“Ukraine has begun firing U.S.-provided cluster munitions against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine in a push to break up well-fortified Russian positions that have slowed Ukraine’s summer offensive, according to Ukrainian officials familiar with the matter.
The use of the controversial U.S.-made weapons, which has not been previously reported, follows President Biden’s “difficult decision” to order the delivery of the widely banned munitions last week, a move that human rights groups, European allies and some Democrats criticized due to the risk of civilian casualties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, referring to cluster munitions on Sunday, threatened to retaliate against Ukraine “if they are used against us,” although Russia has already used cluster munitions in populated areas of Ukraine at least 24 times since the start of Moscow’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, according to the United Nations.”
How about just giving us your “counteroffensive” tally? Seriously, what are results since 6/1? I’m guessing your “sources” will show the Ukes kicking a$$.
Ukraine: military situation update - July 19, 2023
••Denotes Transcribed Dialogue. Extras are just that - from other sites, or my comments marked (Edit: .... ) or { } or [ ].
==
——> The Truth About Russia’s Mysterious Winged Glide Bombs <——
Russia’s wing kits for ‘dumb’ bombs are makeshift devices with numerous shortcomings but they do feature satellite guidance.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/the-truth-about-russias-mysterious-winged-glide-bombs
Excerpt:
The same source indicates that after attaching the UMPK module, the weight of the FAB-500M-62 bomb actually exceeds the load capacity of the most common Russian weapon pylons, which is 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds). This may cause the bomb to detach during maneuvering.
Another disadvantage of the UMPK is that the bomb’s fuse is switched to ‘ready’ as in an ordinary bomb, i.e. at the moment of separation from the aircraft (in other winged bombs the fuse is activated later, during the glide). This means that if the wing does not open, the bomb can fall and explode, including on Russian or Russian-controlled territory. This is what the people of Belgorod faced on April 20 in an incident ...
https://www.youtube.com/@RFU
[ Crimean Bases Destroyed | First Missile Strike ]
••Day 511: Jul 19
Today there are a lot of updates from the south.
Here, Ukrainian and Russian forces made a series of massive and devastating missile exchanges.
After a successful strike on the Kerch Bridge, President Putin declared that he was already discussing with the high command possible options for retaliation. The Ukrainian Command understood that this meant only one thing - a massive drone and missile strike.
The only question was what would be the main target. The main target of the Russian strike was the harbor in Odesa. At first, Russian Air Force launched several waves of drones to exhaust the Ukrainian air defense.
Based on the footage of the successful interception of drones above Odesa by the Ukrainian air defense, this tactic worked.
After that, Russians flooded the air space with rockets, almost all of which headed towards Odesa. Local residents in Crimea filmed the moments of the launch of 16 Caliber cruise missiles from Kozacha bay in Sevastopol.
On top of that, it was reported that at least 8 strategic bombers Tu-22 launched 15 missiles of various types.
The greatest devastation was faced by the harbor in Odesa. The strike aimed to destroy all the infrastructure necessary for loading cargo and also grain terminals. In fact, grain terminals took the largest hit because this was a symbolic withdrawal from the grain deal.
It was reported that apart from rendering the whole harbor unusable, Russian missiles also destroyed 60 thousand tons of grain.
Later the Russian Ministry of Defense gave a statement and declared that the grain deal was officially over, and any ships passing through the region would be considered military targets, and the countries of the flags of these ships would be considered enemy states that entered the war.
Apart from the main harbor in Odesa City, Russians also made sure the target secondary harbors in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that several industrial objects were hit.
Judging by the footage, one was an oil depot, and another one a small ammunition depot. Unfortunately, some missiles hit the residential areas, including a shopping mall in Odesa. Ukrainian forces responded reciprocally. The first target of the Ukrainian strike became Melitopol.
Local residents reported hearing at least 5 explosions somewhere on the outskirts of the city. Ukrainian Melitopol Mayor confirmed that Ukrainians struck Russian military bases.
Immediately after that, explosions were reported in Mykhailivka, which is a prefrontal stronghold west of Tokmak. Several hours ago, Ukrainians also hit the Russian base in Skadovsk, which is located on the Black Sea coast.
All three strikes were reportedly conducted by HIMARS and primarily targeted areas of personnel concentrations. Ukrainians also conducted several HIMARS strikes in the east.
Local residents of Yasynuvata reported hearing multiple explosions followed by secondary detonations. Later it was confirmed that Ukrainians successfully stuck an ammunition depot.
The second package of HIMARS rockets targeted Russian military objects in Donetsk. Geolocated footage shows an explosion on the Russian military site on the outskirts of the city.
But the most devastating strike was conducted in Crimea. Here, Russian forces had a huge military site that was even bigger than some of the villages around it.
