Posted on 01/28/2024 7:12:54 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
Kyiv Post reports:
“Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR), admitted in an interview with the French edition of Liberation that he knows who is behind the poisoning of his wife Marianna.
“I think that in the near future you will see corresponding actions on Russian territory, and everyone will understand this,” Budanov said.”
His wife has recovered, and he has survived at least 10 assassination attempts).
19th Ramstein Conference. Kyiv Post reports:
“According to Ukraine’s Defense Minister, at Wednesday’s “fruitful” meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein Format Group, allies discussed air defenses, artillery systems, and F-16 fighters as well as launched a Drone Coalition.
The 19th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), held online on Feb. 14, saw agreement on the new Drone Coalition, which already includes eight countries: Sweden, Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Latvia.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, said that this coalition under the leadership of Latvia will provide Ukraine with more drones. (separate reports indicate the coalition aims to provide a million drones this year, in addition to the million that Ukraine aims to produce)...
...Also, following the 19th Ramstein Format Meeting results, 10 countries signed a six-year agreement for IT coalition cooperation.”
Perhaps the link below shows a GLSDB impact.
The video was taken by a SHARK UAV which can laser designate the target.
Also note that some of the GLSDB variants have laser guidance.
A Ukrainian 🇺🇦 HIMARS strike destroying two Russian Grad MLRS systems on the Kreminna Front
https://twitter.com/ukraine_map/status/1757938503269187631
Looks like Europe is forming a naval coalition similar to Biden’s failed Operation Prosperity Guardian. Seems they just don’t want to be seen as being subservient to the US. I’m sure they will still take advantage of our C5ISR systems, but won’t report directly to CENTCOM. IMO, this is good. Europe needs to start taking steps to be independent, and a Common European Army should be their long term goal. Maybe this is a baby step in that direction.
https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1758542194086953081
Yes, that was the video.
In retrospect, it was likely enhanced with a brief overlay of a nuclear blast, for visual effect.
Ukraine shot down 3 enemy war planes this morning.
On the morning of February 17, 2024, in the Eastern direction, units of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed three enemy aircraft at once - two Su-34 fighter-bombers and one Su-35 fighter.
Another Patriot trap?
“two Su-34 fighter-bombers and one Su-35 fighter.”
Seems, like they don’t have the old Su-24s and Su-25s available for missions in Ukraine like they used to, and have to dig deeper into their more modern jets to keep up their OpTempo. Unless it is because they need those more modern jets to deliver the glide bombs that they now rely on.
I know that I have asked about that before, but the shift in Russian losses from Su-24 and Su-25, toward Su-34 and Su-35, seems quite pronounced.
A question much asked is what is the toll the operational tempo is taking on airframes, barrels and equipment in general?
Do they have the maintenance and spare parts capability to keep this tempo up?
High speed tape only goes so far and worn out engines can’t be fixed that easily.
Barrels wear out, and condition of stored barrels is unknown, but it is safe to say that the best stuff has already been pulled. What kind of new production they have will greatly affect how hard they can continue to push.
As to avdiivka, the town is destroyed, the strategic value was tying down soviet troops, will be interesting to see how the shortened lines will effect both sides
It will be played as a “great victory” for putin(oh how the Wehrmacht would have loved for such”great” Soviet” victories, one small town after months of effort and large loses.
What the Soviet’s of today lack is the reserves of men and equipment to make massive gains ie1944, so IMO incremental gains at huge costs will continue.
Some well timed ammunition and equipment ie f-16s, artillery ammo, atacms, glsdbs…. will certainly help the Ukrainians
We will see
“As to avdiivka, the town is destroyed”
It has been under Artillery attack for months, and recently had 60 air strikes in a day, as well as bombardment by TOS-1 thermobaric artillery. It is probably another settlement that has been pounded beyond where it is likely to be rebuilt.
“incremental gains at huge costs will continue.”
That has been a growing trend for Russia through this war, for the reasons you cite, and the inexorable attrition of the old Soviet arsenal, that Speedy established this thread to track. (Speedy, come home. Post an anniversary thread or something).
They keep wearing deeper through their stockages, fleets and financial reserves, and continually keep increasing their burn rate of human casualties - an average increase of 300 more casualties per day over the course of 2023, according to British Intelligence.
That can’t go on forever. Those trends inevitably must reach breaking points.
Reporting From Ukraine:
Note: other versions of this report are found elsewhere on FR, but this is guaranteed to be the complete transcript - unlike the others.
https://www.youtube.com/@RFU
[ Ukrainian Forces Break Through The Encirclement ]
==
Day 723: Feb 16
Today, there are a lot of updates from the Avdiivka direction.
