worth of lethal aid weaponary to 3rd-4th generation literal Nazis in Ukron since January alone are now demanding ‘immediate ceasefire’?
Go to hell…
It was Austin that initiated the phone call as your link indicates.
Check out this map!!:
— GEROMAN — 👀-
@GeromanAT
·
5h
Hey Pro Ukro suckers – while you are trying to win the Twitter war – your whole front line in the Donbass is under fire
Enjoy!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FSpw22eX0AIK5VH?format=jpg&name=small
Any photos of the first American M777A2 howitzer captured in Donbass?
https://t.me/newsofehrru/10901
ColonelCassad and Rybar report an impending offensive by Ukies in Nikolaev/Krivoy Rog area in direction of Kherson.
Via Bazov channel:
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/563
Good. When Ukron forces move out of their embedded positions within civilian infrastructures in numerous hamlets, villages and towns scattered north, south and east of the vast Dnieper river area, Russian artillery takes care of them.
Has one Ukron ‘offensive’ been successful since February 24th?
This is what the Russians want.
What I’m not sure of is this a case of Russians dangling pieces of cheese in front of Ukron mouse and them taking the bait or yank-natostan ordering them to commit hari kari?
Either way, the same result will await them- a rain of steel falling upon their heads.
I merely cite this as an example of the collective West’s elites’ psychopathy.
I have friends who live in Sri Lanka who are mystified by the abundance of fruit and veg and many types of food BUT which are all sold at exorbitant prices. Remember the regime change operation a couple of months ago? That may explain how this entirely independent and prosperous island should suddenly crash for no obvious reason.
You just need to read the first lines to understand what’s happened to Sri Lanka [1]. The government had tried to make organic farming practices the norm on the Island AND was using the economic model called Modern Money Theory [2]
But as per usual the elite psychopaths had to stop it … and they succeeded.
[1] April 17, 2022 Sri Lanka Shows the Folly of Fringe Theories – “Promoting organic farming and heedlessly printing money, the country’s ruling clan has conclusively demonstrated why some ideas should remain on the shelf.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-04-17/sri-lanka-debt-crisis-is-the-result-of-fringe-policies
[2] April 12, 2022 Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
“Modern Monetary Theory is a heterodox macroeconomic framework that says monetarily sovereign countries like the US, UK, Japan and Canada, which spend, tax, and borrow in a fiat currency that they fully control, are not operationally constrained by revenues when it comes to federal government spending.”
https://www.investopedia.com/modern-monetary-theory-mmt-4588060#:~:text=Modern%20Monetary%20Theory%20(MMT)%20is,comes%20to%20federal%20government%20spending.
God help us all.
A much better analysis of destroyed equipment at the pontoon crossing:
https://vk.com/id585874971?w=wall585874971_43%2Fall
Analysis of Ukr photos showing large scale losses at one of the pontoon crossings (there were several of them) but specifically the much discussed Belogorovka bridgehead.
1. Large number (about 30) of the destroyed/damaged vehicles are BMP-1s
The Russian force at the crossing is from the “O” grouping which is made up of regular Russian Army units and to the best of our knowledge doesn’t include any L/DPR Militia units.(they are part of the “Z” and to a lesser extent, “V” group)
The Russian Regular Army doesn’t have BMP-1s in Ukr. They do have a upgraded version called BMP-1AM “Basurin” which has a distinctive small turret (see pics 6 & 7 for reference)
Some captured Ukr BMP-1s have probably been pressed into service but not in large numbers. They are almost exclusively used by the L/DPR Militias AND in VERY large numbers by the Ukr Army.
So to whom these BMP-1s in the pics belong…you draw your own conclusions.
It wasn’t one battle, the area has been contested for weeks, looks like a few vehicles lost by both sides over that time
Cheers M
Great stuff from Scott Ritter.
