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Ukraine: military situation update - July 18, 2023
••Denotes Transcribed Dialogue. Extras are just that - from other sites, or my comments marked (Edit: .... ) or { } or [ ].
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——> Captured Russian Weapons Being Studied By UK <——
Disclosures about U.K. foreign materiel exploitation come as the government announces its future priorities for the armed forces.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/captured-russian-weapons-being-studied-by-uk
Excerpt:
In terms of main battle tanks, the Defense Command Paper notes that the British Army’s Challenger 2 will receive “additional protection from specific Russian threats,” after the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) - the research and development branch of the Ministry of Defense - developed “bespoke and readily available armor protection solutions.”
No details were provided as to the nature of the threats that this armor is intended to protect against, but it’s clear that intelligence gathered from the Ukrainian war contributed to the solution.
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UK picking apart Russian army vehicles captured in Ukraine to learn their secrets, military reveals - 2.1 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1-P6XZccwg
UK Army will receive even less funds this year and will continue to shrink.
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Brimstone: The missiles the UK could send Ukraine - explained - 2.52 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZhWo11NGyg
https://www.youtube.com/@RFU
[ Massive Slaughter | Russians Step Into The Notorious Death Zone ]
••Day 510: Jul 18
Today there is a lot of news from the east.
Here, Russian forces opened a completely new axis of advance and decided to attack the territories that they had failed to advance into for more than 8 years.
Krasnohorivka is a powerful stronghold located between Avdiivka and Marinka.
Just like its sisters, it’s been prepared to withstand the most destructive frontal assaults, which is why Russians did not even try to attack it until today.
But before they could attack the stronghold itself, Russians needed to secure their flanks and eliminate all Ukrainian positions in the fields.
The first target of their choice became a coal mine 1 km south of Krasnohorivka.
The coal mine is located in the field, and it consists of 5 separate facilities.
As you can notice, there are also a lot of trench networks on the territory of the mine, located precisely in the way of potential attacks.
In order to breach this defense, Russian forces made a huge bet on the element of surprise - Russians made sure not to conduct any intense reconnaissance-in-force operations to prevent Ukrainians from reinforcing this region.
The first wave of attack consisted of at least 7 tanks and armored fighting vehicles.
Judging by the water in the background, Russian forces advanced along the Lozova River, where they split into 2 groups and attacked the strong point from 2 sides.
The job of the first group was to attack Ukrainian flanks and draw attention away from the second group, while the second group was trying to establish control over the biggest facility.
Since it is also most fortified and surrounded by trenches, by establishing control over it, Ukrainians would be hypothetically unable to continue to defend their position.
Unfortunately for Russians, their assault units faced intense artillery fire.
Moreover, the coal mine facilities were severely damaged and could not provide cover even after Russian assault units got close.
Russians forces had to reinforce the units on the ground in order to compensate for the losses and fill the trenches with infantry so that Ukrainians do not have an opportunity to enter empty trenches.
As Russians got close, Ukrainians could not maintain the same intensity of artillery fire in order to avoid hitting their own troops.
After seeing that level of artillery support necessarily decreased and that Russians also launched another wave of attack, Ukrainians stepped back to avoid incurring high losses.
The moment Ukrainians withdrew, Ukrainian artillery crews unleashed devastating fire.
Next, Ukrainians deployed their drone operators, whose main goal was to target the exposed Russian forces in trenches.
Geolocated footage confirms that not many Russians managed to escape the grenades falling on them.
After more or less clearing the trenches and making Russians seek shelter, Ukrainian drone operators could make more sophisticated maneuvers that require more time, such as dropping grenades in the holes of the buildings.
Overall, Russian forces established control over the coal mine facilities, but it came at a great cost.
Russian forces reportedly lost half of the tanks and armored fighting vehicles that they had to withdraw mid-fight due to heavy shelling, sending more infantry instead.
Judging by the footage pre-fight and post-fight, Russians used around 120 troops, and lost more than half of them as well.
It is unlikely that Russians expected to incur such substantial losses for several buildings, which is why it is unlikely that Russians will proceed with an attack on Krasnohorivka.
So, the idea of unexpectedly attacking the area, which they refrained from stepping into for years, did not really pay off.
••In the Northeast
The Russians have some success near Lyman Pershyi and have reached the Oskil River. The UA control the high ground in the area, so crossing the river may not be so easy. Confirmed, but the Russians were repelled.
Bakhmut:
Some movement by UA.
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Russian mil-bloggers complain that UA artillery is being used as a fire wall like they used to do, but is more precise.
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Kersh bridge:
Only one lane is now open for an hour or two, then opened to the vehicles from the other direction. The choice for the RGF is what to do about all the tourists trying to cross verses military trucks. There are traffic jams on both sides of the bridge. Civilians use the road from Rostov on Don to visit Crimea despite the risks. The RGF uses the same roads.