After Ukrainian reinforcements arrived in Avdiivka, many military analysts anticipated a rapid counterattack.
The first scenario was a massive flank attack that was meant to slice off the Russian vanguard, the second scenario was to force Russians to overstretch their forces along the contact line, and the last one was the unblocking operation combined with a withdrawal.
The Ukrainian High Command evaluated the situation and refused to conduct large-scale counteroffensive operations for four main reasons.
The first reason was the conservation of manpower, as a deep penetration would require risking the lives of thousands of soldiers.
The second reason was the lack of artillery shells - Ukrainians did not even have enough shells to hold the defense, so conducting a large-scale flank offensive would cost a lot of lives.
[ US House GOP caused this loss by withholding funds for military aid by trying to change an Administration Policy - something they had absolutely no chance of achieving. Vladimir thanked them for this gift on the eve of his re-election. ]
The third reason was the fact that Russians have reinforced the Avdiivka Group.
If you still remember, at the start of the offensive operation four months ago in October, Russians allocated 40,000 troops.
According to the Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesman, Russian forces relocated 10s of 1000s of troops from other directions to sustain the offensive operation, and right now, Russian forces have about 50,000 troops here.
The last reason is the weather conditions. Attacking from the north or even along the entire contact line would mean fighting in the fields, which have become increasingly hard to cross. That is why the Ukrainian High Command decided to conduct an unblocking operation combined with a withdrawal.
The decision was not received positively by the Ukrainian soldiers who were hoping to save Avdiivka, as many of them had fought here since day one, however, it was still the right decision.
The first step of the operation involved a massive counterattack in the central part of Avdiivka.
As I alluded to in my previous report, the newly arrived Ukrainian fighters from the third assault brigade attacked Russian forces south of the railways with Max-Pro armored vehicles with machine guns and temporarily pushed Russians back by around 150 meters.
By taking upon themselves the Russian vanguard, Ukrainians alleviated the pressure on many critical zones and started the process of withdrawal.
The first group of Ukrainian forces that received the order to withdraw was the one that held defense at the water filtration station. As you can see, they were very far from the main Ukrainian positions and were facing attacks from three sides.
Before the Ukrainian High Command decided to withdraw, it was beneficial for Ukrainians to hold such positions because they stretched the front line and made it harder for Russians to advance.
The second group of Ukrainians to withdraw was the one holding an extensive trench network in the vineyards.
The last two groups to withdraw were holding virtually an all-round defense on the former air defense base and fortifications under the bridge.
The situation here was extremely dire, the order to withdraw was given too late, so Ukrainians incurred losses during withdrawal and had to leave 6 wounded soldiers on the base. Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Commander admitted that several Ukrainians were taken captive.
According to some Russian sources, there are 2,000 Ukrainians in the southern part, while according to others, there are up to 3,000 troops. Russian analysts also claimed that up to 30% of Ukrainian forces have already been evacuated.
Russian sources claimed that, in total, there are no more than 8,000 Ukrainians in the Avdiivka direction. Given that there are 50,000 Russians in the same area, Russians outnumber Ukrainians 6 to 1.
After the Ukrainian reinforcements conducted a successful counterattack, the Russians intensified their assaults even more. A Ukrainian fighter from the 24th Battalion reported that Russians now use assault groups consisting of up to 50 soldiers, which they have not seen even during the peak heat of the Battle for Bakhmut.
This, combined with the devastating Russian artillery and airstrikes, allowed Russians to regain control over the highway and even move beyond it into the fields. The main goals of the Russian forces are to move towards the village of Lastochkine and the second supply road to completely cut off Ukrainian forces.
According to the latest updates, Ukrainian fighters from the third assault brigade assumed their positions in Lastochkine and conducted a number of drone strikes, followed up with counterattacks.
The fighters reported that they also destroyed a huge Russian column north of Avdiivka, which saved Lastochkine and gave Ukrainians up to three days of relative freedom of movement. This was confirmed in the latest report of prominent Russian analysts, which stated that Ukrainian supply lines were not cut off, and Ukrainians continued to move through the gully.
The Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesman also confirmed that Ukrainian forces currently maintain multiple supply routes into Avdiivka. The Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Commander stated that his main goal right now is to continue conducting a successful withdrawal to the previously prepared defensive positions.
Ukrainians have built another defense line right behind Avdiivka, and in my latest strategic update, I have looked into all four lines of fortification west of Avdiivka. I analyzed how Ukrainians are leveraging the local geography of the region to create even more problems for the Russians and why it is impossible to achieve rapid, deep penetration in this region.
