[ABC News via SOFX] Russia has launched its largest assault in months on eastern Ukraine, with Avdiivka being the primary target due to its strategic significance. Dozens of tanks, armored vehicles, and thousands of troops were deployed by Russia. Ukrainian forces have fortified Avdiivka with trenches and bunkers, making it difficult for the Russians to advance. Despite the massive attack, the Ukrainian military claims that they have inflicted significant losses on Russian forces, destroying numerous armored vehicles and inflicting casualties.
Key Points:
1. Strategic Importance of Avdiivka: Avdiivka is a focal point of the Russian assault due to its proximity to Donetsk, the capital of the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
2. Ukrainian Defenses: Before Russia’s full-scale invasion last year, Ukraine had fortified Avdiivka with deep trenches and underground bunkers, which has hindered the Russian advance.
3. Russian Losses: Ukrainian officials claim that Russia has lost at least 40 armored vehicles in two days and estimate that around 1,000 Russian troops have been killed, though these figures haven’t been independently verified.
4. Scale of the Russian Offensive: This new offensive is significant as it indicates Russia’s intent to regain the initiative in the ongoing war, taking advantage of global attention being diverted elsewhere.
5. Mixed Russian Forces: The Russian attack involved a combination of paratroopers, poorly trained forces, and "Storm Z" units, which are detachments of convicts sent into battle. Their inadequate preparation was evident in their reported high losses.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[LB] Chernihiv, Sumy, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya and Dnipropetrovsk regions were attacked.
During the day, the enemy conducted three shellings (18 explosions) in the Chernihiv region . Fired from mortars and artillery. In the village of Semenivsk community of Novgorod-Siverskyi district, four private houses burned after shelling. There were no victims, according to the summary from OVA as of this morning.
In Mykolaiv at midnight, as a result of the fall of the fragments of an enemy rocket, private houses were damaged in the settlement of the Privilna community. There are no casualties. In Mykolaiv yesterday afternoon, October 12, the enemy launched a rocket attack on an open area outside the city. There are no casualties. Also, yesterday and this morning, artillery fire was recorded on the settlements of the Kutsurub community. There are no casualties. Also, yesterday and this morning, the enemy fired artillery at Ochakov and its water area. There were no casualties.
In the morning of Sumy, the Russians carried out one shelling of the Yunakiv community. Two explosions from the AGS grenade launcher were recorded. No consequences. Yesterday, during the day, the Russians carried out six shellings of the border territories and settlements of the Sumy region. The communities of Seredino-Budsk, Bilopolsk, Krasnopilsk, Novoslobidsk, Velikopysarivsk came under fire. Seredyno-Budsk community: an aerial bombardment was carried out from a helicopter with an unguided air missile (four explosions). As a result of shelling, the following were damaged: an administrative building, a garage, an outbuilding; windows in the kindergarten; premises, passenger car, damaged windows in a 5-story residential building.
In Dnipropetrovsk this morning, an explosion rang out in Kryvorizka district. Information about the consequences is being clarified. Nikopol and the Marganets community were under enemy fire at night. The Russian invaders once again fired at them with heavy artillery. More than one and a half dozen shells were fired. A private house and an outbuilding were broken into. Survey of territories continues. Fortunately, people were not affected. Yesterday, during the day, the enemy fired heavy artillery at the Nikopol district. He also attacked with a kamikaze drone. In Nikopol itself, two hotels, a high-rise building and nine private houses were damaged. Five outbuildings and a garage, gas pipelines and a power line were mutilated. In the Marganets community, five local homes, gas stoves, and electric grids were damaged. It passed without any deaths or injuries.
In Luhansk, along the entire front line, the enemy fired artillery yesterday, Nevske, Bilogorivka, Novolyubivka, the territory of Serebryansk Forestry were hit. Thus, two KAB-500 aerial bomb explosions were recorded in Nevsky. The occupiers continue to put pressure on Makiivka and in the Kremina forests - five assault attempts were repelled there. During the day, the enemy fired 158 rounds (564 shells).
About 20 settlements, including Gatishche, Vovchansk, and Veterinarne, were hit by enemy artillery and mortar fire in the Kharkiv and Slobozhan areas. In the Kupian direction, our defenders repelled four enemy attacks in the Sinkivka area and eight attacks near Ivanovka. More than 15 settlements, in particular, Kamianka, Dvorichna, Ivanivka, Synkivka, were subjected to enemy artillery and mortar attacks. Yesterday, crops were destroyed in a field in Pidlyman as a result of night shelling by the KAB. In Rubizhny, a civilian man was carrying out repair work on the territory of his house and blew himself up with an unknown explosive object. Hospitalized. Between the villages of Yavirske and Vovchiy Yar, a man was blown up by an OZM-72 anti-personnel mine in a field. Hospitalized.
In Zaporizhzhia last day, Russian military personnel struck 150 targets in 22 settlements. 137 artillery shells fell on the territory of Novoyakovlivka, Gulyaipol, Orikhov, Zaliznychny, Robotyny, Levadny, Poltavka, Malynyvka, Plavny, Lobkovy, Kamiansky and other front-line towns and villages. The enemy carried out an air strike on Novodanilivka, five UAV attacks on Chervonoy, Orikhov, and Novoandriivka, as well as seven RSV attacks on Novoyakovlivka, Robotyny, and Malaya Tokmachka. A 62-year-old woman was injured as a result of shelling in Gulyaipol. 21 reports were received about the destruction of residential buildings and infrastructure facilities.
In Donetsk, the Russians fired 22 rounds on populated areas in the past day. Under the fire of the Rashists - 12 settlements: Avdiivka, Hirnyk, Kostyantynivka, Chasiv Yar, Komyshivka, Kurdyumivka, Bagatyr, Berdychi, Halytsynivka, Kalinovka, Novoselivka Persha, Rozdolivka. 32 residential buildings (seven of which are multi-apartment buildings), three buildings of a psychoneurological dispensary, two hospital buildings, a non-residential office building, premises of the PFU, a heating line, three civilian cars, three military cars, an official car, a school, a church building, a House of Culture, a power line. Three people died, eight were injured.