He explains everything from history of Ukraine and Finland what treaties they signed etc . Well worth the listen. https://youtu.be/ciUNBIKNxMw
LOL
“On 8 May 2022, Dmitry Rogozin – vice-president of the Russian government, director of Roscosmos and former ambassador to NATO – stated that, in the event of a nuclear war, NATO countries would be destroyed by Russia in half an hour, but this must be avoided because the consequences would affect the whole planet. “Therefore, we will have to defeat this enemy, economically and militarily, by conventional armed means,” he added.
YouTube immediately removed all of Dmitry Rogozin’s videos.”
https://www.voltairenet.org/article216792.html
Use Hide My Ass App or a VPN. Choose any African country. You will be able to get uncensored content.
The war party really REALLY doesn’t want those NATO officers holed up in Azovstal not to be captured and tell their stories at the war crimes trials…..
(Original)
Update vom 14. Mai, 07.13 Uhr: „Äußerst schwierig“ gestalten sich die Verhandlungen um die im Werk Azovstal (Mariupol) eingekesselten Soldaten, sagte die für die Gespräche zuständige ukrainische Vize-Regierungschefin Iryna Wereschtschuk. Im Ukraine-Krieg verhandelt sie seit Tagen mit Unterstützung von UN und des Internationalen Komitees vom Roten Kreuz. Sie teile die Sorge der Menschen, sagte sie, doch es gebe im Krieg keine Wunder. Daher helfe in diesem Fall nur ein „nüchternes und pragmatisches Herangehen“.
Asow-Stahlwerk in Mariupol
Ein ukrainischer Militärkommandeur, der sich im Asow-Stahlwerk befindet, ruft Elon Musk um Hilfe © IMAGO / Cover-Images
Auch die Türkei hat sich In die Verhandlungen eingeschaltet. Bisher lehnt das russische Militär jedes Zugeständnis ab, fordert die Kapitulation der verschanzten Ukrainer. Nach ungenauen Schätzungen halten sich in dem weitläufigen Werk noch rund 1000 ukrainische Soldaten auf, viele von ihnen verwundet. Ein Großteil von ihnen gehört dem Regiment „Asow“ an, das von Russen als nationalistisch und rechtsextremistisch eingestuft wird.
Ein Angehöriger des Regiments, David Chimik, berichtete von schwere Kämpfen um das Stahlwerk. Dennoch gab er sich optimistisch. „Wir denken nicht daran, zu Märtyrern zu werden, wir kämpfen um unser Leben und warten auf Unterstützung“, wurde Chimik von der „Ukrajinska Prawda“ zitiert
(Machine Translation)
Update from May 14, 7:13 a.m .: “Extremely difficult” are the negotiations about the soldiers trapped in the Azovstal plant (Mariupol), said the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereschuk, who is responsible for the talks. In the Ukraine war, she has been negotiating for days with the support of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross. She shares people’s concerns, she said, but there are no miracles in war. Therefore, only a “sober and pragmatic approach” can help in this case.
Turkey has also got involved in the negotiations. So far, the Russian military has refused any concessions and is demanding the surrender of the entrenched Ukrainians. According to inaccurate estimates, around 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers are still in the sprawling plant, many of them wounded. The majority of them belong to the “Azov” regiment, which Russians classify as nationalist and right-wing extremist.
A member of the regiment, David Chimik, reported heavy fighting around the steelworks. Nevertheless, he was optimistic. “We do not think about becoming martyrs, we are fighting for our lives and waiting for support,” Chimik was quoted as saying by Ukrajinska Pravda
Link
https://www.merkur.de/politik/china-ukraine-krieg-selenskyj-putin-kreml-fortschritte-sicherheitsgarantien-eu-russland-zr-91540181.html
Ukrainian refugees.
28th of February – driving my daughter to school (Bucharest) – a refugee Mercedes GLE 350 black, custom painting. Probably sent in for sale and buy some ATGMS to send back home.