Kremlin snuff box
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
Avdiivka is ours. What’s next?
Our army with heroic efforts and great bloodshed took Avdiivka. Noting the heroism of the Russian military (glory to them!), we cannot help but wonder what will happen next at the front.
Firstly, almost all military personnel really want to rest. “In the last few days alone, we have almost 5,000 killed and wounded in Avdiivka. You need to stop, heal, strengthen yourself so that the enemy does not launch a counterattack.
Many soldiers want to go on vacation, and those who have been mobilized hope that they will be affected by demobilization (by the way, we have important news about demobilization, we will publish it a little later. We know for sure that the process has reached the home stretch - ed.),” he told us one of the generals of the General Staff.
And according to an officer who took part in the assault on Avdiivka, many military personnel fear that there will be no such rest, and they will have to continue active actions.
“There are rumors that Vladimir Vladimirovich is already setting the task of taking the entire DPR by mid-March. I hope this isn’t true. It’s difficult to select cities for specific dates, but here we’re talking about an entire republic,” our interlocutor said.
Secondly, those around Vladimir Putin confirmed to us that he would like to take control of the entire territory of the DPR before the Presidential elections.
But Vladimir Vladimirovich has not yet decided whether to pose such a task to the military, and began to have “conversations and discussions” with them on this topic. There is currently no goal to recapture the DPR by mid-March.
Thirdly, now the President will be able to implement his plans for Donbass.
Let us remember that he demanded that Avdiivka be taken by the first days of March in order to record an appeal against the backdrop of the Avdiivka coke plant (by the way, no reserves of Western equipment that Putin spoke about have yet been found in the basements of the plant).
The President also wants to visit Donetsk closer to the elections (that’s why it was so important to take Avdiivka and move Ukrainian artillery away from the DPR capital). But that’s not all.
Putin intends to expand the program of his stay in the DPR. In particular, he would like to arrange a number of symbolic events in the context of the fight for the denazification of Ukraine at Saur-Mogila.
Vladimir Vladimirovich even wants to go up there on his own to show his strength and health. He also intends to visit wounded military personnel. Including in Gorlovka - by the way, the same hospital where Philip Kirkorov came.
Vladimir Vladimirovich’s plans are still being finalized; we will tell you more about them later.
According to Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleschuk three Russian air planes were shot down, two Su-34 and one Su-35 at the eastern direction.
https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1758811510585934130
BeauBo: "Unless it is because they need those more modern jets to deliver the glide bombs that they now rely on."
marcus: "Another Patriot trap?"
I believe you both are correct.
The Su-34 & Su-35 can launch the glide bombs much farther (higher & faster) from the target.
UKR would have to forward deploy a Patriot launcher to set the trap.
IMHO, the trap should have been set long ago.
https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1758845362402423211
Perhaps the Patriot launcher was forward deployed to keep ruzzia from launching their glide bombs on the retreating troops.
https://twitter.com/ChuckPfarrer/status/1758891468477874379
Air-to-air combat!
https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1758727470071808416
Acording to this Newsweak article, it comes out why Leader Johnson will not pass a UKR bill: he’s taking Moscovian money.
Who Is Konstantin Nikolaev? Putin Ally Behind Mike Johnson Campaign Donation
https://www.newsweek.com/who-konstantin-nikolaev-money-mike-johnson-1870600
Also these and others are reporting this story.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/who-is-konstantin-nikolaev-putin-ally-behind-mike-johnson-campaign-donation/vi-BB1inYaa
https://washingtonpress.com/2023/10/30/putin-paid-how-russian-oligarchs-donated-to-mike-johnson/
ASTRA
https://t.me/astrapress/48356
In Izhevsk at night there was a large fire at the address where the shopping center is located, which was previously given over to the production of UAVs. The Ministry of Emergency Situations said that an “industrial building” was on fire
A major fire occurred in Izhevsk at night. According to the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations, an industrial building was burning (Ordzhonikidze St. 2). The fire area was 3,500 square meters. meters.
The activities of the enterprise where the fire occurred are related to the production of professional detergents and disinfectants, the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations reported. The cause of the fire is unknown.
At this address, ASTRA noted, there is the chemical enterprise Izhsintez-Khimprom and the New House shopping center, which, according to media publications, was given over to the production of drones last year.
[ video & images at source ]
I see that you and Zeepers are still trolling..LOL-bumping old threads haha.You’re probably the only person on this entire website who favors that traitorous “discharge petition” I’m still quite surprised that you haven’t been banned for all the propaganda and fake news that you post..
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/02/17/ukrainian-forces-withdraw-from-avdiivka-after-four-month-battle-with-russia/
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