In Khersonska region, the enemy fired 100 shots (553 shells) during the day, of which 11 shots (49 shells) were fired at Kherson. At night, the occupiers hit Bilozerka. Three people who were in their homes were injured. Among them is a child born in 2006. They were assisted on the spot. The kindergarten building also came under fire. Chernobaivka was again under Russian attack. The occupiers ransacked the homes of the locals. A 71-year-old man received non-life-threatening injuries. He died on the way to the hospital. A 70-year-old man was injured. He was treated on the spot. As a result of these and previous "arrivals", dozens of houses in the village were damaged. Light is partially missing. A 70-year-old man was wounded as a result of enemy shelling in Berislav. Medical assistance is provided on site. In the evening, the occupiers shelled the village of Mykilske. A man born in 1948 was injured, hospitalization was not required. During the day in the region: two people were killed, six were injured, one of them was a child.
It will be recalled that 64 combat clashes took place during the past day. In total, the enemy launched four rocket and 65 air strikes, fired 54 salvo rockets at the positions of our troops and populated areas. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed and damaged.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[VESTI] The Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully repulse enemy attacks
In the zone of responsibility of the OSGV "Tavria" in the Avdeevsky direction, the enemy does not abandon attempts to break through the defense, but to no avail.
Quote from the head of the Avdeevka city military administration: “In Avdeevka, the night was very hot. There were several air missile strikes on the city itself. They didn’t even count the positions - there were a lot of them, hundreds of attacks on positions. Dozens per night on the city itself. The assaults do not stop neither day nor night - they crawl like cockroaches, a lot."
According to him, the Russians are trying to encircle the city, so the main attacks are concentrated on the flanks from the north and south, but Ukrainian fighters “stay invariably in their positions.” The Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled more than 20 enemy attacks in the areas of the settlements of Avdeevka, Lastochkino, Tonenkoye, Pervomaiskoye, Nevelskoye in the Donetsk region.
General Staff : In the evening report, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that in total, 68 clashes occurred at the front during the day. “In the Avdeevka direction, our defenders courageously hold the line, repulsed 10 enemy attacks in the area of the village of Avdeevka and more than 15 attacks in the Keramika, Tonenky, Pivnichny, Pervomaisky, Netaylovy districts of the Donetsk region,” the command noted. In addition, it is reported that Ukrainian defenders “destroyed the Russian Su-25 attack aircraft and the Orlan-10 operational-tactical UAV.” The missile force units inflicted defeats on the control point, the area where personnel, weapons and military equipment were concentrated, an ammunition depot and enemy electronic warfare stations.
The video shows a convoy of Russian equipment moving towards Avdeevka.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:32 NATO assistance to Israel will not undermine Kiev’s support, said Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
21:30 Ukrainian pilots will begin training on the F-16 next week, Politico reports, citing sources.
20:51 Ukraine asked some partner countries to lend it air defense systems for the winter, Zelensky said: “There are systems that will come and we will have, and there are systems that we are looking for and have found to take them for the winter period.”
20:45 As a result of the Russian strike on Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, one person was killed and 24 were injured , the prosecutor’s office reported.
20:43 The United States has information that the DPRK has transferred a thousand containers with “military equipment” to Russia, and in exchange expects to receive heavy weapons, including aircraft, said John Kirby, coordinator of the White House National Security Council. He clarified that the deliveries took place between September 7 and October 1.
20:36 In the Avdeevka direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding the line, repelling ten enemy attacks in the Avdeevka area and more than 15 attacks in the Keramika, Tonenky, Severny, Pervomaisky, Netaylovo areas of the Donetsk region, the General Staff reported in the evening report.
In just one day, 68 military clashes took place at the front. In the Kupyansk direction, the Defense Forces repelled 12 enemy attacks in the Sinkovka, Ivanovka and Kislovka areas of the Kharkov region; on Limansky - in the Makeevka area of the Lugansk region; on Maryinsky - in the Marinka area of the Donetsk region; on Shakhtarsky - in the Staromayorsky district of the Donetsk region; in Zaporozhye - in the Rabotino district of the Zaporozhye region. At the same time, the Defense Forces continue their offensive in the Melitopol and Bakhmut directions.
20:25 Within a day, the defense forces destroyed the Russian Su-25 fighter and the Orlan-1 operational-tactical UAV, the General Staff reported.
20:07 Zelensky said that Ukraine and Moldova signed a Protocol on joint border control at the checkpoint for the Kuchurgan-Novosavitskaya railway. This is another route for Ukrainian exports, an additional transport corridor, “which will definitely strengthen our entire region,” the president emphasized.
19:40 Zelensky clarified in an evening video message that the Netherlands will transfer additional missiles to Ukraine for the Patriot air defense system. During negotiations with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the parties paid special attention to the protection of Odessa and the entire south of Ukraine - from the Danube ports to the ports of Greater Odessa. “The world recognizes the global role of Ukraine as a guarantor of food security. And it clearly supports the fact that we must preserve and strengthen this importance,” the president emphasized.
18:54 Zelensky said that Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte is visiting Odessa with him today. According to the Ukrainian president, the Netherlands made a new decision to strengthen Ukrainian air defense. They also discussed further possible steps on the F-16 coalition, tightening sanctions against Russia and the use of frozen Russian assets.
18:18 Ukraine damaged two ships near Sevastopol - the Buyan cruise missile carrier and the patrol vessel Pavel Derzhavin. Both targets were hit by Ukrainian experimental drones - “sea babies”. About the details of the joint operation of the SBU and the Navy - in the material New strike on Russian ships .
18:00 Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said that the United States has the strength to simultaneously support both Israel and Ukraine: “The United States is the most powerful country in the world. And we remain fully capable of projecting power, honoring our commitments and directing resources to several battlefields. We will support Israel just as we support Ukraine."
17:43 Members of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) - a group of ten northern European states led by Britain - invited Ukraine as an observer to their exercises in 2024 and 2025 and condemned Russian aggression. In addition, the leaders of the JEF member states, in their joint statement, pledge to support Ukraine on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration until future NATO membership, since “the security of Ukraine is an integral part of the security of the Euro-Atlantic region.”
