Russian special military operation in Ukraine #43

Mir wrote:An interesting take on the Khmelnitski explosions that apparently took out a major DU stockpile - from an expert.
Recommended for those that think DU is just toxic or even completely harmless!

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230519/ukraines-depleted-uranium-blast-europe-on-brink-of-environmental-disaster-1110462939.html

DU is buried somewhere within the penetrator and has a melting point of over 1000 degrees Celsius. I'm not an expert but you'll get a lot less heat even in a large conventional explosion, at least over any significant length of time. Therefore the idea that the DU burnt or evaporated into particles or whatever seems unlikely.
What's more likely, if the DU was present at that site, is that it would have been broken up and scattered over a wide area along with everything else. Into the soil, forests, rivers, marshes and so on surrounding the city. Over time it will degrade and make its way into the ecosystem and finally into humans, although this can take years or decades.

For the entire time of the operation in Artyomovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut), the Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered impressive losses both in manpower and in equipment.

This is reported by the Telegram-channel The wrong side of the military. So, according to military correspondents, the losses of the Ukrainian army in the battles for the city and its environs amounted to about 44 thousand killed and 97 thousand wounded. As for the destroyed tanks , armored personnel carriers (APCs) and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), the number of these combat vehicles is estimated at about 300 units. At the same time, it is indicated in the material that at least 95 of them are NATO-style equipment.

However, now the rhetoric of the Ukrainians has changed, because they have already begun to declare that “what is happening in Bakhmut is no longer so important,” after all, “it is important to hold the flanks.”

In the meantime, according to Readovka, the Wagner PMC in Artyomovsk liquidated the ideological Ukrainian Wahhabi Oleksandr Zhdanenko with the call sign Ansar, who, starting from 2014, joined the Ukrainian militants.

After 3 years, he entered into contact with members of the Wahhabi battalion "Sheikh Mansur" * (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned on the territory of the Russian Federation), then converting to Islam. He felt hatred for the Russians, which he directly stated on the network.

Earlier, "musicians" in Artyomovsk destroyed the American mercenary Nicholas Duyane Meimer. He was a veteran of the US Army Special Forces, who more than a year ago joined The Mozart Group, a private military company formed in 2022 to assist Ukrainian militants during a Russian-led special operation in Ukraine. After a while, Maymer transferred to another unit, starting to take an active part in the hostilities.

https://topwar-ru.translate.goog/217381-voenkory-predstavili-statistiku-poter-protivnika-za-vremja-provedenija-operacii-v-artemovske.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

Indicative of this is the recently published summary of British military intelligence. According to this document, "the Russian Combined Group of Forces in Ukraine consists of more than 200,000 men organized into about 70 combat regiments and brigades, divided into five groups of troops." According to London, in such a scenario, it is unlikely that Russia will be able to create a large, capable, mobile reserve to respond to "emerging operational problems" along the entire 1,000-kilometer front line.

Somewhat earlier, exactly the same figures (200,000 soldiers and officers from Russia in Ukraine) were given by the head of the Committee of the Chiefs of Staff of the US Army, General Mark Milley. And the Washington Post newspaper added: there are about the same number of Russians in readiness for a counterattack in the near rear and along the former state border line in adjacent areas. A counterattack that will follow if at least somewhere and at least sometime on the line of contact the Armed Forces of Ukraine have an operational success.

Thus, the maximum that we have today in those parts for the second year of the stalled special operation is about half a million strong group. This is even after the partial mobilization carried out in the Russian Federation in the fall, as a result of which our army was replenished with 300,000 new fighters. Still, it's not enough. Especially when you consider that Kyiv has managed to put up to a million of its men under arms and does not leave attempts to continue moving in the same direction for a day.

NOTE: to clarify the UK report claims there are 200,000 Russians in the SMO while the US report claims the same 200,000 plus another 200,000 in adjacent areas.

FULL ARTICLE: https://svpressa-ru.translate.goog/war21/article/373405/?utm_source=warfiles.ru&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

Russia and Ukraine carried out an exchange of prisoners of war: 37 Russian citizens were returned home.

According to the data available to Avia.pro journalists, both sides exchanged prisoners of war. The Russian side managed to achieve the release of 37 citizens.