Civilians have been warned by Ukraine many times, using all means - do not go to Crimea. However, Russian officials say it is no problem for civilians to go to Crimea.
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The Russian reply for the Kersh Bridge attack was the random missile hits on Odessa.
The damaged Ukrainian infrastructure in the Odessa port. As I told you Russia tries to avoid humiliation after exiting the grain deal. They can’t target the ships so the only way out for them is to get rid of facilities in Ukrainian ports to make the processing of the grains impossible.
The bad thing for Ukraine that it didn’t predict it and still we are not having enough air defence systems in Odessa. The last night effectiveness was less than 50%.
Now Zelenskyi ordered the urgent reinforcement of the air defence in the region. Plus with the new military help from our allies will help with it.
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Russian-Iranian Shahid drones use Irish-made parts.
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Ukraine responded by targeting the biggest ammunition warehouse in Crimea. Russia had to close the important logistic road and evacuate few villages nearby.
https://t.me/pilotblog/5454?single
••Ukraine has prepared 17 brigades for a counteroffensive. Highlights from today’s Rammstein:
The Ukrainian counteroffensive is far from a failure, despite the fact that it is progressing more slowly than planned.
The main problem for the Armed Forces now is “minefields”, not Russian aviation.
The international coalition has prepared more than 63,000 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for a counteroffensive.
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The enemy offensive in the Kupyansk direction has so far been unsuccessful. The fighting continues, but the initiative is already on our side, - Ukrainian Army Officials
In addition, there was an advance of our troops on the southern part of Bakhmut area today. There was fighting on the northern flank today too. The enemy is trying to regain lost positions.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/07/why-nato-was-obsessed-ukraine-is-now-panic/
How is it that on the eve of the Russian Special Military Operation in February 2022 that Ukraine was the poorest country in Europe but was ranked number four in the world in terms of natural resources?
The answer is simple — the Western oligarchs who fund the political leaders of the NATO countries were busy cutting deals with Ukrainian oligarchs to get control of those rare earth minerals and energy resources. Do you think that putting Hunter Biden on the Board of Burisma, along with former CIA Counter Terrorism Chief Cofer Black, was just a coincidence? But note — the plan to pillage Ukraine of its natural wealth did not include a plan to ensure the economic development of the Ukrainian people. Only those closely tied to Western oligarchs would profit.
Fuel shortages in Crimea…
BRIEF
The commander of PMC “Wagner” Dmitry Utkin, whose call sign gave the name of the company, thanked the fighters who, after an attempted armed rebellion, agreed to move to Belarus.
“Yes, if someone does not know, I am the same Wagner. Most of you know me.
“I know most of you personally. Many thanks to everyone for the work done, thanks to this work, damn it, the name of Wagner PMC has thundered all over the world.
“Thanks to all. Guys, thank you very much. You have a new stage ahead of you. This is not the end, this is just the beginning of the biggest work in the world that will be done very soon. Well, welcome to hell (“Welcome to hell”),” said Utkin.
—
BRIEF
Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are dissatisfied with the fact that Western countries have not provided Ukraine with a sufficient number of fighters and air defense systems, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The publication cites the opinion of the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces unit, Yuri Ulshin, who is fighting near Bakhmut, who said that Western countries “seriously made a mistake” by supplying tanks and armored vehicles to Ukraine, but not providing Kiev with a sufficient number of fighters and air defense systems to protect equipment.
“It’s like giving a bicycle without pedals,” the military quoted the publication as saying. Thank you very much for the bike, but...
https://t.me/s/rusbrief
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“Good, excellent” - Vladimir Putin appreciated Elvira Nabiullina’s report on the introduction of the digital ruble into circulation
“With the launch of the digital ruble, Russia will become one of the first countries to have both a national digital currency, a national payment card system, its own fast payment system and its own alternative in SWIFT”
Russia extends eligibility for military call-up by at least five years
“Russia also maintains a “mobilised reserve” of men who have signed up to receive periodic military training and a stipend after their compulsory or professional service ends.
The new law means that those from this reserve with the highest ranks can now be called back into service up to the age of 70 rather than 65, other senior ranks up to 65, junior officers up to 60 - and all others up to the age of 55 rather than 45.”
Ukraine is losing that war. The Jig Is Up and NATO knows it. Ukraine will never be allowed to become a member.
A new narrative element is creeping in with talks about a ceasefire in Ukraine. It would give the Ukraine time to refit its military.
But Russia has absolutely no reason to agree to a pause in the fight. During the war its military has become larger and better and a total defeat of the Ukrainian army is only a question of time.
The U.S. and NATO will soon have lost their big proxy war against Russia.
In light of this reality the much larger, centuries old narrative of the superior West is also breaking down.
This will have global consequences for decades to come.