17:24 Zelensky said that he was on a visit to Odessa and held a meeting with the military leadership, heads of law enforcement agencies and regional authorities. The focus is on preparing for winter, protecting the local population, infrastructure and energy from Russian attacks.
16:50 Germany transferred another package of military assistance to Ukraine, which included, in particular, four Bandvagn 206 tracked all-terrain vehicles, four vehicles for border guards, two HX81 tractors and two trailers for them, 82 SatCom satellite communication terminals, 50 systems for detecting drones.
16:21 The Russians fired at Kindiyka, Kherson region, two people were wounded, the OVA reported.
15:35 In Pokrovsk, a Russian missile hit the department of social protection of the population, where at that moment there were 51 people, the head of the institution, Irina Bonzyukh, told Radio Liberty.
15:29 Special operations forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that in the morning they blew up a train of Russians in Melitopol, cutting them off from supplies of ammunition and fuel in the Zaporozhye direction.
14:58 In Nikopol, Dnepropetrovsk region, Russians fired at rescuers who were putting out a fire in a minibus after a previous shelling. Two rescuers were injured by shrapnel, and a fire-rescue vehicle was damaged, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.
14:17 This morning, partisans blew up a train in Melitopol, which daily carried ammunition and fuel from Crimea to Melitopol and Dneprorudnoe, and in the opposite direction - damaged equipment, as well as iron ore, grain and other looted property. As a result of the explosion, 150 meters of the railway and a diesel locomotive were damaged, said Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov.
13:31 According to preliminary information, Russia attacked Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, with two Iskander-M missiles, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.
13:26 In the Netherlands, four companies, by decision of the prosecutor's office, must pay a fine totaling 160 thousand euros for assistance in the construction of the Crimean Bridge. In addition, eight people were sentenced to community service ranging from 20 to 60 hours. One of the companies received benefits from the supply of prohibited goods and services in the amount of 71,330 euros - it was seized by the prosecutor's office.
13:19 The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognized Russia as a dictatorship , Kuleba said. PACE also called on all states of the Council of Europe to recognize Putin as illegitimate after the end of his current presidential term. All delegations to PACE voted unanimously, supporting all Ukrainian amendments to the resolution.
12:40 The SBU and the Navy attacked the Buyan cruise missile carrier and the ship Pavel Derzhavin of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. For this purpose, they used sea drones “with experimental weapons,” a number of Ukrainian media reported, citing sources in the Security Service.
12:14 The Russians hit a kamikaze drone on a car with people in Berislav, Kherson region - one person was killed, one was injured. In addition, two people were injured as a result of a grenade being dropped from a drone, said the head of the OBA, Alexander Prokudin.
11:57 Telegram channel Crimean Wind clarifies that the ship that allegedly exploded in Sevastopol today is not an MRK, but a Project 22160 patrol ship of the Vasily Bykov type. It is located on the outer roadstead and appears to be intact. Presumably, the ship released black smoke from the chimney - a plume, and this moment coincided with the underwater explosion of the exercises that Razvozhaev spoke about.
11:49 The number of those wounded as a result of the Russian strike on Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, has increased to 13, one person died , the prosecutor’s office reported. According to the investigation, the Russian army fired missiles at the city center in the morning, the type of which is being established. As a result of the hit, one person was killed and three more were injured. In addition, an administrative building was hit. Eight government employees and two visitors were wounded there.
11:13 The Russians have deployed a lot of forces in the Avdiivka direction, they are using phosphorus ammunition, “they want to throw their meat at everything,” the President’s Office reported and added that the Ukrainian army is now “holding its position in difficult battles.”
11:04 Crimean publics report that a ship exploded in the roadstead of Sevastopol, a dull explosion was felt by residents of the city center, and car alarms went off. Probably, the small rocket ship of Project 21631 Buyan-M, the carrier of Caliber, exploded and is smoking. “Governor” of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev said that, according to information from the Black Sea Fleet, loud sounds in the area of the Northern Pier are “training of anti-subversive support crews.” Also, “search and rescue exercises” are allegedly being conducted in the Black Sea.
10:48 Zaluzhny reported that he had his first telephone conversation with the new head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Brown. I told him about the situation at the front and the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces - air defense systems, artillery systems and shells. We separately focused on the issue of training Ukrainian military personnel and restoring units.
10:26 In the morning, the Russians struck the city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. According to preliminary information, one person was killed, 12 more were injured, two administrative buildings were partially destroyed, the State Emergency Service reported.
09:57 British intelligence calculated that long-range aviation aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces did not strike Ukraine for 21 days - since September 21. The last such break was from March 9 to April 28, 2023, that is, it lasted 51 days. Then, probably, long-range aviation has practically exhausted its reserves of ammunition after massive attacks in the winter, experts say. This time, in their opinion, Russian long-range aviation is stockpiling supplies in anticipation of further attacks on Ukraine in the winter.
09:35 Russia plans to produce 2.1 million ammunition in 2024, but it will not do this alone, said Vadim Skibitsky, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, in an interview with the UP. He also predicts that in the autumn-winter period the Russian Federation will again attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
According to intelligence information, Russia has resumed production of Kalibr and Kh-101 missiles and is trying to increase volumes, “but, according to our data, not everything is working out - the plans they set are not being fulfilled.” Skibitsky noted a decrease in the use of air-launched missiles. At the same time, Russia began to more actively use both cruise and ballistic missiles of the Iskander complex. A representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate said that Ukraine is trying to defeat critical elements of the Russian military-industrial complex. According to him, some productions are “unique in their own way.”
According to confirmed data, the Russian Federation has been using about 15 thousand ammunition per day since the beginning of October, Skibitsky said. Also, according to him, Russia is restoring the 104th Airborne Division, and the formation of new armies is also continuing.
09:24 Kherson OVA expanded the list of settlements for mandatory evacuation of families with children. It included Stanislav, Shirokaya Balka and Aleksandrovka, said the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin.