A colleague from Iasi calls: the parking near Palatul Culturii looks like a showroom in Dubai (Porsche, Jaguar, BMW, Ferrari, etc.) Most of them are now gone to the West.They were of course sold to buy some Javelins and NLAWS, the howitzers of the Andorran Air Forces and the Tie Fighters of Monaco’s Navy.
5 million people out of a country with a population of 41 million. The war is mostly confined on the East and there is no massive destruction of infrastructure => they are not running away, they are running out.
If Ukraine wins => they will ask for anything from us because it was their sacrifice.
If Russia wins or => they will blame us for their fate.
Can you made a sitrep about what is going on Kharkov, or any presize analysis?
“John Hopkins child sex abuse center hires trans professor, 34, who was forced to resign from Virginia school for DEFENDING pedophiles as ‘minor attracted persons’ ” (a title in Daily Mail, 12.05.2022)
We are in a war for our souls
The U.S. may have organized another color revolution in the Philippines.
Finally…I can congratulate someone (on the previous page) else for noticing that the wheeled prime movers carrying the floating bridging eqpt (PSP or PTP??) appears to be on the WRONG SIDE of the river – if the MSM claim that this was a failed Ru Army bridgehead operation spoiled by a VSU counter attack were true!
If this was the case then what would Soft Skin Russian Bridging Equipment be doing as part of the first echelon across an opposed river crossing I ask you???
Of course…those dumb snow niggers again!!!
My assessment (albeit limited to what I can make out from the available footage) is thus:
1. In that sector the Ru Army have been carrying out a slow withdrawal – possibly to draw still mobile VSU units away from the Donbass Cauldron. This is so they cannot be used by the VSU to support the static VSU positions in the Cauldron & I suspect so they can be isolated & dealt with in more complex terrain.
That river looks like it snakes around & it may be possible that the location in question was possibly only one of a few viable crossing sites in the area (without having to cross said river several times).
2. Possibly the Ru Forces left a reasonably small Guard Force (Tank/Motor Rifle Coy -) in overwatch on the home bank.
3. The VSU attempted a river crossing & since the river seems too wide for an armoured bridge layer – hence the PSP/PTP sets on VSU side of the river??
Indirect fires may well have been UAV directed against any Ru Guard Force on the Ru Bank & vice versa.
4. The river crossing obviously got underway, perhaps any Ru Force on the other bank had to withdraw, or was reinforced?? It would appear there was a counter battery indirect fire battle with strikes landing on & to the rear of both approaches to the crossing.
5. At some stage it would appear that the VSU withdrew leaving behind some wheeled bridging eqpt on the VSU side of the river???
6. Did any of the Ru Forces then get across the bridgehead & secure the far bank?
It’s possible.
Some kind of kinetic action took place on the VSU bank but it is impossible to identify the nationality of the destroyed armour.
It could be Ru or VSU.
Thus far we have had “The Ghost of Kiev”, the “Heroes of Snake Island”, SBU & Ukr Militia murdering Ukrainian civilians wearing white armbands clutching Ru Military issue rations, “hundreds” of pregnant young women bombed out of a hospital, a War Crimes Trial started in Kiev & total denial by the US Govt, Germany & the West of a wholesale bio & chemical weapons programme inside the Ukraine.
Personally, I know which side of history I prefer to be on.
Dream on….
https://www.indianpunchline.com/indo-pacific-strategy-adrift-in-an-illusion/
Indo-Pacific strategy adrift in an illusion
MAY 13, 2022 BY M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
…………2011 U.S. District Court ruling in Hawaii finding Marcos Jr. and his mother in contempt of an order to furnish information on assets in connection with a 1995 human rights class action suit against Marcos Sr.
The court fined them $353.6 million, which has never been paid and could complicate any potential travel to the U.S…….
You are right. After reading Bhadrakumar’s article, I very much doubt this was a color revolution.
The recent loss of a whopping 73 pieces of military equipment and 5 failed bridge crossings leads me to ponder…
Is Russia up to the task or are U.S. and UK intel and arms shipments having a devastating impact on the battlefield?
