Free Republic

A Russian commander who presided over attacks in Ukraine that led thousands of men to slaughter has been dismissed from his post, Western officials have claimed. General Rustam Muradov had led Russia's Eastern Group of Forces (EGF) for almost a year, having taken up the role after his predecessor's attempt to assault Kyiv in the first weeks of the war. Muradov, a close ally of Russia's military chief Valery Gerasimov, earlier this year launched an attack on the mining town of Vuhledar in the eastern Donetsk region. His tactic, a frontal assault in broad daylight, ended in utter disaster. Survivors...

An elite Russian naval infantry unit made up of mostly mobilized troops has lost nearly all its troops in fighting near the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, Russian media reported Monday, citing one of the survivors. The 5,000-strong 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade has been “nearly destroyed” after up to 300 marines per day were killed in Russia's assault on the coal-mining town, according to comments by the Ukrainian defense forces to Politico on Sunday. A surviving marine who spoke with the 7x7 regional news site said the losses were so severe that only eight men remained in one landing...

A Telegram channel linked to the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary outfit involved in current offensives in Ukraine's eastern region, has released footage that purportedly shows Russian tanks running over troops in the city of Vuhledar. -snip- Grey Zone, a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, posted footage purportedly from the recent clashes in Vuhledar. "In Vuhledar, a complete f****** is happening, and it is happening over and over again, often in commanding of the same units that were trumpeting about problems previously, but the problems are not ending," the channel said in a post accompanying the videos. -snip- "At least 30 pieces...

Russia’s widely-anticipated winter offensive has begun. Aiming to extend its control over eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, Russian troops are attacking north and south of Donetsk city. In the northern sector, around the city of Bakhmut, the Russians slowly are advancing—albeit at staggering cost. In the south, around Vuhledar, the Russians’ losses are just as steep—but they’ve made no clear gains that could justify the casualties. Vuhledar is turning into a meatgrinder for the Russian army, with enormous implications for the wider offensive. The latest Russian attack on Vuhledar—a town with a pre-war population of just 14,000 that lies a mile...

The Russian army's reported military advances in the Ukrainian city of Vuhledar could shore up strategic advantages in the Donbas region for all of 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday warned that Russia "is preparing for a new wave of aggression" coinciding with new assaults on Vuhledar as well as Bakhmut. His apprehension has been compounded by additional reports of small squad-sized Russian assault groups of 10 to 15 troops launching "limited ground attacks" on two main sectors of the front line—in central Zaporizhzhia and in Vuhledar in the western Donetsk oblast, according to the Institute for the Study...

Oct 30, 2022 (3 hrs. ago) YouTube video Update from the Vuhledar region in Donetsk: Russian forces launched an early morning attack on the 29th Oct 2022, against Vuhledar and Pavlivka. Heavy artillery hits the Ukrainian lines while suicide drones took out Ukrainian SAM systems located west of Vuhledar. With the SAMs taken out, Russian air force operated freely to disrupt any reinforcements the Ukrainians set out to back up the defense lines. TOS-1A framethrowers were reportedly used at the Pavlivka assault. The first line of defense at Pavlivka is overran by the Russian forces, as the Ukrainians are unable...