Over the past 24 hours, as a result of Russian shelling in the region, two people were killed and six were injured, including one child.
08:21 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of October 13:
personnel - about 285,920 (+1030) people,
tanks - 4931 (+26),
armored combat vehicles - 9313 (+49),
artillery systems - 6807 (+44),
MLRS - 811 (+0),
air defense systems - 546 (+1),
aircraft - 316 (+0),
helicopters - 316 (+0),
UAV of operational-tactical level - 5264 (+17),
cruise missiles - 1531 (+0),
ships/boats - 20 (+0),
submarines - 1 (+0),
automotive equipment and tank trucks - 9203 (+33),
special equipment - 967 (+1).
07:23 In the Avdeevsky direction, the Russian army does not abandon attempts to break through the Ukrainian defense, but to no avail, the General Staff reported in its morning report . The defense forces repelled more than 20 enemy attacks in the areas of the settlements of Avdeevka, Lastochkino, Tonenkoye, Pervomaiskoye, Nevelskoye in the Donetsk region.
In total, 64 military clashes took place at the front over the past 24 hours. In the Kupyansk direction, Ukrainian forces repelled enemy attacks in the area of Sinkovka and Ivanovka, Kharkov region; on Limansky - in the areas of Makeevka, southwest of Kremennaya and Serebryansky forestry of the Lugansk region; on Maryinsky - in the districts of Marinka, Pobeda and Novomikhailovka of the Donetsk region. In the Zaporozhye direction, the enemy unsuccessfully tried to restore the lost position in the Rabotino region of the Zaporozhye region. At the same time, the Defense Forces continue their offensive in the Melitopol and Bakhmut directions.
04:31 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports that Russian troops near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, are suffering heavy losses. In particular, georeferenced footage shows that the Russian army lost an amount of armored vehicles equal to a battalion of a tactical group. Between 10 and 12 October, Ukrainian forces near Avdiivka destroyed 33 Russian armored vehicles and 15 tanks.
Analysts note that as of October 12, Russian troops have not made any significant breakthroughs near Avdiivka and are unlikely to be able to immediately cut off Ukrainian forces in the city. ISW believes that the Russian information space is exaggerating the level of its successes on the Avdeevsky front.
01:58 Biden next week will release his request for additional funding, including funds for Ukraine and Israel, White House Speaker Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The battle for Avdeevka continues.
Russian occupiers in the Avdeevka area of the Donetsk region are losing more than 750 people a day for the third day and refuse to go into battle due to the scale of losses.
The Russians launched their biggest attack in recent times, trying to capture Avdeevka in the Donetsk region. So far the occupiers have failed to achieve a significant breakthrough. But in just a few days of fighting, they lost dozens of armored vehicles and thousands of soldiers.
FOUR DAYS OF FIGHTING
On October 13, in the Avdievka area, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled 10 attacks. The Ukrainian defense forces are holding their positions, said the head of the Avdievka city military administration, Vitaly Barabash. According to him, shooting battles and artillery duels continue, the Russians are massively shelling the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, trying to encircle Avdievka.
“As of the morning of October 10, this counteroffensive ended in a real disaster. In fact, at least two, possibly three huge Russian columns were detected (by UAVs) another 5,000-10,000 meters from the contact line. And the artillery hit them. The battle continued as they continued to advance in the same direction, and by the time they actually crossed the “starting positions” - and immediately ran into minefields and received even more doses of artillery fire - most of the mechanized forces were destroyed,” analyzes the battles near Avdievka, Austrian military analyst Tom Cooper.
THEY REFUSE TO GO INTO BATTLE
Russian losses near Avdeevka amount to more than 750 people per day. Russian troops refuse to go into battle due to the scale of losses, said Alexander Shtupun, spokesman for the Tavria Defense Forces, on the telethon.
“Hospitals in Donetsk and surrounding settlements are overcrowded. The occupiers began to refuse to go into battle, knowing the scale of the losses. For the third day in a row, their losses are increasing - more than 750 people every day,” he said.
Shtupun added that the invaders will sooner or later run out of steam, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces were waiting for this attack and were saving up their strength.
In total, 1,030 Russian occupiers were liquidated in Ukraine over the past 24 hours. In general, Russian losses since the beginning of the full-scale invasion amounted to 285,920 military personnel.
The question of the availability of reserves is now the only one that determines the further actions of the Russian army. But the main group for the assault on Avdeevka, with equipment pulled from everywhere, is so battered that new assaults urgently need reinforcements.
“And there is no doubt that the Ukrainian Armed Forces also have several surprises in store. The quick assault failed. The resistance of the defenders of Ukraine again multiplied the theory and plans of the Russian headquarters to zero. A long offensive requires great sacrifices. Refusal to assault is an admission of weakness,” notes military expert Kirill Sazonov.
The defenders repulse the attacks and continue the offensive operation in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Iryna Lysohor
In the Avdiiv direction, the enemy does not stop trying to break through the defense, but without success. Defenders of the past day repelled more than 20 enemy attacks in Avdiivka, Lastochkino, Pervomaiskyi, and Nevelskyi districts of Donetsk region.
At the same time, the Defense Forces continue the offensive operation in the Melitopol direction and offensive actions in the Bakhmut direction. The spokesman of the General Staff, Andriy Kovalev, announced this on the air of the telethon.
"In the direction of Bakhmut, our defenders are continuing their assault south of the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. They are inflicting losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment, and are entrenching themselves at the achieved boundaries," he said.
In Kupyansk, the defenders repelled five enemy attacks in the Sinkivka area and eight attacks near Ivanivka, Kharkiv region.
In the Lyman direction, the defenders continue to hold back the enemy's offensive in the Makiyivka region, southwest of Kreminnaya and Serebryansky forestry of the Luhansk region. The defenders repelled more than five enemy attacks.
During the day, the Defense Forces successfully repelled more than 10 enemy attacks in the Maryinka, Pobieda, and Novomykhailivka areas of the Donetsk region in the Maryinsk direction.
In the Zaporizhzhia direction, the Russians unsuccessfully tried to restore their lost position in the Robotyny region.