First off, Russia sent an inadequate force to Ukraine. Seriously, still talking about Mariupol in May? Mass pullback of troops near Kiev, Sumy and now Kharkiv with Ukraine having recently attacked Russia proper and strikes originating around Odessa, how the heck does Ukraine still have aircraft taking off from inside Ukraine?
Is Russian intel up to the task? You darn well U.S. and UK intel is active to the point they have officers on the ground in Ukraine directing fire from newly delivered weapons, that pro-Russian folks keep stating they are not a concern. Oh really?
That is why I bring up the 5 failed river crossings where who knows how many Russian troops were killed on top of those 73 pieces of military hardware? That is showing me that Russian leadership is either not up to the task, or Ukraine with backing of U.S. and UK is starting to provide deadly results. You tell me?
It will be June soon, yet the Donbas is not any more secure than before and Odessa is planning their summer festivals because, why worry? In fact, Bono from U2, Biden’s wife and a whole host of other leaders can simply come into Ukraine at free will. The power is still on, the internet is up, toilets flush and you can get a free U2 concert, why worry about those Russians because they are not making a massive dent. And please spare me the talk about the east of Ukraine.
When you go into battle, you send an overwhelming force to lay down the hammer and have adequate reserves ready to move. I see little of this. And why is Belarus not involved inside Ukraine? When NATO bombs they have dozens of nations involved. Get with it and get allies like Belarus, China, anybody, BRICS, all of them.
Soon, NATO will move in ground forces and Russia will not stand a chance the way they are handling Ukraine. The only thing Russia has is nukes. In fact, with nukes, Russia should move their finest units west of Moscow into Ukraine and end this conflict. NATO will dare not make any moves towards Moscow with nukes standing in the way.
Message is simple, get Ukraine done! Stop with this soft handed approach and bomb the shyt out of the regions you guys plan to take. While Russia is fussing around, the West is cutting off oil and finding ways to eliminate Russia without firing a shot to the point that an invasion force some day will have little resistance. Do not think that can happen? Then why is pathetic Ukraine holding back Russian units and in some battles wiping out 73 pieces of military equipment? Time is short, time is running out.
I may sound a bit harsh about Russia, but what else am I supposed to do? I expect results and I am not seeing many but some villages here and there. I read enough about DAVOS, WEF and stuff to know this whole conflict was engineered from the beginning. But military battlefields can change all of that, and I am not seeing that in Ukraine as of yet. Results are needed, no more excuses.
Somebody has to start saying something about this river crossing Ukrainian BS. But one has such a long education to do, that I’ve ignored it.
All of you spreading this BS are concern trolls, not able to sort propaganda from real troop moments.
I can only give you Martyanov’s comment and he is deleting all these trolls from his blog.
“This overall change of the background of SMO may be in the foundation of obviously grossly exaggerated “peremoga” (victory in Ukie) by “annihilating” some whole battalion of “Russian” armor at some Severnyi Donets river crossing, which, as VSU said (red flag immediately) was “attempted five times in a row”. That doesn’t sound like Russian Armed Forces. I cannot find anything on this in Russian sources….”
There was a battle. Russian soldiers crossed the river. 73 Pieces of military equipment is nonsense and if it was accurate, it is nothing.
It did not change the shape of the battlefield and did not hold the Russian soldiers for too long.
There will be battles. You to you, pete papageorge, you expect results? Sorry my friend, you are not able to see results. There will be no carpet bombing because there are civilians there. Is that so hard to understand? Is it to hard to understand the objectives of Russia for this operation? I guess it is.
(The American movie easy chair war generals are truly spectacularly unable to see the wood for the trees).
The famous Rumsfeld quote: “We don’t do (civilians) body counts……” US didn’t care about civilian deaths, but Russia minimizes those.
“…he is deleting all these trolls from his blog.”
