Bakhmut. “Everything is littered with the corpses of Russian soldiers”
The Ukrainian army continues to control Bakhmut (Donetsk region). In the footage published by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a Ukrainian soldier, standing at the entrance to the city, refutes information from Russian Telegram channels, which said that Bakhmut was “practically captured”:
"Do you see where I am? City of Bakhmut. I want to tell you a little about the situation we have here at the front. The fact is that the Russian Telegram channels in the news wrote that Bakhmut was practically encircled, that he was already theirs. But, as you can see, he is nothing of theirs. Shooting battles are no longer heard, everything is fine. We are once again convinced that Russian news is just fake news and you don’t need to listen to it.
And so, in general, very heavy battles are going on somewhere about 10 kilometers from Bakhmut. And I want to say that tough fights are going on, but our guys are holding on. In addition to holding the city itself, they are also advancing in some segments.
I would also like to say that earlier it was on Bakhmut that they [the Russian military] pearled very strongly, now they have moved the main attacks to Ugledar and Soledar . There they throw convicts and young mobilized. Everything is littered with corpses, their corpses, so you understand.
Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the reserve, military expert Roman Svitan , in a conversation with The Insider, explained that the significance of the fighting in the Ugledar direction is associated with the location of the railway, which is of strategic importance for the Russian army:
Near Donetsk there are problematic [for the Russian army] villages – Maryinka, Peski and Krasnogurovka between them. Ukrainian troops have dug in very strongly there, they have been standing there for the ninth year, and no one can move them. The Russians have smashed our defense system in Peski with artillery, but they cannot smash Maryinka.
Vuhledar covers the rear of these settlements from the west. So they first need to take it. The second feature of Ugledar is the settlement of Volnovakha, which is located two dozen kilometers away, and from there the only railway goes that connects Russia with Melitopol and with the Kherson or Zaporozhye groups. Since Russian troops move by rail, they need this railroad going through Volnovakha, and from there to Ugledar – several tens of kilometers. One throw through Volnovakha – and the entire Russian Zaporozhye and Kherson grouping is left without supplies.
At the same time, resources associated with the Prigozhin PMC publish footage from Belogorovka (a checkpoint on the Bakhmut – Lysichansk highway in the Soledar area), where the Wagnerites, in their words, managed to break through the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“The first footage from Nizhnyaya [probably means “lower” in the geographical sense] Belogorovka, where the fighters of the Wagner PMC broke through the defenses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and are now conducting a sweep. Sorry for the quantity and quality, the guys are not at all up to photo shoots now, ” writes the author of a channel associated with propaganda resources.
Fierce fighting near Kremennaya
According to the War Monitor resource, fighting continues in the area between the P66 highway and the line of settlements east of the Zherebets River near the city of Kremennaya (Luhansk region).
Ukrainian forces spotted west of Chervonopopovka, fierce fighting continues east of Nevsky – Terna:
Losses of the Russian army
The 109th Mountain Assault Battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine showed the consequences of another attempt to break through the Russian army. “There is no need for comments and cheerful background music. The jokes are over. The number of your corpses will only grow. You didn’t understand where you were, or you just didn’t want to [understand]. But here you will die, ”the description of the video says.
Shooting location not specified.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine also reported on the "captured" Russian drone "Granat-4" with the inscription "USSR" on the body (photo taken in the Kharkiv region):
Marines video: “The fighting is heavy, there are dead, wounded, but everything is fine”
The head of the Primorsky Territory, Oleg Kozhemyako, published videos in which, according to him, the marines of the 155th brigade and the fighters of the "Tiger" battalion, located in the Donetsk region (near Pavlovka), deny heavy losses in the Ugledar direction , they say that "everything is fine" and that the situation is not so bad for the Russian military.
“Information came out that supposedly the 155th brigade of our detachment no longer exists. We want to say that the detachment is holding the line, the brigade is fighting. Unfortunately, there are losses. Yes, things are hard in Pavlovka, the fighting is heavy, there are losses – killed, wounded. But we continue to crush the enemy, ”the man insists in one of the videos.
However, the plausibility of this video is questionable: in fact, there are no marines of the 155th brigade in the footage, writes the author of the Z-channel Romanov Light, who, according to him, was contacted by real marines. Here's what they reported:
“The governor of Primorsky Krai contacted his Tiger, and they are on the video. They have one company at checkpoints and guards, the second at the front at the NP [observation post].”
Battalion "Tiger" – these are volunteers who were recruited and financed by the authorities of the Primorsky Territory. They were indeed assigned to the 155th brigade, however, these are people who are directly dependent on the governor. Previously, Kozhemyako described their task as helping fellow military personnel participating in the war.
Shoigu at the front
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected the command post of the Joint Russian Group of Forces in the war zone, the Russian Ministry of Defense reports :
"At the command post, Army General Sergei Shoigu heard a report from the commander of the Joint Group of Russian Forces, Army General Sergei Surovikin, on the current operational situation."
Shoigu presented the Russian military with the Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Russian Federation, the Order of Courage and other state awards.
Iranian drones
Iran supplied its drones to Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian intelligence. This is evidenced by the details of the drones, from which it is clear that they were manufactured later than February 24, 2022.
“The propeller of the Mohajer-6 drone was only made in February of this year. It's just done. And it also took time to deliver it to the Russian Federation. That is, they were delivered this year, ”explains the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Russia regularly uses Iranian drones against Ukraine. At the same time, both Russia and Iran deny the supply of drones.
In October, Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies and member of the public council under the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, on the air of the RBC program, asked the hosts not to “rock the boat” and not to focus on drones from Iran, because “this is a classic of stories – there is an ass, but no words, we all know that they are Iranian, but the authorities do not recognize them.” Obviously, Pukhov did not understand that he was already on the air.
Protests of wives mobilized
In the Voronezh and Kursk regions, the wives of the mobilized are protesting, writes "Layout". Their husbands were thrown to the front line without weapons, they cannot retreat, because "they will shoot their own." Women (about 50 people) went to the building of the military prosecutor's office of the region and the regional administration.
One of the gathering participants, Kristina Robakidze, said that her husband, Alexei Pupynin, called her the day before, on November 7th. An audio recording of this conversation (her husband's story about the conditions at the front) leads "Layout":
“We are already considered missing, people are sent to be slaughtered. We started a riot, we're not going anywhere. We are staying here. This is the *** Ministry of Defense. Help us. Very difficult. We don't want to be meat. <…> There are no weapons at all. Artillery is working, but it hits in the wrong direction, just nearby. We have 85 weapons. This armor breaks through with fragments. People’s helmets were simply shattered.”
At a meeting with the governor, the relatives of the mobilized Roman Starovoit asked to "bring the guys away from the line of fire." “Starovoit heard everything. And he said that they would figure it out, ”a participant in the gathering told Layout.
See also The Insider's November 7 military summary: Hundreds of dead Russian marines near Vuhledar and new Ukrainian air defense systems. What's Happening on the Front Line .