3 Likes
Russia lost more elite soldiers in 1 year near Vuhledar than in 10 years of Chechen War, BBC reports
October 4, 2024 10:24 PM
An aerial view of the town of Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast on Dec. 14, 2023. (Libkos/Getty Images
Russia’s elite Marines have suffered four times higher losses during a year of fighting near Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast than during 10 years of the Second Chechen War, the BBC News Russia reported on Oct. 4.
Kyiv’s forces announced the withdrawal from the key Donetsk Oblast settlement on Oct. 2 after Russian forces swarmed the town’s flanks and entered Vuhledar itself.
Lying in the southern part of the region, roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the administrative border with Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Vuhledar has faced a heavy Russian onslaught since 2022.
The elite 155th and 40th marine brigades of the Russian Armed Forces, also known as the Black Berets, were involved in the storming of the city, supported by armored vehicles. The marines were also assisted by motorized rifle units manned by mobilized and volunteer personnel.
According to the BBC, at least 211 marines from the 155th Brigade were killed during the battle for Vuhledar, with another 42 missing. This far exceeds the unit’s losses during the decade-long Second Chechen War in 1999-2009, the media outlet’s report showed.
BBC journalists were also able to confirm the deaths of 72 Russian soldiers from the 40th Brigade.
According to the BBC, the seriousness of the losses is confirmed by the fact that both brigades began using Storm-Z units made up of convicts.
Ukraine’s 72nd Mechanized Brigade had defended Vuhledar, the key to Ukrainian defenses in the southern part of Donetsk Oblast, for nearly two years without rotations.
After withdrawing from the town, the 72nd Brigade’s troops moved to a new defense line to continue holding back Russian forces, Arsenii Prylepko, a spokesperson for the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, told Hromadske.
Two undisclosed soldiers from the same brigade told Suspilne that their unit continues to hold the defenses in the same direction, near the occupied city.
According to one of the service members, some battalions that suffered significant losses during the battles for Vuhledar will be based in Donetsk Oblast, 10-15 kilometers (6-9 miles) from the front line.
“During this time, they are going to be replenished. The rest of the units will hold the defense in this direction,” the soldier said.
Another soldier said the brigade remains in the same area because “there is no one to replace it.”
During his address on Sept. 30, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine faces a “very challenging” situation on the front lines. Apart from Vuhledar, Russian forces have been focusing their efforts against the Donetsk Oblast towns of Pokrovsk and Toretsk, where outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian soldiers are slowly losing ground under Russian pressure.
Russian troops also appear to be preparing for assault operations in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where “the enemy is amassing personnel,” the Ukrainian military’s Southern Command spokesperson Vladyslav Voloshyn said on Sept. 28.
3 Likes
More money is required for the meat grinder.
3 Likes
This following event will surely provoke a nuclear response.
6 Likes
Russian losses per 05/10/24 reported by the Ukrainian general staff
+1280 men
+8 tanks
+31 AFVs
+72 artillery pieces
+4 MLRS
+5 AD systems
+35 UAVs
12 Likes
I wonder how many of them survive to collect the dough.
3 Likes
7 Likes
Couldn’t Ukraine fire one of these things into the Kremlin and claim it was a malfunction or slight miscalculation, like Russia constantly does.
Ukrainian aircraft fire British-French cruise missiles at Russian troops advancing on key city
A Ukrainian security source has shared drone footage with Sky News which shows strikes on troops in the Donetsk region - where Russian forces have claimed a series of towns and villages in recent weeks.
Friday 4 October 2024 21:15, UK
Ukrainian aircraft fired British-French cruise missiles at Russian troops attempting to advance towards a key city in eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian security source has told Sky News.
The source shared drone footage that purportedly shows strikes on what he described as “two command centres of massive troops formations slowly advancing on Pokrovsk”.
Details about whether any Russian military personnel were killed or wounded were not immediately clear.
The attack took place at 11am on Friday in the town of Avdiivka, which was captured by Russian forces in February.
The source said Russian commanders had been pouring troops, military equipment and supplies into the occupied areas of Donetsk as part of their offensive towards the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
“The Ukrainian Armed Forces used Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles, gifted by Western nations,” the source said.
Storm Shadow is the name given by Britain to the UK-Franco manufactured munition. The French call it Scalp.
Travelling just under the speed of sound, it is an effective weapon against well-protected buildings.
Ukraine has been urging the UK and other allies to allow its military to use longer-range missiles like Storm Shadow against targets inside Russia, rather than restricting their use to within Ukraine.
The UK appears to be willing to say yes but is waiting for the US to agree as well.
US President Joe Biden has yet to give the green light amid warnings from Russia that Moscow would regard such a move as direct involvement by NATO countries in the war.
Vladimir Putin has even hinted that it might even justify a nuclear response.
Image:
A Storm Shadow cruise missile on display at the Paris Air Show in June 2023 Pic: AP
The UK, US and other allies have accused the Russian president of being a bully and have advised against limiting their support to Ukraine because of his threats.
Putin’s forces capture two key towns in Donetsk
Russian forces have been advancing on Pokrovsk as the eastern front remains the site of the most intensive fighting in the war, with Moscow’s troops having claimed a series of towns and villages in the Donetsk region in recent weeks.
That continued this week when Russian forces captured Vuhledar and Verkhnokamianske.
2 Likes
Oil depots on fire in Russia’s Voronezh Oblast, Perm Krai
October 4, 2024 9:36 AM
(Updated: October 4, 2024 2:09 PM
The footage purporting to show fire at an oil depot in the village of Osentsy in Perm Krai, Russia, overnight on Oct. 4, 2024. (Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry)
Editor’s note: The story was updated with new information from Ukraine’s General Staff.
Fires broke out at two oil depots in Russia’s Voronezh Oblast and Perm Krai overnight on Oct. 4, local authorities reported.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, its air defense downed six Ukrainian drones over Voronezh Oblast, six over Belgorod Oblast, one over Rostov Oblast and one over the Azov Sea.
Ukrainians soldiers attacked the Annanefteprodukt fuel and lubricants storage base near the village of Anna in Voronezh Oblast, Ukraine’s General Staff said. It was not specified what kind of weapon was used in the attack.
A source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent later that the oil depot was struck with drones operated by the SBU.
According to the source, the oil storage facility housed 20 tanks with fuel and lubricants.
“It was confirmed that at least one of the vertical tanks was hit,” the General Staff said.
Aleksandr Gusev, Voronezh Oblast governor, claimed that an empty tank at an oil storage facility was hit during the drone attack and put out later.
A large-scale fire also broke out at an oil depot in the village of Osentsy in Perm Krai. Russia’s Perm Krai lies around 1,800 kilometers northeast of Ukraine.
The fire engulfed fuel tanks and spread over 10,000 square meters, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry reported.
No casualties were reported in both regions.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify Russia’s claims.
In recent months, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia’s oil industry, whose profits fuel Moscow’s war efforts.
2 Likes
and yet…
5 Likes
Two Russias - Who Is Fighting and Why, and How the Russian Army Works (Eng subs) - Max Katz
1 Like
Excellent review as always and tragic at the same time.
2 Likes
This should not be missed. 1 or zero is the usual number, I recall seeing 2 once but 5??? That is huge.
10 Likes
7 Likes
Why park out in the open?
1 Like
2 Likes
7 Likes
I think this is a transporter erector launcher and radar (TELAR) vehicle part of the battery with the radar at another location. It needs to be deployed out in the open to launch missiles at any incoming air threats. This makes it a sitting duck, especially once it was found by drones. Looks like it was only 12 - 15 km from the front line.
5 Likes