Running Newsticker for the War in Ukraine

(9) Trotz stockender Ukraine-Hilfe: Wo Militärökonom Keupp Russland im Nachteil sieht | ZDFheute live - YouTube

 

Ukraine Sitrep: Did Russia use Ukrainian POWs as Human Shields? Probably not! (youtube.com)

 

Ukraine Conflict Updates
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 16, 2023

Click here to read the full report
Key Takeaways:

• Ukrainian forces continue operations on the east (left) bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast amid reported difficult conditions in the area as part of an apparent effort to set conditions for future Ukrainian operations and the resettlement of west (right) bank Kherson Oblast.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin’s supporters formally nominated him as an independent candidate for the 2024 presidential elections on December 16, further solidifying Putin’s image as a figure above the Russian political system.
• Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitri Polyanskiy more clearly defined recent statements from high-ranking Russian officials that align with ISW’s long-standing assessment that Russia is unwilling to negotiate with Ukraine in good faith.
• Russian forces launched another series of Shahed-136/131 drone strikes across Ukraine overnight on December 15 to 16.
• The Financial Times (FT) reported on December 15 that the G7 may consider using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine.
• Russian actors continue information operations aimed at discrediting and dividing Ukraine’s military and political leadership, specifically Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Commander-in-Chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
• A Russian “Storm-Z” assault unit instructor implied that Russian President Vladimir Putin lied about the unregulated status of private military companies (PMCs) during his “Direct Line” forum on December 14 given the state’s significant administrative control over PMCs and other irregular formations.
• Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, near Avdiivka, west and southwest of Donetsk City, in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast on December 16 and advanced in some areas.
• A Russian milblogger claimed that Russia will have at least ten Project 22350 Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates in an unspecified time period.
• Ukrainian Mariupol Mayoral Advisor Petro Andryushchenko and the Ukrainian Telegram channel Mariupol Resistance stated on December 16 that Ukrainian partisans recently blew up the car of the commander of an unspecified Russian unit from the North Caucasus in occupied Mariupol. . . . .

 

This is not a surprise.
How the US Keeps Funding Ukraine's Military — Even as It ...

VOA
https://www.voanews.com › ...


19 hours ago — The U.S. has already sent Ukraine $111 billion in weapons, equipment, humanitarian assistance and other aid since Russian President Vladimir ...

 

The Russians are losing men much faster than we did in Vietnam.

 

Ukraine Conflict Updates
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 18, 2023

Click here to read the full report
Key Takeaways:

• A combination of artillery ammunition shortages and delays in the provision of Western security assistance is likely causing Ukrainian forces to husband materiel and may delay future Ukrainian counteroffensive operations.
• Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi declined to comment on recent Western reporting about Ukrainian counteroffensive and Russian offensive plans for 2024.
• Ukrainian Air Force Spokesperson Colonel Yuriy Ihnat stated on December 18 that Russian forces have enough drones to launch daily strikes against Ukraine from different directions.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) is reportedly forming four new military transport aviation (VTA) regiments, although these efforts are likely aimed at reorganizing existing VTA units in support of Russia’s force posturing rather than adding new capability in the short term.
• The Russian Government Commission on Legislative Activity supported a bill that would criminalize “Russophobia” abroad, likely as part of ongoing efforts to maintain and increase Russian influence in post-Soviet countries.
• Russian officials simplified requirements to obtain Russian citizenship for Belarusian, Kazakh, and Moldovan citizens amid continued hostility towards migrants in Russian society.
• The European Union (EU) adopted its 12th sanctions package in connection with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• Russian forces continued offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, near Avdiivka, west and southwest of Donetsk City, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast and made a confirmed advance southwest of Donetsk City.
• Former Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) People’s Militia Spokesperson Eduard Basurin claimed that more than 25,000 Russian personnel are serving with Cossack volunteer formations in Ukraine as of December 18.
• Kremlin-appointed Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova continues to deny Russian and Belarusian involvement in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied areas. . . . .

