The Armed Forces of Ukraine are attacking Kleshcheevka, an ammunition depot has been destroyed in Makeevka, the Russians are using unique wooden armor. What’s going on at the front

by THE INSIDER
10 months ago

In today's summary:

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are developing success south of Bakhmut: one of the dominant heights near Kleshcheevka is occupied;
The Ukrainian military remains on the left bank of the Dnieper, despite all attempts to drive them out;
An ammunition depot was blown up in Makiivka, the Russians were talking about "shelling a hospital";
Z-analysts are perplexed about the insignificant losses of Ukrainian artillery during the counteroffensive;
Recorded probably the first ever duel on FPV drones in a war zone;
The Ministry of Defense is carrying a train of hopelessly outdated Soviet T-54/55 tanks to the front;
Servicemen of the RF Armed Forces install unguided aircraft missiles on an SUV;
One of the Russian units was armed with a truck with unique wooden armor.

The situation at the front

One of the separatist field commanders in the Donbass in 2014, and now a well-known Z-figure Igor Girkin (aka Strelkov / Runov) reports fierce battles in the Orekhov region and on the Vremevsky ledge . According to him, Ukrainian troops are attacking, but there is no information about the advance yet. Also, fighting continues on the flanks of Bakhmut . Girkin writes that the Russian army is not capable of attacking due to a lack of forces and means, so the strategic initiative will belong to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for a long time to come.

Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky publishes a video of the work of the Ukrainian 10th brigade "Edelweiss", which is conducting assault operations in the Bakhmut area. It is reported about the occupation of Russian positions and the destruction of a "significant number" of enemy personnel.

A considerable stir in the Z-environment was caused by the post of the "military correspondent" of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Alexander Sladkov that the Russian troops had left Kleshcheevka south of Bakhmut . In it, he also alluded to the shortage of ammunition, mentioning the "shell diet".

Z-poetess Anna Dolgareva wrote in response that she had been at the positions of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the RF Armed Forces (previously referred to as the "People's Militia of the LPR"), which controls Kleshcheevka , all day long.

Propagandist Anastasia Kashevarova confirms the "difficult situation" in the south of Bakhmut and the threat to Kleshcheevka from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. She notes a “lack of people and ammunition” and believes that if the Ukrainian military moves further north, the Horlivka-Bakhmut road could be cut.

According to Andrey Rudenko, "military correspondent" of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, the attack of the 5th separate airborne assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Kleshcheevka was unsuccessful. The fact that the settlement is under the control of the Russian military, writes and "military commander" Vladimir Romanov. “Deputy Minister of Information of the DPR” Daniil Bezsonov adds that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been storming Kleshcheevka for four days and the Russians have repelled 20 attacks.

Close to the PMC Wagner "military commander" Alexander Yaremchuk laid out a map with an assessment of the operational situation in the Kleshcheevka area.

According to Yaremchuk, the difficulties of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in this area are due to the fact that they cannot yet take their own former stronghold, located on a hill north-west of Kleshcheevka . However, if the Ukrainian military manages to occupy the dominant height, then the Russians will not be able to hold the settlement. In this case, the entire southern flank in the Bakhmut direction may collapse, after which a direct road to Bakhmut itself will open for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Igor Girkin, citing sources "from the spot" , reports that Kleshcheevka is under the control of the Russian military, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine have captured "an important height." Since there is no other important height in front of the settlement, it can be assumed that the Ukrainians took exactly the one that Yaremchuk told about.

In the end, Sladkov himself admitted that Kleshcheevka had not yet been abandoned, and promised “at the first opportunity” to go and personally see how things were going there.

The representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Andriy Kovalev, confirmed the success of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Kleshcheevka and said that the Ukrainian military were consolidating themselves on the achieved lines.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are also pressing from the north of Bakhmut . The Rybar Telegram channel associated with the Russian Defense Ministry writes that Ukrainian troops are constantly attacking Razdolovka in groups of 15–20 people without armored vehicles, and are also gradually approaching Berkhovka .

The use of the American M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge (MICLIC) remote demining system by Ukrainian troops in the Bakhmut area is noted.

As far as can be judged, the UAF foothold in the area of the Antonovsky Bridge on Antonovsky Island, adjacent to the left bank of the Dnieper , has not been liquidated. Moreover, Rybar reports the transfer of two more groups of Ukrainian military on boats to the area. They are fixed under the spans of the bridge, and the Russian units, trying to storm their positions, are met by artillerymen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with heavy fire from the right (higher) bank.

The Dnipro Frontier Telegram channel publishes footage of airstrikes, reportedly on the command post of the 124th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Antonovka , which is under the control of the Ukrainian military on the right bank of the Dnieper .

Anthony Radakin, Chief of Defense Staff of the British Armed Forces, gave interesting assessments of the current situation of the parties in Ukraine. Judging by his words, the Russian army spent about 10 million shells, lost 2,500 tanks in Ukraine and, along with them, more than half of its combat potential. Radakin says that the strategy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, conducting attacks along almost the entire front line, includes exhausting the enemy. He also notes that the Russians do not have the strength for their own major offensive.

Mutual shelling and sabotage

On the eve of the suburb of Donetsk Makeevka there was a powerful explosion. Russian "military correspondents" described the incident as "a blow to residential areas." The head of the “DPR” announced 25 injured residents, and the “mayor” of the city occupied by Russia told RIA Novosti about the death during shelling of one person. Representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine insisted on hitting the ammunition depot.