I don’t like deleting participants. It’s so anti-Internet.
Lloyd Austin called Sergei Shoigu to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
I wonder what was discussed exactly?
capture of NATO military officers/findings in the bio-weapon labs…..upcoming military trials in the Russia……it is time to deal with military center in the Kyiv…
Exactly – Austin was trying to beg borrow or bribe a way to get out the dozens of NATO officers already captured. Austin knows they are all slated for some rather embarrassing war crimes trials
Russia cut off electricity exports to Finland.
“‘As Finnish and Swedish Officials Join NATO Meeting, Russia Punishes Finland’
Russia once again used energy as a weapon, cutting off electricity exports to Finland, which, along with Sweden, is moving toward joining the military alliance.” -The New York Times (today)
@ tranquilocomp
Russia cut off electricity exports to Finland.
——————————————————————-
The NYT is another presstitute in the MSM, you cannot trust it. The reason is not to punish Finland, it is that Russia is not going to provide electricity for free to anyone. Finland hasn’t paid their dues, and after ten days in arrears, Russia cut off electric energy, which was quickly replaced by Sweden and elevating domestic production, increasing the price of energy by 30%.
Suggestion
—————
Do not publish anything from US MSM without double checking it, they will always find a way to twist the news. Russia has a justified reason to “punish” Finland, which decided to become an enemy of Russia by joining NATO, however, that is not the reason to cut off the source of energy.
https://www.rt.com/business/555446-russia-electricity-supplies-finland/
Russia to cut electricity supply to Finland
Power deliveries will be suspended due to the lack of payment, the grid operator says
Russian utility Inter RAO will stop exporting electricity to Finland from May 14, Finland’s grid company said on Friday.
According to Fingrid, citing Inter RAO, the trade in electricity imported from Russia will be suspended due to difficulties in receiving payments for electricity sold on the market.
“We are forced to suspend the electricity import starting from May 14,” said RAO Nordic, a Finland-based subsidiary of Russia’s Inter RAO, adding that it “is not able to make payments for the imported electricity from Russia.”
Fingrid said “There is no threat to the adequacy of electricity in Finland,” noting that power from Russia accounted for only 10% of Finland’s total consumption.
The reduced supply can be compensated by increased imports from Sweden, as well as partly by domestic production, said Fingrid’s Senior Vice President Reima Päivinen.
Fingrid said last month it would restrict the transmission capacity of cross-border connections from Russia, in an effort to safeguard the security of its energy system.
Finnish media also reported that Russia could stop providing Finland with natural gas on Friday due to the nation’s bid to join NATO. Russia has not confirmed the reports.
————————————————————————————-
https://www.rt.com/business/555469-russia-halt-electricity-sales-finland/
Russia halts electricity supply to Finland
The suspension of power exports to the Nordic state comes after nearly 10 days of nonpayment
Electricity supplies from Russia to Finland were halted on Saturday, RAO Nordic said in a statement, explaining that it had received no payment for power provided to the country in May.
“Unfortunately, we are forced to note that for the volumes which have been sold on the Nord Pool exchange since May 6, funds have not yet been credited to our bank account,” said the company, which is a subsidiary of Russian state energy corporate Inter RAO.
The firm expressed hope that the situation would be resolved and trade could resume. RAO Nordic had reportedly been trading on the Nord Pool exchange for more than two decades.
“We hope that the situation will improve soon and the electricity trade with Russia can resume,” the corporation said.
On Friday, Finland’s transmission system operator Fingrid said there was no threat to electricity supply in the country as a result of the move. The grid company added that electricity imported from Russia accounted for around 10% of the nation’s total consumption.
“The lack of electricity imports from Russia will be compensated for by importing more electricity from Sweden and by generating more electricity in Finland,” said Reima Paivinen, Fingrid’s senior vice president of power system operations.