Ukrainian forces maintain positions in the east (left) bank of Kherson Oblast and Russian forces recently made marginal advances in the area. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces maintain positions on the east bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.[59] Geolocated footage published on December 18 indicates that Russian forces marginally advanced in Krynky (30km northeast of Kherson City and 2km from the Dnipro River).[60] Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces assaulted Ukrainian positions in forest areas near Krynky.[61] Russian milbloggers claimed that fighting was ongoing near Krynky and that Russian forces started using armored vehicles near the settlement.[62] Footage published on December 18 purportedly shows a Ukrainian drone striking a Russian T-90 main battle tank near Krynky.[63] A Russian milblogger claimed that Russian forces continue to suffer from poor counterbattery, lateral communication, and evacuation capabilities.[64] . . . . .

The Russian 155th Naval Infantry Brigade (Pacific Fleet) has reportedly suffered very significant losses while fighting in Ukraine. BBC’s Russia Service and Russian opposition outlet Mediazona reported that it confirmed the deaths of 234 personnel of the Russian 155th Naval Infantry Brigade and that the brigade has likely suffered 1,450 personnel losses between those killed, missing, and wounded in Ukraine.[80] The 155th Naval Infantry Brigade reportedly suffered half of the 234 confirmed deaths during attritional assaults on Vuhledar, Donetsk Oblast during the Russian winter-spring 2023 offensive.[81] The 155th Naval Infantry Brigade reportedly had roughly 3,000 personnel in total at the outset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, although ISW has previously observed reports that Russian forces reconstituted the brigade as many as eight times since February 24, 2022.[82] A Russian milblogger posted footage on December 18 purporting to show elements of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade still operating near Vuhledar.[83] . . . .

 

chuckled at that...this bunch have been malletted since day one....how many times have they been re-built...4 or 5 times now is it.....in Russian standards they were the dogs bollocks at the start of this now they're just....well.....just plain f**ked I suppose

Not much else going on really is there....couple of yards here couple of yards there...the odd trench gained a tree line lost.....

 

Here's some news.

• • 
    Ukrainian troops ‘reeducate’ bold Russian invader – video
    The New Voice of Ukraine
    
  • 
    Russian occupier seeks asylum in Netherlands, offers testimony on Putin's allies to ICC
    The New Voice of Ukraine
    
  • 
    Russia denies IAEA access to thermal plant near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant again
    Ukrayinska Pravda
    
    
  • 
    German brigade to be combat ready in Lithuania, on Russian border, in 2027
    Reuters
    
  
  
  

 

Ukraine Conflict Updates
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 20, 2023

click here to read the full report
Key Takeaways:

• Head of the Kremlin-controlled Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill made a series of anti-migrant and xenophobic remarks that directly contradict Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing efforts to reestablish the inclusive Russian World (Russkiy Mir) ideology.
• Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explicitly stated that the Kremlin is uninterested in negotiations with Ukraine, suggesting that the Kremlin is moving away from its information operation meant to feign interest in negotiations.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD)-controlled Africa Corps announced a recruitment campaign targeting former and current Wagner Group personnel and people with combat experience in the war in Ukraine.
• Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin discussed bilateral economic cooperation with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on December 20.
• Moscow State University (MGU) is reportedly ending its master's program in “information and hybrid warfare” aimed at teaching students how to create information operations and conduct hybrid warfare, generating outrage from Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov.
• The Kremlin continues to set conditions to create a veneer of legitimacy over the upcoming March 2024 presidential election.
• Russian forces made a confirmed advance north of Bakhmut and continued positional meeting engagements along the entire line of contact.
• Russian officials issued military summonses to migrants at a naturalization ceremony on December 20 as part of ongoing efforts to target naturalized migrants for crypto-mobilization efforts and to placate the Russian ultranationalist community.
• Russian occupation administrators continue to use educational organizations to facilitate the temporary deportation of Ukrainians to Russia. . . . .