The site was also located on one of main supply roads. Russian sources reported that Ukrainians struck the Russian base with 3 ballistic missiles: Hrim-2.
The missiles hit the ammunition depot, which caused a massive explosion that could be heard more than 30 km away. The secondary detonations continued throughout the day, which did not allow to put out the fire.
Due to the sheer scale of fire, local authorities had to close the highway and start evacuating residents from the nearby villages.
It was reported that at least 5 villages were considered to be in the dangerous zone. The fate of thousands of Russian soldiers on the base is unknown.
Overall, in response to the massive public discontent associated with the second successful destruction of the Kerch Bridge, Russians decided to combine a massive missile strike with a loud exit from the notorious grain deal to rapidly change the sentiment in the Russian media space.
However, it was in vain, as less than 1 day later, Ukrainians conducted the first successful missile strike on Crimea.
The destruction of the massive ammunition depot that continued to detonate the whole day produced so many videos that flooded the media space that the sentiment worsened even more.
Interestingly, many Russian analysts are speculating that Ukrainians used Storm Shadow missiles for the strike, but the Russian Ministry of Defense did not want to admit that Ukrainians dared to do it, partially because they do not know how to react to this publicly.
In the meantime, Ukrainians conducted a successful series of strikes, targeting 3 areas of forces concentrations, 2 ammunition depots, and 1 base in Crimea that had a lot of soldiers and ammunition.
••8 convoys of Wagners arrived in their camp in Belarus.
•• Minus Russian Commander . Near Luhansk liquidated the commander of the invaders with the call sign “Tashkent”, who was promoted on the show Skabeeva propaganda show.
It is reported that a kamikaze drone flew into his car while driving. This “Tashkent” was often shown on Russian-haired TV, in particular, on the air at the propaganda’s wife Skabeeva, calling him “the legendary brigade commander.”
https://t.me/pilotblog/5459
==
The 60,000 tons of grain destroyed in Odessa was bound for China, Ukraine’s largest grain customer.
==
A Russian X-59MK2 missile with a cluster warhead is shot down in Zaporizhzhia region. No one complains.
https://t.me/pilotblog/5463?single
==
Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia will jointly apply to the EU with a request to extend the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain after September 15.
This was reported to Reuters by the Minister of Agriculture of Hungary Istvan Nagy.
So Ukrainian grain is trapped both by enemies and allies. Maybe no one needs it really.
It is a big political game that is ongoing. I have my own thoughts about but I will see how it goes with Turkey.
Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia will jointly apply to the EU with a request to extend the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain after September 15. This was reported to Reuters by the Minister of Agriculture of Hungary Istvan Nagy. So Ukrainian.
Ok, just checked. The transit via EU is still opened. Containers are sealed. The transit was blocked by some of the EU countries in April for several days.
==
Oryx, July 17-19, 2023. Russia - 68, Ukraine - 17. P.S. Some of the Russian losses are old, but most are recent.
Tanks:
Russia - 10
Ukraine - 1
BMP, BMD and other AFVs:
Russia - 30
Ukraine - 0
Armored personnel carriers and other armored vehicles (including light ones):
Russia - 5
Ukraine - 9
Artillery:
Russia - 5
Ukraine - 2
Trucks:
Russia - 11
Ukraine - 3
UAV:
Russia - 3
Ukraine - 1 (”Bayraktar” TB-2)
Other valuable losses:
Russia - KShM R-149 BMR (already the third in two weeks!), Su-25 that fell into the Sea of Azov in Yeysk, the Strela-10 air defense system, launcher for the Buk air defense system.
Ukraine - SAM “Strela-10”.
==
May be fake news. According to Turkish sources, Turkey has plans to supply Ukraine with about 180 Bayraktar TB2 UAVs, 100 Bayraktar Mini, 500 protected vehicles, and then 122-mm shells. It is likely that deliveries of mortar and artillery ammunition will begin in the near future.
==
US to send another $400 million military aid package to Ukraine - CNN
The new package should include:
Missiles for NASAMS and Patriot anti-aircraft systems;
Missiles for HIMARS systems;
Missiles for Javelin and TOW anti-tank systems;
Artillery shells.
Sources of the publication stressed that the contents of the package are being specified, however, they will probably announce it this week. Urgent help for Ukraine.
All of your western disinfo sources are lying to you!! They say the Uke counteroffensive isn’t working well at all. Your figures tell us otherwise. A smashing Uke success! The Ukes have taken out 146 Russian tanks since 6/5 while only losing 65! The Ukes are pasting Russian artillery 81 to 30 lost! A smashing success of lying western disinfo stoogery. Too, too funny. What very little credibility you ever had just got blown up with all those Russian tanks last month.