It is currently unknown how many Ukrainian servicemen were returned during this exchange. However, the return of Russian fighters from Ukrainian captivity is part of the diplomatic effort.

The last exchange of prisoners took place at the beginning of the month. Then three Russian pilots were returned from captivity, and the Ukrainian side was able to return 45 of its servicemen.

How many Russian and Ukrainian military are currently in captivity remains unknown, however, regular exchanges of prisoners indicate that both sides are interested in such actions.

https://avia-pro.net/news/rossiya-vernula-iz-ukrainskogo-plena-37-chelovek

The Russian army is adapting and improving in Ukraine.

The Russian armed forces are showing impressive adaptation and improvement of their military skills in the course of ongoing military operations in Ukraine, according to a new analysis report from the Royal United Defense Research Institute (RUSI) in the UK. This puts Ukraine in front of serious problems.

Particularly noticeable in the report is the mention of the improvement of the reconnaissance and strike complex of Russian artillery. Analysts note that the effectiveness of artillery fire has increased due to improved ability to fire from multiple positions. This highlights the increased flexibility of Russian artillery in a changing battlefield.

The document also highlights the effectiveness and adaptation of Russian air defense (AD) systems. The researchers found that Russian air defense systems were almost completely able to neutralize the threat from HARM missiles, which were used by enemy forces.

Overall, this report highlights the persistent adaptability and effectiveness of the Russian military machine in Ukraine, which represents a significant setback for the Ukrainian armed forces.

https://avia-pro.net/news/rossiyskaya-armiya-polnostyu-prisposobilas-k-postavkam-na-ukrainu-zapadnogo-vooruzheniya-i

Further details:

Russian forces take key city of Artiomovsk under their control, 05.20.2023.

The city, known in Ukraine as Bakhmut, was the scene of long and intense fighting between the Russian military and Ukrainian forces.

The city of Artyomovsk has come under the full control of Russian forces, the leader of the private Russian Wagner military group Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday. The city, located in the Donetsk People's Republic, had become the scene of some of the longest and most intense fighting of the Russian operation in Ukraine.

"The operation [...] it lasted 224 days," Progozhin specified.

At the beginning of March, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stressed the strategic importance of the city. "This city is an important defense center of the Ukrainian troops in Donbass. Its control will allow [the Russian military] to carry out new offensive actions deeply in the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," he stressed then.

The city was founded at the end of the XVI century with the name of Bajmut. In 1924 it was renamed as Artiomovsk in honor of the Russian Bolshevik revolutionary Fyodor Sergeyev, who was known as Artiom. In 2016, the city was renamed back to Bakhmut as part of the decommunization campaign that began in Ukraine in 2015, which included the removal of monuments, as well as the renaming of topographic objects associated with Soviet history.

Yandex Translate from Spanish

https://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/454610-rusia-toma-control-ciudad-clave-artiomovsk

almost completely able to neutralize the threat from HARM missiles.
Fixed it.


One year after the liberation of Mariupol.

GarryB wrote:Who thinks this fake use of WP in Bakhmut is a fake so they can justify dropping incendiaries on Russia?

Smartest thing Russia did in a long time and now you are telling me it's fake?

Nothing but disappointments it seems...

Serberus wrote:"WAGNER" TOOK BAKHMUT - Yevgeniy Prigozin
According to the head of the orchestra, the operation lasted 224 days. At 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the settlement was completely taken.
@DDgeopolitics

Video
https://t.me/gzvonews/6349

Those limp dicks have been saying that took took it every day for nearly a year

Tommorow they will also say that they took it

Don't waste server space with this nonsense

Sprut-B wrote:https://youtu.be/80NZSLp1Gj4

Quite an interesting video. Especially at the end, the guest talked about the colossal socioeconomic achievements of the USSR....world.

Hahahahaha

Sprut-B wrote:...It was quite an achievement for the Soviets to turn a war-torn, backward country into the world's number one superpower within a decade.

Number two (in both meanings)

And it's not like competition was stiff, first place was already taken so only thing they could get by default was second

Sprut-B wrote:...At that time, average USSR citizens lived a much better life than average Americans, let alone the rest of the world.

It was a fucking hellhole that people were literally dying to escape from

Those who stayed spent nearly two decades after it ended wishing they did die