Ukrainian forces likely conducted a strike on Russian military assets in occupied Crimea overnight on December 19-20. A prominent Russian milblogger claimed that Russian air defense forces repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea overnight, but Ukrainian and Russian opposition sources reported that the Ukrainian strikes hit the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) Center for Long-Range Space Communications and a Federal Security Service (FSB) unit in occupied Crimea.[67] ISW has not yet observed visual evidence of this purported strike, however. . . . .

The Ukrainian General Staff reported on December 20 that Russian forces are using low-quality artillery shells from North Korea that are occasionally exploding in barrels, leading to Russian personnel and equipment losses.[72] The Ukrainian General Staff stated that Russian forces, especially the “Dnepr” Grouping of Forces operating in southern Ukraine, are using these shells due to insufficient domestic production. ISW previously assessed that recent deliveries of North Korean artillery shells have supplemented Russia’s likely largely expended stocks of Soviet-era stocks.[73] . . . .

 

...and how!! I mean sure I can fathom what they're doing and to some extent it's working but it's the extent of the....well......for want of a better word...the barbarity of the tactic being employed especially since its against their own people and only for the sake of keeping one man in power....it's like we've time travelled back to the middle ages......we haven't though.....have we...????

 

Ukraine Conflict Updates
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 21, 2023

Click here to read the full report.
Key Takeaways:

• The failure of Russian operations in Ukraine to achieve Russian President Vladimir Putin’s maximalist objectives thus far is not a permanent condition, and only continued Western support for Ukraine can ensure that Putin’s maximalist objectives remain unattainable.
• ISW has assessed that the collapse of Western aid would likely lead to the eventual collapse of Ukraine’s ability to hold off the Russian military and that the current positional war in Ukraine is not a stable stalemate because the current instable balance could readily be tipped in either direction by decisions made in the West.
• US National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby stated that the White House assesses that Russian forces will be able to conduct offensive operations more easily when winter weather conditions become more conducive for mechanized maneuver warfare (likely in January–February 2024) — an assessment that is consistent with ISW’s observations and assessments about the tempo of fighting in Ukraine during the winter.
• Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of December 20 to 21.
• Japan is reportedly preparing to revise its defense equipment export policy to backfill US stockpiles of Patriot missiles and UK artillery ammunition stores.
• The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) objected to military exercises in Japan involving the Japanese military, possibly in an effort to deter or respond to the Japanese government’s decision to change its defense equipment export regulations.
• The Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) summoned Russian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Oleg Malginov after Russian ultranationalist and former Russian State Duma Deputy Zakhar Prilepin suggested that Russia should annex part of Uzbekistan, likely demonstrating post-Soviet countries’ concerns about intensifying Russian imperial designs against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
• An investigation by Africa-based French-language outlet Jeune Afrique highlights the Kremlin's ongoing efforts to maintain and expand Russia's influence in the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Sahel while subsuming Wagner Group operations on the continent.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to formalize avenues for the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia under the guise of humanitarian services.
• Kremlin-appointed Commissioner on Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova continues to implicate herself in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia against the backdrop of the death of a 12-year-old Ukrainian girl in Russian custody.
• The US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a series of sanctions against oil traders with opaque ownership and a Russian-owned ship manager that have been helping Russia skirt the G7 price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products.
• Russian forces made confirmed advances near Kreminna, Bakhmut, and Avdiivka and continued positional meeting engagements along the entire frontline.
• The Russian government continues efforts to digitalize and organize conscription through a unified digital register as part of ongoing attempts to improve the effectiveness of issuing military summonses and prevent draft dodging.
• Russian authorities are using Rosgvardia to perform law enforcement functions and strengthen occupational control in occupied Ukraine. . . . .

