On the 287th day of the war, Russia attacked Ukraine with Iranian Shahed-136 drones, the last time such strikes were about three weeks ago. OSINT journalists have already noticed that reports of the use of drones disguised as Russian Geraniums have become less frequent, which could indicate a reduction in stocks, but over the past 24 hours, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have shot down 14 drones. At the same time, on December 7, it became known that the European Commission, as part of a new package of sanctions, plans to restrict Russia's access to UAV supplies through third countries, including Iran.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the "special operation" could become a "long process". Military expert Sergei Grabsky confirmed in a conversation with The Insider that Russia is indeed going to drag out the war, because while it is ongoing, “the Kremlin regime can feel relatively safe, feeding the population tales of the horrors of NATO occupation” and prolonging its existence. At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also accused the Russian Federation of dragging out the conflict. According to him, Russia is seeking a peace treaty in order to buy time and resume the offensive in the spring, reports FT.
At that time, fierce battles continued between the advanced units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the assault detachments of the PMC Wagner near Bakhmut, mainly on the southeastern outskirts of the city. Propaganda military correspondents report that Wagner PMC fighters occupied Yakovlevka north of Soledar. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already liberated 1,888 settlements, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said . However, almost the same number of Ukrainian cities and villages remain under occupation, he stressed.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes that the Russian Federation made "minor gains" near Bakhmut during December 5 and 6, while failing to encircle the city.
A video with the Russian military has been published on the network, presumably filmed in Bakhmut.
Sergei Grabsky said that Russia near Bakhmut is trying to fulfill the tasks that were set back in April, as well as to draw the maximum attention of the Ukrainian troops to this sector of the front in order to distract them from other directions and prevent them from carrying out concentrated strikes. So Russia solves the issue of delaying the operation in order to try to take revenge in the spring, he believes.
According to him, so far the Russian army has enough resources, there is also evidence that it is preparing to conduct large-scale offensive operations. Confirmation of this is the concentration of already mobilized troops, who have been trained, on the borders and in the occupied territories, the creation of bases and warehouses, Grabsky noted.
“Of course, the Russian army is not ready for war in winter in the volumes in which it could be used. Moreover, they need to carry out work to saturate the troops with weapons and military equipment, and this is the removal from storage and commissioning of this equipment. First of all, they will try to make some elements, because there are closed cycles for the production of armored and artillery weapons. How much they can do this depends on the capabilities of the economy, so there is no doubt that, starting in the spring, Russia will try to achieve some kind of revenge in the conduct of hostilities on the territory of Ukraine.
The expert noted that now the situation at the front is similar to what it was from 2015 to February 24, 2022 in the Donbass, that is, we are not talking about a classic war, where 5-10 shots are fired once a day. There is a constant tactical movement, the opposing sides will try to somehow improve their tactical position – somewhere they will try to advance, and somewhere they will gain a foothold and prevent the enemy from advancing. However, Ukraine will not stand still and will use all available forces and means to fragment the enemy’s defenses, so the dynamics of hostilities “will remain at a fairly high level.”
“Time is still playing on the side of Ukraine, because Russia is still not strong enough in its combat potential to saturate the battle formations with such a number of troops that would exclude the possibility of carrying out any offensive actions. The density of troops is not high enough and they, professing the tactics and operational art of the middle of the last century, are trying to hold the entire territory.
According to ISW, in the Svatovo direction , the Russian military shelled Ukrainian positions in the area of three settlements 50 km from Svatovo and 15 km from the international border. This indicates some progress of the Ukrainian army, analysts say.
In the Ugledar direction, the RF Armed Forces continue to regroup forces that previously tried to break through to Vugledar from the south through Pavlovka, military observer Konstantin Mashovets notes . In the Donetsk region, Russia is shelling the front-line Avdiivka with incendiary ammunition, the video is published by Russian propagandists and Ukrainian Telegram channels.
The propaganda Telegram channel WarGonzo claims that on the Donetsk front , Russian troops attacked the fortified area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Krasnohorivka. The Ukrainian army, in turn, shelled Donetsk, Makiivka and Gorlovka, the channel claims.
Shelling and casualties
During the shelling of the city of Kurakhovo in the Donbass, eight people were killed and five injured, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
During the day, residential buildings and other civilian facilities in the city of Korosten, Zhytomyr region, and a number of settlements in the Zaporozhye region, were damaged by missile strikes and UAVs of the Russian Federation, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports in the evening summary.
In Russia, meanwhile, they continue to report shelling of border regions. Governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov said that Russian air defense systems shot down missiles over the village of Kuleshovka, Krasnogvardeisky district. According to preliminary data, no victims.
“There is a damage to the power line. All operational and emergency services went to the site to eliminate the consequences.
In the "special operation" area, the Russian military is dying not only from shelling. So, a serviceman from Siberia, Sergeant Alik Mongush, killed a drunken colleague when he was trying to resolve the conflict and fired from a machine gun into the air. The Abakan garrison military court sentenced him to two years in a colony-settlement under Part 2 of Art. 349 of the Criminal Code (violation of the rules for handling weapons, negligently resulting in death). According to the press service of the court, the murder took place on June 13, 2022, on the territory of a “temporary field camp in the area of a special military operation.”
Arms supplies to Ukraine
U.S. officials are trying to persuade allies to transfer more rockets to NASAMS to Ukraine and strike a deal with NATO and the countries of the Middle East, said Greg Hayes, CEO of Raytheon Technologies. The deal will allow Ukraine to avoid a two-year wait for new missiles from the Raytheon factory, Hayes said.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that Germany will supply Ukraine with 16 Biber armored bridgelayers and five Dachs engineering barrier vehicles (IMR). 17 bridge laying systems have already been delivered, and a comprehensive winter aid package with generator sets, field heaters, tents, clothing and rations worth about 11 million euros has been handed over to Kyiv. In addition, the Ukrainian military has already received from Germany 14 Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers and five MARS II multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) with sets of spare parts and ammunition.
“To strengthen air defense, Germany transferred the IRIS-T SLM air defense system and missiles to it. In addition, complexes for combating drones. Together with Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns, this technique will help make the sky over Ukraine safer.”
South Korea handed over 100 Ssang Yong Musso pickup trucks and 5 DOOSAN DX17Z mini excavators to Ukraine, the Ukrainian Embassy in Korea reported.
Crumbling protection in the Russian Federation
In Russia, the gouges, which should protect against the passage of military equipment, began to crumble, and even advertisements for the sale of reinforced concrete barriers appeared on Avito.
“Designed to impede the advance of armored vehicles, tanks and other equipment of enemy units and units. Installation does not require any preparation! Excellent quality, durable, ”the sellers say.
The cost of one gouge is from 500 rubles, but there are ads with a price of 12 thousand apiece.
See also The Insider's military summary for December 6: “Heavy fighting near Bakhmut, drone attack on another airfield in Russia, part of Ukraine without electricity. What's going on at the front .