VIDEO
29 Mar: Ukrainians UNLEASH ELITE SNIPERS IN BAKHMUT | War in Ukraine Explained
Reporting from Ukraine
211K subscribers
3-29-2023 8:30 p.m. DST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDIy7pkJtHI
COMMENT:
“⚠️ Watch RFU in 18+ languages: https://www.youtube.com/@RFU/channels I am a Ukrainian. My country has been invaded by Russia. In this video I will tell you what happened on the three hundred and ninety ninth day of the war. Day 899: March 29
The freshest reports suggest that Wagner forces are giving into the pressure and gradually retreating from their positions in the fields because some Ukrainian troops said that Russians no longer control the Khromove highway with their Anti-Tank Guided Missiles. Even though these systems have a range of up to 6 km, it only took to push them by around 700 meters because if we look at the topographic map, we can see that they were pushed behind the hill. Recent footage confirms that Ukrainians are delivering small batches of ammunition, although they are still driving as fast as possible to avoid mortar and artillery fire.
When it comes to the Sloviansk highway, it looks like Ukrainians decided to develop their success further and push Russians out of the Zaliznianske area. The assault was rapid and relatively heavy. If previously, Ukrainians here used only one tank and a squad of infantry to capture the Russian strongpoint, then in this attack, Ukrainians used at least two tanks, two armored fighting vehicles, and at least one platoon of infantry. It looks like the attack went wrong: Ukrainian armored vehicles got immobilized too far from Russian positions, which is why the attack was immediately aborted, and Ukrainian infantry in the background started slowly walking away while the tank still fired several rounds at Russian positions and retreated as well. It looks like the intensity of fights will continue slowly increasing because Ukrainians are devoting bigger and bigger assault units in this direction, although for now, they are not rushing and seem to be very cautious with their commitment of significant resources.
Ukrainian forces have also started releasing a lot of combat footage with snipers. One of the videos shows how a Ukrainian sniper is hunting on Russian reconnaissance groups in the fields around the Khromove highway, where he revealed a group consisting of 5 troops, waited until they got together, and eliminated the whole squad. But most snipers are currently located inside Bakhmut. In a recent interview, one of the Ukrainian snipers in Bakhmut said they usually work with targets at very close distances of around 300 meters, although in some areas it is still possible to work with targets more than 1 km away. Being shot from such small distances means that the enemy has basically no chance of surviving. Right now, Ukrainians are mostly located on the territories of huge residential areas with high-rise buildings, while Russians are predominantly located on the outskirts where there are only 1-story houses.
This setting greatly favors Ukrainian snipers and allows them to have significant control over the approaches and support the units that are engaging in close-combat fighting. With an abundance of potential firing positions, many Russian forces get trapped inside the houses with no chance of running away. The only thing they can and usually resort to, unless communication is blocked, is shelling the whole house if they can identify it. That is why the Russian pace of advancement is usually equal to the pace at which the artillery can reduce one residential area after another.
Despite the heavy artillery fire, the Commander of Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut once again visited Ukrainian positions inside the city and told everyone to use the fortified infrastructure of the city for defense as intelligently as possible and aim to inflict disproportionate losses to the enemy. The Ukrainian President has also recently paid a visit in the Bakhmut direction. At that time, the roads were still under fire control of Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, so for safety reasons, he visited Ukrainian positions in Chasiv Yar and gave medals to the best soldiers.
ARTICLE
Battle for Bakhmut has turned into a “slaughter-fest for the Russians,” top US general says
CNN
Haley Britzky
March 29, 2023 5:30 p.m. DST
https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-03-29-23/h_cfb6c51a8d57fdb537947bd3ea45c062
There are roughly 6,000 Wagner group mercenaries fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told US lawmakers on Wednesday.
“They’re conducting combat operations right now in Bakhmut primarily. It’s probably about 6,000 or so actual mercenaries and maybe another 20 or 30,000 recruits that they get, many of whom come from prisons,” Milley told the House Armed Services Committee alongside US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “And they are suffering an enormous amount of casualties in the Bakhmut area; the Ukrainians are inflicting a lot of death and destruction on these guys.”
The battle over Bahkmut has turned into a “slaughter-fest” for the Russians, Milley said.
“The Ukrainians are doing a very effective area defense that is proven to be very costly to the Russians. For about the last 20, 21 days, the Russians have not made any progress whatsoever in and around Bahkmut,” he said. “So it’s a slaughter-fest for the Russians. They’re getting hammered in the vicinity of Bahkmut and the Ukrainians have fought very, very well.”
The head of the Russian private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in an audio message earlier Wednesday that the battle for the city “has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army,” but added that Wagner has “been pretty battered” as well.
Milley also addressed Russia’s allies: China, Russia and Iran are “moving closer together” and will be a persistent problem for years to come, Milley said.
He said that he’s concerned about “any coherence and cohesion between Russia and China,” and that the two countries are “getting closer together.”
“I wouldn’t call it a true full alliance in the real meaning of that word, but we are seeing them [Russia and China] moving closer together, and that’s troublesome,” Milley said. “And then if you add in Iran … those three countries together are going to be problematic for many years to come I think, especially Russia and China because of their capability.”
Last week, China’s leader Xi Jinping met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. China in recent weeks has repeatedly attempted to portray itself as an aspiring broker of peace, reiterating its calls for a ceasefire and peace talks in a vaguely-worded position paper released last month. Western countries have viewed Beijing’s intentions with deep suspicion, and NATO’s chief said that the alliance has seen “some signs” that Russia is pressing China to provide lethal aid.
There are roughly 6,000 Wagner group mercenaries fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told US lawmakers on Wednesday.
“They’re conducting combat operations right now in Bakhmut primarily. It’s probably about 6,000 or so actual mercenaries and maybe another 20 or 30,000 recruits that they get, many of whom come from prisons,” Milley told the House Armed Services Committee alongside US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “And they are suffering an enormous amount of casualties in the Bakhmut area; the Ukrainians are inflicting a lot of death and destruction on these guys.”
The battle over Bahkmut has turned into a “slaughter-fest” for the Russians, Milley said.
“The Ukrainians are doing a very effective area defense that is proven to be very costly to the Russians. For about the last 20, 21 days, the Russians have not made any progress whatsoever in and around Bahkmut,” he said. “So it’s a slaughter-fest for the Russians. They’re getting hammered in the vicinity of Bahkmut and the Ukrainians have fought very, very well.”
The head of the Russian private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in an audio message earlier Wednesday that the battle for the city “has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army,” but added that Wagner has “been pretty battered” as well.
Milley also addressed Russia’s allies: China, Russia and Iran are “moving closer together” and will be a persistent problem for years to come, Milley said.
He said that he’s concerned about “any coherence and cohesion between Russia and China,” and that the two countries are “getting closer together.”
“I wouldn’t call it a true full alliance in the real meaning of that word, but we are seeing them [Russia and China] moving closer together, and that’s troublesome,” Milley said. “And then if you add in Iran … those three countries together are going to be problematic for many years to come I think, especially Russia and China because of their capability.”
Last week, China’s leader Xi Jinping met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. China in recent weeks has repeatedly attempted to portray itself as an aspiring broker of peace, reiterating its calls for a ceasefire and peace talks in a vaguely-worded position paper released last month. Western countries have viewed Beijing’s intentions with deep suspicion, and NATO’s chief said that the alliance has seen “some signs” that Russia is pressing China to provide lethal aid.
So what is new at Target?