 

interesting little gadget....hmmmmm.....



https://www.anduril.com/roadrunner/

 

Ukraine Conflict Updates
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment: December 22, 2023
Click here to read the full report

Key Takeaways:

• 
  
  
  • Ukrainian officials continue to warn that Russia maintains its maximalist objectives and additional goals for territorial conquest in Ukraine, despite recent comments made by Western officials suggesting that Russia is already defeated.
  • Ukraine will very likely receive the first batch of F-16s before the end of 2023.
  • The Russia Aerospace Forces (VKS) reportedly lost three Su-34 attack aircraft in southern Ukraine between December 21-22.
  • The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) named Russian President Vladimir Putin’s close ally and Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, as the individual responsible for the assassination of Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin.
  • The Kremlin continues to position itself as a neutral arbitrator in the Israel-Hamas war despite its recent increasing anti-Israel rhetoric.
  • US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on December 22 granting the US Treasury Department the authority to impose sanctions on banks and other financial institutions that facilitate Russian sanctions evasion.
  • Russian officials continue to downplay deteriorating Russian-Armenian relations, possibly as part of a concerted campaign to improve the bilateral relationship amid concerns about Russia’s waning influence in the South Caucasus.
  • Russian forces made confirmed advances northeast and southwest of Bakhmut and southwest of Avdiivka and continued positional engagements along the entire line of contact.
  • A Ukrainian intelligence official reported that Russian forces are intensifying force generation efforts to keep pace with the rate of Russian losses in Ukraine so that they can sustain ongoing offensive operations along the front.
  • Kremlin-appointment Commissioner on Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova outlined new social support measures meant to further integrate occupied Zaporizhia Oblast into Russia during a working visit to the occupied oblast on December 22. . . .

 

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-military-capability-hurt-command-ignoring-mouse-fever-kyiv-1853957\

Unverified but if one side has this problem it would not surprise me if it exists on both sides.

Disease is a more effective killer in wartime than bullets and explosives, especially trench warfare.

 

I thought the term "mouse fever" was just a sort of catch all name for a whole truck load of different malladies which are affecting the Russians?

 

‘Palace coup’: Veteran former CIA chief predicts Russian President Vladimir Putin is about to be toppled


.....Devine believes Putin has becoming increasingly unpredictable and dangerous – and his invasion of Ukraine has “sowed his political demise”.

The Russian president is continuing to throw his troops into meat-grinder assaults to try to secure a winter victory.

The devastated city of Avdiivka – the gateway to the major city of Donetsk that lies 12 miles to the east – has become the deadliest flashpoint of the war as Putin attempts to break a painful stalemate.

Devine believes the tyrant’s popularity will continue to drop as the war goes on – but it won’t stop his gruesome grind.

The Russian leader will plough on with his fight “no matter what it takes”, Devine said.

“The more losses and the more violence that is visible to the Russian citizens, the less people want to be involved,” he explained.

.....

https://www.news.com.au/finance/wor...d/news-story/9487df70a21d89db52c84806dfdc1dd0

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The war can't go on forever and Ukraine is not going to back down.

 

F-16 already in Ukraine? Ukraine destroyed THREE Su-34, Japan delivers weapons for the first time! (youtube.com)

 

Interestingly a Russian poll suggests that winning the war is not top priority for Russians.

Taming inflation is Priority-1.

They have not been as successful as US in fighting inflation, and their rates are still very high, and their currency has lost 30% of its value vs USD

 

Frieden zwischen Russland und Ukraine? "Putin hat kein Interesse an Verhandlungen" | ZDFheute live (youtube.com)

 

Good ! But stil not enough loses for the Moskail Horde.

 

Just another from against Russian Neo Imperialism and terrorism. Keep the fuels of inflation coming.

 

Do you have any source which you can offer with more defined and developed credibility?

 

Any disruption in Putinsky’s Imperial court is welcome and surely helpful. Of course we have heard rumors of such possibly good news before. ,Aubrey we need to release the Jan 6th trrrorists and insurrection it’s and permanently lend them to Putin.

 

Thanks.

“U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on December 22 granting the US Treasury Department the authority to impose sanctions on banks and other financial institutions that facilitate Russian sanctions evasion.”
Nice but there must be many many more hurdles to jump before we can sede this consumated.

• Ukraine will very likely receive the first batch of F-16s before the end of 2023.” My comments Trust but verify.

 

Pravda- viruses and bacteria do not know if they are infecting a good guy or Putin terrorist.