In total, 64 combat clashes took place during the day.
We will remind you that for a long time, the enemy has been trying to completely surround Avdiivka and take Maryinka under complete control. Defenders repel attacks. Yesterday, they repelled more than 10 enemy attacks in the Avdiyivka area and another 10 attacks east of Stepovoy, southeast of Severny and south of Pervomaisky.
Article linked to is available only via VPN
[EngMilRu] Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (7–13 October 2023)
In the period from 7 to 13 October 2023, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out eight group strikes by Iskander-M operational-tactical system and unmanned aerial vehicles.
The strikes hit one warehouse of missile, artillery weapons, and military equipment, production workshops of enterprises manufacturing weapons and military equipment, as well as accommodation points for Ukrainian servicemen, nationalists, and foreign mercenaries.
As a result of the strikes, storage facilities for U.S.-made Willard motor boats, one field artillery depot of Kherson combined force grouping of AFU, one hardware depot at the 'Dunaysudoservice' ship repair plant close to Ilichevsk (Odessa region), and a fuel and lubricants storage base at the Uman airfield (Cherkassy region).
In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery captured more favourable positions.
A total of 46 AFU attacks were repelled close to Ivanovka, Sinkovka (Kharkov region) and Makeevka (Lugansk People's Republic).
In addition, AFU 25th Airborne, 14th, 92nd Mechanised Brigades' manpower and hardware have been hit close to Sinkovka, Timkovka (Kharkov region) and Novoselovskoye (Lugansk People's Republic).
The enemy losses were more than 830 AFU servicemen killed and wounded, three tanks, four armoured fighting vehicles, 19 motor vehicles, and 17 artillery guns.
Two missile artillery ammunition depots of foreign mercenaries and the 1st Special Operations Brigade were destroyed near Volchansk and Ogurtsovo (Kharkov region).
In Krasny Liman direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces using 5th national guard, 63rd and 67th Mechanised Brigades made unsuccessful attempts to regain lost positions near Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic) and Yampolovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
As a result of competent action by units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, air strikes, artillery fire, and heavy flamethrowers, 22 enemy attacks were repelled.
The enemy losses were more than 895 servicemen, four tanks, 11 armoured fighting vehicles, 19 guns, as well as Czech-made Vampire MLRS.
In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces, in cooperation with aviation and artillery, repelled 17 attacks by Ukrainian Armed Forces near Vasilyevka and Vodyanoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
Over the week, the enemy has lost more than 1,580 servicemen killed and wounded, four tanks, 30 armoured fighting vehicles, 22 motor vehicles, 14 field artillery guns, as well as one Grad MLRS.
In addition, two AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups and five field ammunition depots were eliminated.
In South Donetsk direction, due to cohesive actions the Russian units have improved the situation along the front line and repelled eight AFU attacks. Three AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been disabled.
Over the week, the enemy has lost more than 1,285 militants killed and wounded, ten armoured fighting vehicles, 22 motor vehicles, 14 field artillery guns, as well as one 122mm BM-21 Grad MLRS.
In Zaporozhye direction, four attacks of assault groups of AFU 65th Mechanised, 71st Jaeger Brigades were repelled by intensive actions of the Russian units, air strikes, and artillery fire near Verbovoye and Rabotino (Zaporozhye region).
The enemy losses were more than 385 servicemen, three tanks, nine armoured fighting vehicles, 14 motor vehicles, and 14 field artillery guns.
In Kherson direction, the enemy units made unsuccessful attempts to capture bridgeheads on islands and the left bank of the Dnepr.
Over the week, more than 325 militants, nine field artillery guns, one 122mm BM-21 Grad MLRS, and 53 motor vehicles have been eliminated.
In addition, three ammunition depots and two sabotage and reconnaissance groups were eliminated on Alyoshkinsky and Pereyaslavskyi islands.
ighter Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down one Su-25 ground-attack aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force close to Preobrazhenka (Zaporozhye region).
Operational-tactical and Army Aviation, missile troops and artillery destroyed one Su-25 ground-attack aircraft at Dolgintsevo airfield (Dnepropetrovsk region), one Tochka-U missile system launcher near Peresechnoye (Kharkov region), S-300 SAM system close to Nikolayev, as well as two ST-68U radar stations for the detection, identification, and tracking of aerial targets near Malovarvarovka (Nikolayev region).
In addition, air-delivered ordnance depots were destroyed near Dubievka (Cherkassy region) and Priluki (Chernigov region), as well as fuel depots at airfields Ozernoye near Zhitomyr and Mirgorod (Poltava region).
The Black Sea Fleet's naval aircraft destroyed one AFU uncrewed surface vehicle in the Black Sea waters.
Air defence facilities have intercepted 19 HIMARS, Olkha, and Uragan projectiles, seven JDAM aerial guided bombs, 12 HARM anti-radiation missiles, as well as two Neptune anti-ship missiles. 218 AFU unmanned aerial vehicles were eliminated.
In total, 488 airplanes and 250 helicopters, 7,790 unmanned aerial vehicles, 441 air defence missile systems, 12,546 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,163 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,753 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 14,143 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 21:18 The Russian Ministry of Defense is dividedpersonnelthe work of the crews of Mi-28n attack helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the Kherson direction to destroy strongholds and armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 19:47 Personnel large-scale battle for Avdievka from RT military correspondent Andrei Filatov.
The enemy is desperately firing artillery fire, trying to hit the Russian tanks approaching the city. To no avail.
At sunset, the tank battalion of the 114th Brigade covers the passage of our infantry units. The tankers themselves are in the sights of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and every second they risk “receiving” a shell.
19:29 On October 13, the operational lines of the DPR JCCC received additional information about civilian casualties in the cities of the Donetsk People's Republic:
n.p. Gorlovka (Nikitovsky district): - on the street. Stoletova, 10, a man born in 1966 was wounded.
n.p. Stepnoe: - on the street. Molodezhnaya, 8, a woman born in 1954 was wounded.