The video of the strike that appeared on social networks leaves no doubt that it was the ammunition depot, organized in an unfinished residential complex, that was struck.

The photographs of the consequences of the explosion clearly show shells for MLRS, which, as a result of a secondary detonation, damaged nearby buildings, including a hospital.

The OSINT project GeoConfirmed dedicated a Twitter thread to the investigation of the Makiivka incident. The researchers confirm that an ammunition depot was hit, and add that a significant part of the shelling of Donetsk either falls on similar military facilities that the Russians have in residential areas in violation of international standards, or may be the result of the use of low-quality ammunition by Russian artillery, which shells the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, launching projectiles over the city.

The railway station in Yasinovataya was shelled . Judging by the video, the blow fell on fuel tanks.

It is reported that Russian air defense systems intercepted a missile over the sea flying towards Berdyansk . At the same time, several explosions sounded over the city.

There was shelling of Valuyek in the Belgorod region . One woman was injured. Residential buildings, roadbeds, power lines and cars were damaged.

12 shells hit Tetkino , Kursk region . The school building and residential building were damaged, there were no casualties.

The air command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "Vostok" reported the interception of three kamikaze drones of the "Shahed" family (aka "Geran") in the Zaporozhye , Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions .

Losses

Sladkov, already mentioned above, spoke about the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a single section of the front in Zaporozhye . According to him, the Russian military destroyed 78 tanks and 120 armored vehicles.

It should be noted that the announced figures contradict even pro-Russian sources that count the documented losses of Ukrainian equipment. One such resource counted only 34 lost tanks and 74 armored vehicles for the whole of June.

Commenting on the publication, the well-known Telegram channel "Panzerwaffle / Panzerwaffle" draws attention to the fact that 25 artillery pieces and self-propelled guns destroyed during the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are "not enough". For the authors of the channel, it remains a mystery where most of the installations supplied to Ukraine by Western partners are located.

The mutual counter-battery struggle at the front does not subside. The Russians, limited by the range of artillery compared to Western models, use Lancet kamikaze drones – one of them hit the BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, incapacitating it. On the other hand, counter-battery fire from the 44th artillery brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the Russian Grad and the Msta-S self-propelled artillery mount (both videos are published by the Ukraine Weapons Tracker project). Another Russian "Grad" was destroyed with the help of the Polish self-propelled howitzer AHS Krab near the village of Semigorye .

Voenkor RT Murad Gazdiev posted a video of a Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicle being blown up by mines. According to him, the mine was laid by Russian saboteurs on the rear road, which is often used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukrainian volunteer Roman Donik publishes a video of the destruction of the Russian T-90M tank. The BONUS / SMArt 155 homing artillery submunition was used on the tank. Two such munitions are placed in one projectile.

Russian sources publish a video with the defeat of the American AN / MPQ-64 Sentinel radar. With its help, the NASAMS-2 and AN / TWQ-1 Avenger air defense systems detect targets. The station was destroyed by artillery fire near Kleshcheevka .

Armaments and military equipment

Recorded , probably the first ever "duel on FPV drones". The Russians fired six such UAVs at Ukrainian positions, to which the Ukrainian side responded with three similar ones. Russian drones were intercepted thanks to the suppression of communications with their operators, but the Ukrainian ones did not hit the target either. As a result, the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, covering the position of the Russians, drew a line under the whole story.

As if responding to Natalya Gumenyuk, spokesperson for the Southern Defense Forces Joint Press Center, who said that the Russian military has become much less likely to use FAB glide bombs with UMPCs, the Fighterbomber Telegram channel associated with the Russian Aerospace Forces posted the first video of their use. It demonstrates the descent of two UMPC FAB-500M62 from the Su-34.

Russian gunners began to use modernized Krasnopol-M2 guided missiles. It is noted that the flight program is laid in them automatically, the shells are able to maneuver better, fly 20–26 km and are equipped with a semi-active laser guidance head.

There was a video with a train of T-54/55 tanks in the Voronezh region. Noteworthy is the comment of the filmmaker, who laments that the Russians have run out of new tanks and are being transported to the front "all sorts of junk." CIT analysts write that the tanks have already been unloaded in the Crimea.

It is impossible to pass by yet another example of the adaptation of methods tested during regional wars in the Middle East to the realities of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The off-road vehicle is equipped with a block of guns with unguided rockets UB-32, which is used in aircraft. These missiles are not designed to fly in a ballistic trajectory, so it seems that the operators of this hybrid have either empirically compiled a firing table themselves or are sending ammunition at random. Previously, such innovations were found in the arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and now the Russians are adopting the Middle East experience.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine, in turn, began to adopt the Russian experience of arranging anti-drone screens on armored vehicles, popularly called "barbecues". The published video shows an M109L self-propelled artillery mount, hung with similar structures, delivered from Italy. According to the Ukrainian artilleryman, this improvement has already saved the installation from the impact of the Lancet, which broke through the grid, but only scratched the armor of the vehicle.

Ukrainian servicemen showed six paired AK-74 assault rifles as an improvised air defense system. Their barrels are connected with a collar, and at the bottom there is a lever that allows you to press the triggers of each of them at the same time.

In service, presumably, the 3rd Army Corps of the RF Armed Forces saw unique vehicles with wooden armor. The author of the Russian channel "Spy Dossier", ironically, writes that it protects against almost all possible means of destruction, including verbal curses. To protect against an attack from the air, the product "army bed" is used. However, the use of wooden armor has its drawbacks – the likelihood of getting a thorn in the ass increases five times.