"Six months ago, African mercenary Samuel decided to sign a contract to earn money with the 🇷🇺Russian army and join African Corps Yesterday, he was liquidated by the 🇺🇦Ukrainian Defence Forces in the Kharkiv direction."
Interesting articles:
Ukraine Situation Report: Russia Advances On Vovchansk
Russian forces are pressing home attacks on the border town as they seek to build on the momentum of their offensive in the Kharkiv region.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/ukraine-situation-report-russia-advances-on-vovchansk
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Rumors Swirl Around Attacks On Russian Black Sea Fleet Warships
A corvette and a minesweeper are reportedly the latest victims of the Ukrainian campaign targeting the Russian Navy in and around Crimea.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/rumors-swirl-around-attacks-on-russian-black-sea-fleet-warships
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Chinese Soldiers Train To Fend Off FPV Drones
Footage from China underscores the trend of militaries scrambling to defend against FPV drones, while also harnessing their deadly abilities.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/chinese-soldiers-train-to-fend-off-fpv-drones
Reporting From Ukraine:
https://www.youtube.com/@RFU/videos
The complete transcript.
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[ Fooled & Outplayed! Ukrainians Set up a Deadly Trap in Krynky ]
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Day 817: May 20
Today, there is a lot of news from the Kherson direction.
In light of the recent liberation of the island of Nestryga, the Russians were forced to divert forces from the already challenging Ukrainian foothold in Krynky.
This shift further implicated their efforts to finally deal with the Ukrainians, who had been holding their ground for months, despite the odds. The Ukrainians have recently developed and refined new tactics to create even more problems for the Russians in the region.
In recent weeks, the Ukrainians have maintained the initiative in the region.
Their army Spokeswoman Nataliya Humenyuk emphasized that Russian forces are unable to use armored vehicles for assaults on Krynky anymore, due to heavy equipment losses which is a direct result of the local Ukrainian electronic warfare, drone superiority, and the better coordination between their drone and artillery units in the region.
She noted that these factors have forced the Russians to change their tactics, now resorting to daily light infantry assaults near Krynky, which result in heavy casualties.
The ongoing Russian struggle to eliminate the Ukrainian bridgehead has resulted in the dismissal of Lieutenant General Arkady Marzoev, commander of the 18th Combined Arms Army, by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
His removal was due to his failure to recapture the lost territory around Krynky. Anticipating the disruptions caused by this leadership change, the Ukrainians seized the opportunity to expand their presence, and intensify their efforts in and around the village.
In an effort to compensate for their lack of real success, the Russians have repeatedly claimed they have cleared Krynky of all Ukrainian forces.
As you may remember, this included several attempts to raise a Russian flag in the ruins around Krynky as proof of that, which led only to the destruction of the personnel involved in these operations.
Ukrainians decided to prove that they could not only do this better, but also give this action a more meaningful purpose, so they started to deliver and put Ukrainian flags by using drones.
This enabled them to reach hard-to-get places and preserve the valuable lives of their soldiers. Again, using drone technology to their advantage, the Ukrainians started putting flags in multiple places along the east bank of the Dnipro River.
The first instance of this tactic was a direct response to one such Russian attempt around Krynky that was followed by a claim that the village was now under Russian control. In reaction, Ukrainian drone operators dropped a flag in the middle of a field near the settlement, knowing the Russian commanders would send troops to remove it by any means.
Attempting to do so in the open field meant certain death for those sent on this mission. The Ukrainian flag stayed for a long time due to multiple failed Russian attempts to take it down.
Building on this tactic, Ukrainian fighters decided to take this tactic up a notch and started putting flags on higher objects which are very hard to reach.
The first such case can be seen in the following geolocated footage from Krynky, which shows how a flag is positioned on a water pump [ tower ] to provoke a reaction from the Russians.
Such actions push Russian forces to try to remove these flags as quickly as possible either by sending their valuable FPV drones to blow them up, an often challenging task, especially on the first try, or, in most cases, by sending troops to do it manually, disregarding their life which is in constant danger while doing it.
Encouraged by the success of this tactic, Ukrainians began employing it in more villages along the Russian side of the river. Geolocated footage from Kozachi Laheri highlights just how dangerous this can be.