Additional information has been received about damage as a result of artillery attack by the Air Force in the cities of the Republic:
Donetsk (Kirovsky district):
artillery attack at 14:15:
– st. Abakumova, 91 – direct hit in an apartment building;
– st. Abakumova, 85, 87, 91 – multi-apartment residential buildings;
– st. Prudovaya, 12 – apartment building;
– st. Biryuzova, 16 – multi-apartment residential building.
Power lines along the street were also damaged. Abakumov and st. Dzhankoyskaya, the streets are without power.
artillery attack at 14:20:
– st. Vozdushnaya, 9 – private residential building.
n.p. Gorlovka (Nikitovsky district):
artillery attack at 14:10:
– st. Gladkova, 30 – private residential building.
artillery attack at 16:20:
– st. Poletaeva, 72, 75 – private residential buildings.
artillery attack at 18:00:
Five transformer substations are de-energized, without power supply to 226 subscribers in the village of Shirokaya Balka.
18:25 Situationin the South Donetsk direction:
In the Vrem'evsky sector, over the past 24 hours the enemy has not even carried out measures to indicate activity north of Priyutnoye. The losses suffered in two months in the manpower of the defense battalions are having an impact and, probably, the punitive detachments have not yet found an approach to the “refuseniks” who have appeared in large numbers over the past time
On the section from Urozhainy to Novodonetsky the situation is also unchanged. Both sides are taking no action to move forward.
In the Ugledarsky sector, most of the artillery and aviation activity is still on the eastern flank - in the Novomikhailovka-Konstantinovka area.
17:20 Orekhovsky section situation as of 17.00 October 13, 2023
South of Orekhov, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are still trying to expand the zone of penetration into the defensive lines of the Russian Armed Forces. But now the pace of the offensive has slowed down for obvious reasons due to heavy losses.
Yesterday, an armored group of the 12th Tank Battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to attack the positions of the Russian Army in the landings northeast of Novoprokopovka, but to no avail.
The village of Rabotino, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces said was captured, is still in the gray zone. Its location is unfavorable for developing an attack, and all approaches are shot from the heights, so there are neither our troops nor the Ukrainian Armed Forces there.
To strengthen the group, a column of the 65th Mechanized Brigade was deployed from Novodanilovka. At the same time, during the movement, one infantry fighting vehicle of an unknown type was blown up by its own mine.
Some ordinariness of the battles on the site should not be misleading. Ukrainian formations are preparing for a new attack. Now their efforts are concentrated on counter-battery warfare. The Arthur, AN/TPQ-36 and -50 radars were pulled to the front line.
And at a short distance from the LBS, nine combined assault detachments with a total number of up to 300 people are formed from the 23rd and 65th Infantry Brigades, 128th Separate Brigade, 71st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Brigade and 15th NSU brigade.
And activation should be expected at approximately the same time as the Kherson direction, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to interrupt the logistics support of the front line. And the attack on the Rabotino-Verbovoe line, apparently, should be a distraction.
16:55 Soldiers of the 40th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade of the KTOF of the Russian Navy carried out a precise drop of ammunition from a copter to a ammunition base in enemy trenches in the South Donetsk direction -video.
15:35 Kherson direction situation as of 15.00 October 13, 2023
In the Kherson region the situation remains the same. Ukrainian formations are preparing for active operations on the left bank. The intensity of artillery attack is not decreasing, but only increasing.
And now, for the first time in a long time, artillery units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have begun to hit bridges and crossings, as happened last year during the attack on Kherson. Over the past 24 hours, the bridge to Novaya Kakhovka near the village of Tsukur came under attack, including from HIMARS.
Also, under fire cover, the transfer of sabotage groups to the island zone continues. The enemy's DRGs are setting up positions and trying to expand the zone of control.
In two days, Russian fighters destroyed four Ukrainian boats: one near Pereyaslavsky (Kazatsky) island, three after leaving Nikolskoye. Another boat went back.
At the same time, in the rear areas, the TRO assault groups and the naval infantry are coordinating. One of the battalions of the 121st TRO was sent to Republican, which may indicate possible attacks on the left bank in that area.
In addition, light motor boats are actively transported from Nikolaev to the vicinity of Kherson. They were tested on reservoirs in the Nikolaev region, and now they are being used to equip brigades of naval infantry.
14:27 According to the operational lines of the DPR JCCC for October 13, as of 14:00, additional information was received about civilian casualties in the cities of the Donetsk People's Republic:
n.p. Veseloye: - on the street. Embankment, 55, a man born in 1979 was wounded.
13:30 Military personnel of the Dnepr group of forces continue to destroy military installations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the right bank of the Kherson region.
On frames the destruction of warehouses with ammunition and fuel and lubricants, as well as the location of one of the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces brigade, in the area of ??the village. Berislav.
12:28 Statement of Head of the press center of the Center group:
In the Krasnolimansky direction in the area of the Torsky section and Serebryansky forest, coordinated actions of units of the Center group of troops, artillery fire, and attacks by assault and army aviation disrupted and repelled five attacks by assault groups 63, 67 Mechanized Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and 5 Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine.
The losses of Ukrainian troops in this direction amounted to about 40 military personnel. The Pickup car was destroyed. During the counter-battery fight, about 15 enemy artillery crews were exposed and suppressed. The crews of the TOS-1A Solntsepek heavy flamethrower system inflicted fire on three enemy strongholds.
Missile forces and artillery from groupings of troops struck a temporary deployment point of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the village of Zhelannoye, Donetsk People's Republic.
11:35 Consequences of artillery attack of the Petrovsky district of Donetsk by Ukrainian militants using cluster munitions. The school building was damaged as a result of the shelling.
11:27 Statement of Head of the press center of the “West” group:
In the Kupyansky direction, the crews of Su-34 fighter-bombers of the West group of forces carried out five air strikes on an ammunition depot and temporary deployment points of units of the 7th separate rifle battalion, the concentration area of the armored reserve of the 43rd Mechanized Brigade and the stronghold of the 113th Territorial Defense Brigade in the areas of Novolyubovka, Peschany and Petropavlovka.
