ПЕРЕХВАТ (Z) (Transformation (Z)) (Open TG link)
Ukrainian Armed Forces retreat to the outskirts of Marinka with heavy losses: details
Since December 20, units of the 79th Airborne Assault Brigade of the AFU, occupying positions in the western part of the city, have suffered major losses in Marinka.
During the counter-battery fight, the howitzer artillery division of the AFU with D-30 guns of 122 mm caliber was seriously damaged.
According to the Military Chronicle, serious losses were recorded in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th airborne assault battalions of the 79th AFU Brigade, reconnaissance and tank companies of the AFU.
The number of killed and seriously wounded in these units since December 15 is estimated at between 350 and 460 people. Due to the serious losses, the brigade urgently had to be reinforced with mobilized from the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, and a security company and engineering units reclassified as assault troops had to be sent to the line of battle.
According to the Military Chronicle, the key reason for the large losses of the AFU in Marinka was the activity of artillery and armored vehicles of the Russian Armed Forces. T-72B3 tanks move quickly to the western outskirts of the city with the support of drones, which allows the crews to reconnoiter dangerous positions and fire on firing points in buildings with minimal risk.
According to radio intercepts by the AFU, units of the 79th DShB recorded a shortage of communication and surveillance equipment, ammunition for machine guns and machine guns and wound dressing supplies, as well as quadcopters, which were used for reconnaissance of AFU positions. Also, AFU units complain of an acute shortage of anti-tank weapons - there is a shortage of grenade launchers and ammunition for them.
Because of the rapidly deteriorating tactical situation, since the evening of December 23, the AFU has been accumulating its remaining forces on the western outskirts of Marinka in the area of Shakhtyorskaya and Poligraphicheskaya streets, where the field headquarters is gradually being moved from the central fortified area.
In the event of a failure at the last line of defense, Ukrainian army units plan to retreat to reserve positions to the fortified area near the Marinka Dam, where BM-21 Grad batteries were previously stationed. However, in this case control over the city will be permanently lost.
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Translated from Russian FYI:
Операция Z: Военкоры Русской Весны (Operation Z: Russian Spring Warcasters) (Open TG link)
(Three(3) referenced zoom-able tactical Situ maps)
The Russian Army advances near Liman, Artemivsk, Avdeevka and attacks near Kupyansk - the main thing from the report of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces:
Russian forces continue to concentrate offensive efforts in Artemivsk, Liman, and Avdeevka and seek to improve the tactical situation in the Kupyansk direction.
On the Liman direction, the Russian Armed Forces launched strikes against the AFU near Makiivka, Chervonopopovka and Dubrava LNR, as well as Ternovniki DNR.
In the Artemivsk (Bakhmutsk) direction, the AFU AFU used tanks, mortars and the full range of artillery in the areas of Spornoye, Berestovoye, Veseloye, Yakovlevka, Soledar, Praskovyevka, Bakhmut, Chasov Yar, Opytne, Stupochki, Kleshcheevka, Belaya Gora, Dileevka, Kleban-Byk, Ozarianovka, Severne and New York of the DPR.
On the Avdiivka direction, the AFU came under fire in the areas of Kamianka, Avdiivka, Vodyanoye, Nevelskoye, Marinka and Novomikhailovka DNR.
In the Kupyansk direction, artillery strikes hit the positions of Ukrainian soldiers in Novovolinsk, Kupyansk,
Kislovka, Tabayevka and Krakhmalnoye in the Kharkiv region and Stelmakhovka and Myasozharivka in the LNR.