Replies

VIDEO WITH COMMENTARY

17 May: NEW GAINS SECURED. Ukrainians Conduct a SUCCESSFUL ASSAULT | War in Ukraine Explained
Reporting from Ukraine
258K subscribers
5-18-2023 3:00 A.M.

⚠️ Watch RFU in 18+ languages: https://www.youtube.com/@RFU/channels

I am Ukrainian. My country has been invaded by Russia. In this video I will tell you what happened on the four hundred and forty eighth day of the war.

Day 448: May 17

Today there is a lot of news from the Bakhmut direction.

After Ukrainians conducted a successful unblocking operation in the Kromove region, Ukrainians once again started to actively use the Khromove highway to deliver supplies directly to the city. Such developments put a spoke in the wheel of the Wagner Group as Ukrainian resistance increased.

As you remember, the Head of the Wagner Group, Prigozhin, announced that he would leave Bakhmut on the 10th of May. The Russian Ministry of Defense pretended to comply with Prigozhin’s demands at first, but on the 9th of May, Prigozhin received a letter from the Ministry saying that if he leaves Bakhmut, he would be immediately tried for treason.

Prigozhin sees that the collapse of the flanks that he predicted is happening and understands that there is a huge risk of being taken into a pocket. His new plan, therefore, became taking Bakhmut within the coming days, no matter the losses, to declare that his detachments completed the job so that he could formally transfer the responsibility for the region to the airborne forces and escape the cauldron.

That is why in the light of increased resistance due to increased supplies, the Wagner forces switched their focus to the outer edge of the city and devoted significant resources to making sure that the supplies are cut. The latest confirmed reports indicate that Russians managed to advance and are only 1 street away from the supply road, which means that it cannot be used anymore.

When it comes to the citadel, the main Ukrainian positions are located in the last block of fortifications. Such developments were inevitable because the recent footage shows that Russians have absolutely demolished the main firing positions that had prevented Russians from entering the citadel for weeks. Several hours ago, Prigozhin reported that his forces will not be able to encircle any Ukrainians and will have to take the rest of Bakhmut through brutal fighting. He once again took a chance to pillory the Chief of Staff Gerasimov for the collapse of the flanks that ensured that there was no possibility of encirclement and no possibility of starving Ukrainians out.

And today, it was confirmed that Ukrainians collapsed the flanks by several more kilometers. After a short regrouping and consolidation of newly gained tactical positions in the forest, Ukrainians launched multiple attacks in the direction of Klischiivka. A lot of combat footage was released by many assault detachments of the clearing and storming operations. The 3rd Assault Brigade showed how they used a tank to undermine Russian defense in a tree line and ended up blowing up the enemy ammo depot.

Another video shows how an assault unit was getting ready to storm the proximate Russian positions in a tree line when the commander suspected that Russians unveiled their positions as the first shell seemed to be too accurate. The immediate reaction saved the whole unit as the next shell blew up their emptied shelter.

A fighter from the 24th Assault Brigade reported that their advances were so successful that they started to have a new problem. Because they penetrated Russian positions so deeply, some Russian forces started shooting at them from the back. He said that they still decided not to retreat, requested support from the Presidential Brigade that operated in the vicinity, and continued to move forward.

Seeing the relentless movement of Ukrainian forces, many Russian troops tried to abandon their positions and retreat along the tree line. Ironically, according to the soldiers on the ground, this actually increased their losses because almost all of them died from artillery fire, and they had better chances of survival by surrendering and becoming prisoners of war. However, as reported by a fighter from the Aidar Battalion, during this storming operation, Russians lost more than 80 troops.

Given the current setting, the next logical step is attacking Klischiivka, and many Ukrainian soldiers already reported about the preparation for the storming operation. The biggest obstacle on the way is an extensive trench network on the hill north of the settlement. But once it is taken, Russians will have to retreat not only from the village in the lowlands but also from the fields back to Opytne.

ARTICLE

Embarrassed by Ukraine downing its ‘unstoppable’ missiles, Russia is now scrambling to attack its air defenses, UK intel says

Sinéad Baker
May 18, 2023, 11:03 AM EDT
https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-targets-ukraine-air-defense-after-kinzhal-missile-downing-uk-2023-5

-Russia’s new priority is targeting Ukraine’s improved air defense systems, the UK MOD said.

-This comes after Ukraine shot down Kinzhal missiles that Russia bragged were unstoppable.

-Russia claimed it destroyed one Patriot air defense system, but US officials said it was still operational.

Russia’s new priority is trying to neutralize Ukraine’s “improved” air defense systems after they successfully shot down missiles that President Vladimir Putin had bragged were unbeatable, according to UK intelligence.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on Wednesday that Russia has prioritized attempts to neutralize Ukraine’s improved air defence capabilities after it “achieved the first ever shoot-down of a KILLJOY air-launched ballistic missile.”

KILLJOY is NATO’s term for Russia’s advanced Kinzhal missiles, which Russia has previously described as unstoppable.

Ukraine said on Saturday that it achieved the first-ever shoot down of a Kinzhal over its capital city, Kyiv, using a US-made Patriot air defense system.

On Tuesday it said it had shot down six more Kinzhal missiles over the city.

Insider has not been able to independently verify the claim.

The UK MOD did not say how many Russian Kinzhal missiles it believes have been destroyed, merely stating that Russia had lost “several more” KILLJOY missiles in its efforts to target Ukraine’s defense systems.

It’s also not clear how successful Russia’s efforts have been.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that a Russian missile destroyed one Patriot air defense system in Kyiv. Ukraine refuted the claim, The Guardian reported.

Two US officials told The New York Times that one Patriot system had been damaged but that it was still operational.

Patriot systems make for easy targets due to the signals they emit, but their best chance of taking out a Kinzhal is actually when they are the target, one expert told Insider.

The US decided to give Ukraine the Patriot defense system last year, after Ukraine asked allies for air defense help to repel Russian attacks. Ukraine has at least two Patriot air defense systems.

Ukraine’s air defenses have become increasingly important in the war, with Russia targeting cities far from the front lines.

Ukraine’s defenses, which also include missile systems from the UK and other countries, have stopped many of those attacks.

The destruction of the Kinzhal missiles was a psychological blow for Russia.

The missile’s manufacturer, Rostec, had claimed “there is no countermeasure” to it, with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in August calling it “impossible neither to detect it nor to intercept,” as Insider’s Ryan Pickrell previously reported.

The UK MOD said that the apparent vulnerability of the missiles “is likely a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the system as undefeatable.”

Meanwhile, experts have disputed the idea that the missile can be called “hypersonic,” as they don’t have the ability for sustained hypersonic flight, even though they can reached those speeds.