In addition, crews of heavy flamethrower systems carried out three strikes on the accumulation of manpower in the shelters of the 32nd mechanized brigade in the Timkovka area.
During the counterbattery fight, the group’s artillery destroyed 122mm self-propelled artillery mounts 2S1 “Gvozdika” and “Crab”, a 155mm towed howitzer M-777 and four mortar crews in the areas of Novolubovka, Novosergeevka and Stepovaya Novoselovka.
The total enemy losses amounted to more than two companies of manpower, one tank, one UAV, one minibus, one pickup truck.
11:00 Situation on the Rabotino-Verbovoe section:
At night, the enemy actively launched artillery strikes on our positions. Russian artillery responded by hitting concentrations of Ukrainian Armed Forces infantry.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to storm the defense line of the Russian Armed Forces near Verbovoy. After the shelling, the enemy infantry launched an attack, but were scattered by small arms and artillery fire.
At Rabotino the enemy also continues to attack in small groups of infantry. Both our UAVs and the Ukrainian Armed Forces are constantly on duty in the air. Artillery is immediately called upon identified targets in forest plantations.
10:39 The criminal Kiev regime continues to fire at the civilian infrastructure of settlements on the left bank of the Kherson region, yesterday during the day the Ukrainian Armed Forces fired from cannon artillery:
-- n.p. Malaya Lepetikha 14 rounds;
-- n.p. Sergeevka 19 rounds;
-- n.p. Velikaya Lepetikha 12 rounds;
-- n.p. Knyaze-Grigorovka 28 rounds;
-- n.p. Alyosha 11 rounds;
-- n.p. Krynki nine rounds;
-- n.p. Kazachi Lagery six rounds;
-- n.p. Podstepnoe seven rounds;
-- n.p. Heroicheskii eight rounds.
As a result of artillery attack in the village. Heroic, one civilian received moderately severe shrapnel wounds.
During the night, the Kiev regime continued to shell civilian infrastructure in the village. Novaya Kakhovka, n.p. Kakhovka, n.p. Peschanivka, n.p. Sagi, n.p. The Dniepryans fired a total of 31 rounds from cannon artillery. Civilian casualties and destruction of infrastructure are being determined.
10:35 During the past 24 hours, the DPR representative office in the JCCC recorded 18 incidents of firing by the Ukrainian Federal Unitary Forces and fired 80 rounds of ammunition.
In the Donetsk direction, the enemy carried out six attacks from AGM-88 HARM and 155mm artillery.
On Gorlovsky - Seven artillery attacks from 152mm and 155mm artillery, incl. with a cassette warhead.
On Yasinovatsky - five attacks from MLRS, 155mm artillery. The enemy fired at Donetsk, Yasinovatsky district, Gorlovka, Golmovsky, Zaitsev.
Over the past 24 hours, information has been received about the death of two civilians in the Kirovsky district of Donetsk. Two people were injured of varying degrees of severity in the Kirovsky and Petrovsky districts of Donetsk.
Soldiers of the 1430th Motorized Rifle Regiment, while clearing a support area in forest plantations in the Rabotino-Novoprokopovka area, captured a Ukrainian Armed Forces infantry fighting vehicle.
The car was stuffed with duffel bags and sleeping bags, among which the military found a NATO machine gun and a Swedish Carl Gustaf grenade launcher.
10:15 According to the operational lines of the DPR JCCC for October 13, as of 10:00, information was received about civilian casualties in the cities of the Donetsk People's Republic:
n.p. Gorlovka (Central City district):
– a man born in 1963 was wounded on the Gorlovka-Donetsk highway.
Information has been received about damage as a result of artillery attack by the AFU in the cities of the Republic:
Donetsk (Petrovsky district):
– a direct hit on the MBOU “School No. 114 in Donetsk” on the street. Stakhanov.
10:10 Brief summary on the Avdeevsky direction from NGP exploration:
The night passed quite loudly. The artillery and aviation of the Russian army works almost non-stop. In the morning, activity continues, and offensive operations continue. There are heavy, bloody battles.
Yesterday, an enemy column on the march was destroyed. The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to draw up reserves.
So, last night the enemy again tried to carry out a charge in the area of Ozoryanovka (Kurdyumovsky district), rocket artillery and air defense were working. The attempt was unsuccessful, the enemy was thrown back to their original positions.
09:48 Statement of Head of the press center of the Vostok group:
In the South Donetsk direction, the forward units of the Vostok group of forces, with artillery support, thwarted four attempts to rotate units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Urozhainy and Staromayorsky areas. Cars containing nationalists were destroyed.
A reconnaissance group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces west of Novodonetsk was discovered and liquidated.
Artillery fire destroyed an ammunition depot in the Staromayorsky area. Loitering ammunition "Lancet" destroyed: the M-109 "Paladin" self-propelled artillery mount and the 122mm BM-21 "Grad" multiple launch rocket system in the Elizavetovka area, the 152mm D-20 artillery gun in the Novoukrainka area, the 152mm "Akatsia" self-propelled artillery mount in the Novoivanovka area. A UAV strike destroyed a mortar crew in the Staromayorsky area.
Aviation strikes and artillery fire hit the concentration areas of manpower and equipment of units of the 79th Air Assault Brigade in Novomikhailovka, including the communications center of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade in Konstantinovka, Vodian and Ugledar, the 128th Territorial Defense Brigade in the Staromayorsky area, 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade in the Urozhayny area.
09:45 Kharkov direction (area of Kupyansk settlement) 13.10, 09:20
Our aerial reconnaissance and mortar crews have been actively working since early morning, Front Bird reports.
Last night MLRS were used from both sides. Artillery is now working on identified positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
09:15 Lightning hit winged infantry: combat work of the crew of an anti-tank guided missile system.
A reconnaissance group of paratroopers discovered an observation post of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a forest area. A crew of the Fagot anti-tank missile system was sent to destroy it.
The crew arrived at a position where a camouflaged launcher was already located. The paratroopers brought it into combat position and launched an anti-tank guided missile at enemy equipment and enemy personnel.