As seen in the previous instances, Ukrainians typically place flags on high-ground objects with good visibility, like chimneys and water pumps. This time, they enhanced their tactic further by setting a deadly trap.
A drone operator first lands an FPV drone without a flag on top of a water pump, aiming to arouse Russian suspicion. When Russian commanders send a soldier to investigate, he begins climbing to inspect the object.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainians use another drone to monitor the situation. As the Russian soldier reaches the level of the FPV drone, they remotely detonate it, causing him to fall down the stairs he just climbed.
Elevating their tactics to an even bolder level, the Ukrainians carried out a daring operation by placing a flag atop a massive ship crane in the water near Kherson. This highly visible location can be seen from both banks of the river, posing an additional challenge to the Russian forces.
These actions have inflicted substantial losses on Russian personnel and caused significant disruptions for local Russian commanders, who are already under scrutiny from higher ranks for their performance.
To date, there have been around a dozen such Ukrainian operations, which have proven highly effective to the point that other Ukrainian units began deploying this tactic in other directions, as it can be seen in this geolocated footage from the Bakhmut area.
Overall, Ukrainian forces continue to challenge the Russians across the Dnipro River by not only maintaining and expanding their foothold in and around Krynky, but also by constantly developing and employing innovative tactics involving drones to inflict additional damage on the enemy.
These actions compel the Russians to maintain substantial forces in this region - ranging from 75,000 to 90,000 personnel - comparable to the heavily contested areas of Donbas.
This significant commitment ultimately aids the Ukrainian defenders in Donbas, helping them withstand repeated waves of Russian attacks.
Kremlin snuff box, 05/20/24
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
There are five conditions for our victory. General Teplinsky turned to Belousov
Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky is confident that in order to win the Northern Military District, Russia must fulfill several conditions. Mikhail Yuryevich now has no direct connection with the new minister Andrei Belousov.
Therefore, sources close to the military asked us to convey this appeal to the head of the Ministry of Defense. What we do with pride and publicly, because such a distinguished person trusts us.
According to Teplinsky, we need changes and active action in five areas.
Firstly, it is necessary to put the country on a war footing - so that the lives of as many people as possible are dedicated to victory over the enemy.
“It’s unfair when a minority of Russians fight or make tanks with missiles, while the majority watches it from their sofas and from the tables of cozy cafes. This way we won’t be able to defeat the Kiev regime, which is supported by NATO,” the general is confident.
Secondly, the authorities need not to be distracted by trifles, but to unite the people around truly important issues.
“I see that many believe: soon we will prove the illegitimacy of the main Nazi Zelensky, the world will turn away from the Kyiv regime, victory will become closer. This is a naive hope.
“While we have it, Kyiv and the West are taking new steps that worsen our situation at the front. We need to pay attention to this, and not to politics,” Teplinsky is sure.
Thirdly, in his opinion, it is imperative to “stop the flow of Western weapons into Ukraine.”
Otherwise, “ there will simply be no planes left in Crimea , and one can only dream of the liberation of Kherson, Kharkov or the entire DPR.”
Fourthly, additional efforts need to be made to disrupt the mobilization in Ukraine.
“We are doing something, showing how everything happens there. But the enemy didn’t care about this and stepped up mobilization. Does anyone have any questions for our intelligence services?” Teplinsky was indignant.
Fifthly, he believes that we cannot do without mobilizing “at least 200-300 thousand people.”
At the same time, Teplinsky did not comment on the issue of partial demobilization, noting that it has its pros and cons, “but in general it is more politics.”
Mikhail Teplinsky assured that he is ready to offer his experience, including that accumulated during the Northern Military District, to the team of the new Minister of Defense and the General Staff.
“High positions do not interest me, but if they help change something, I am ready for new challenges,” the military man noted.
We would like to say that we would recommend listening to Mikhail Yuryevich. Let us remember that he was one of the first, even when no one thought about this, to honestly say that we cannot liberate Kharkov now.
Later, these words of the general were actually repeated by the President.
And everyone knows about Teplinsky’s claims against Sergei Shoigu. Let us note that Mikhail Yuryevich has long stated the need to change the Minister of Defense.