In April, it announced plans to reduce electricity imports from Russia in cross-border connections, saying it would import more from Sweden instead. At the same time, analysts say that cutting electricity purchases from Russia would increase Finnish power prices by 30%.
The country’s media also reported that Russia could stop providing Finland with natural gas on Friday over the nation’s bid to join NATO. Russia has not confirmed the reports.
—————————————————————————————
Lone Wolf
“…Do not publish anything from US MSM without double checking it”
That’s for the reader who chooses to do that. Others don’t read it; others don’t believe it. I benefitted both from the headline, because otherwise I would not have known about the issue, and from your details, because now I know more and better (maybe someone believes everything the NYT publishes and then you come here and show him he should not). Important leaders worldwide read the headlines of newspapers like the NYT to know what “others are thinking” too.
🇬🇧🇺🇦Message from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
🔹In the course of reconnaissance and search operations of a motorized rifle unit of the RF Armed Forces, an UAV crew discovered a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on infantry fighting vehicles that attempted to cross the pontoon crossing.
🔹The pontoon crossing was completely destroyed by artillery fire and sank. The enemy armored vehicles with crews that managed to cross the pontoons during the battle were destroyed by the fire of Russian artillerymen and crews of infantry fighting vehicles. Part of the armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was captured by Russian servicemen.
Video: @rian_ru
@anna_news
Gonna be hard to unspin that if true, lots of scorched earth around the location, I did find this guys take fairly straight up, and his maps, fwiw, at least give a good look at the area contested.
https://www.youtube.com/defensepoliticsasia
Cheers M
In the west today news is all googoo gaga over the big Orc push north to the Russian border. Once the Orcs are up and mobile, I’m thinking Russia has a nasty surprise or two hiding in the bush. 15,000 men in a battle group is a big target, esp without complete air cover……any air cover?
Evening briefing of the Russian Defense Ministry.
– Air-launched missiles hit 28 company strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and two ammunition depots;
– Airstrikes were carried out on 33 targets;
– Rocket troops and artillery hit 218 objects, incl. launcher MLRS “Smerch”;
– 6 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down, one of which was destroyed over Zmeiny Island;
— In the area of N. p. Khleborob intercepted ballistic missile “Tochka-U”.
@voenkorKotenok
Voenkor Kitten Z
The situation at the front, Mariupol-2 and the enemy’s plan
1. Ours are advancing, fighting is going on in Ugledar itself.
2. There are fights in Marinka.
3. Our people are trying with all their might to Avdiivka. The advance of the Russians in Avdiivka is also recognized on the side of the enemy.
The capture of Avdiivka will allow Donetsk to finally breathe easy. This is a very difficult story. Engineering structures here and in Kramatorsk are serious – for 8 years they have been buried very seriously.
4. But… In our country, as always, a lot of “experts” speak out of business, for example, they are already exhausted to slam the lid of the “Donbass cauldron”, but it still does not slam shut. Of course, screaming is one thing, but fighting is another.
Khokhols, in response to the fact that our jingoistic patriots shouted that we “slammed the lid of the boiler”, stopped the withdrawal of troops and added 3,000 people to the Donbass. Terodefense with heavy weapons. They go to the Slavic-Kramatorsk agglomeration. Here will be the next cycle of hard fighting. They won’t come out.
5. From Lisichansk and Severodonetsk they will most likely roll out, that is, we can cut off this ledge, but in Kramatorsk and Slavyansk they are preparing to fight surrounded.
6. These two fortresses – Lisichansk / Severodonetsk and Slavyansk / Kramatorsk – are the next stage. They want to turn them into Mariupol No. 2. There will be major fights here.
We’ll take Avdiivka the fastest.
7.The task of the enemy is for our assault columns to crash against these two fortifications, after which there will be an attempt to counterattack. To attempt a final counterattack they will be ready by early/mid June.
@voenkorKotenok
So my comments above were partly correct…the presence of bridging eqpt on the Ukrainian side of the riverbank were the giveaway.
Another huge lie.