08:17 Frontline summary on the morning of 10/13/2023:
In the Zaporozhye direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with artillery support, carried out offensive operations near Novoprokopovka. The Russian Armed Forces again counterattacked at Verbovoy. Ukrainian positions in the settlements of Novoandreevka, Rabotino, Novodanilovka and Malaya Tokmachka are under attack. Russian - in Kopany, Il'chenkovo, Novopokrovka, Novofedorovka and Novokarlovka.
In the Ugledarsky sector, the Russian Armed Forces carried out offensive operations from Novodonetsk in the direction of Zolotaya Niva. Russian troops also carried out a ground attack at Nikolskie Dachas south of Ugledar.
The Donetsk front is the most active. After the airstrikes, the Russian Armed Forces attacked the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Novomikhailovka area. We resumed the offensive at Pobeda. With the support of artillery and the VKS, they carried out assault operations in Marinka. Ground attacks near Pervomaisky, Severny (a settlement west of Avdeevka) and Stepnoy (not to be confused with the settlements of the same name in the Zaporozhye and Ugledar directions).
Under massive attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Konstantinovka (not to be confused with the settlement of the same name southwest of Bakhmut), Avdiivka, Lastochkina, Orlovka (the main logistics hub of the Ukrainian garrison in Avdievka passes through it) and Keramika. Ukrainian artillery worked against the Russian Armed Forces in Donetsk, Vodyanoy, Opytny, Yasinovataya, Vasil'yevka and the village of Krasnohorivka.
In the Bakhmut direction there is another counterattack by Russian troops near Andreevka, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to gain a foothold near the railway line. Russian artillery and aviation are hitting them. Their positions in Kleshcheevka, Stupochki, Chasovoy Yar, Minkovka, Vasyukovka, Sporny and Seversk are also under fire. Russian ones are in Ozaryanovka, Kurdyumovka, Bakhmut, Berkhovka and Dubovo-Vasilievka.
In the northernmost direction - Lugansk - it is also hot. From Kuzmin, with the support of artillery, the Russian Armed Forces attacked in the Serebryansky forest area towards Serebryanka. The goal is to break through to the Seversky Donets. Torsky has similar actions. Here the task of the Russian troops is to cut off the supply route of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the left bank of Oskol in this area.
The Russian Armed Forces also attack near Makeyevka and much further north near Ivanovka. After massive attacks they are trying to enter Sin'kovka. Here the goal is access to Kupyansk. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding their positions. The Russian Armed Forces attacked Ukrainian units in Belogorovka, Peschanoye and Petropavlovka.
08:15 At night, militants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fired 5 rockets from the MLRS at the Kuibyshev and Kyiv regions of Donetsk - representative office of the DPR JCCC.
08:10 Ukrainian militants, in violation of the very foundations of international humanitarian law, attacked a hospital in the Kirovsky district of Donetsk. Two people died, incl. medic and one wounded.
The territory of the State Budgetary Institution “City Hospital No. 25 of Donetsk” was struck by 155mm rounds. Western production.
An employee of a medical institution, a woman born in 1969, and a man, born in 1956, were killed; a woman, born in 1956, was injured.
08:07 Summary on the morning of October 13, 2023:
In the Avdeevsky direction, the Russian Armed Forces continue offensive operations. Heavy fighting is taking place near Berdychi and Stepovoy; from the waste heap occupied the day before on the northwestern outskirts of Avdeevka, reconnaissance and adjustment of artillery and aviation fire are being carried out on enemy positions in the city center. In the south of the Avdveevsky fortified area - battles near Opytny and the railway.
The situation is being clarified and the weak points of the enemy's defense are being identified. The Ukrainian Armed Forces blew up the bridge between Gorlovka and Yasinovataya, increasing the logistics leverage of the Russian Army. The enemy is transferring reserves to the Avdeevsky direction.
In the Kherson direction, our aviation is actively using FAB-1500 with UMPC against Nazi positions. The targets become accumulations of enemy manpower and equipment. At night, further attacks were reported.
On the Zaporozhye Front, the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not stop attacks on the Rabotino-Verbovoye line. Yesterday, near Verbovoy, an attempt by enemy infantry to break through was again thwarted.
The Russian Armed Forces are holding the defense south of Artemovsk: the Kleshcheevka-Andreevka section still remains one of the most difficult, and there are battles for positions near the railway.
In the Svatovo-Kremennaya direction, the Russian 25th Army, recently brought into battle, is conducting a creeping offensive. The lack of experience in such actions is reflected; characteristic errors in their organization also negatively affected the implementation of the senior commander’s plans. What an odd thing to admit in a military communique!
In the Bryansk region, Azarovka and Demyanki of the Starodub municipal district were shelled; on the outskirts of Bryansk, electronic warfare was suppressed by an aircraft-type UAV, which detonated when falling. In the Belgorod region, an enemy UAV was shot down in the Yakovlevsky urban district. In Donetsk, two civilians were killed and two were injured from Ukrainian Armed Forces fire.
08:01 The Ukrainian Armed Forces transferred reserve forces from the Artemovsk direction to strengthen the group in Avdievka. Advisor to the head of the DPR, Yan Gagin, told us about this.
He noted that this will not affect the hottest parts of the front.
“The action is reckless and almost useless. Dragging reserves from direction to direction will not lead to victories, but will only give rise to new losses of personnel,” Gagin added.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Tatiana Steshenko
[REGNUM] A stubborn man Savely Vashura saved his menagerie from war twice. He began creating it in the Greek village of Sartana in 2008. At first there were birds and small animals, such as monkeys, then larger animals were added, lions and tigers. By the start of hostilities in the Donbass in 2014, there was already a full-fledged zoo, and a year later the fighting near the village sharply escalated. Shells began to fall into the area where the animals were located.
In this situation, the owner could distribute the pets to different menagerie-circuses, and even go to a quiet place. But Vashura decides to expand and build a large zoo in the then relatively calm Mariupol.
In 2022, the Mariupol Zoo again found itself at the center of a war. Animals died under shelling, some were torn to pieces. Camels, ostriches, talking parrots, and a young leopard died. Some of the birds simply froze, because until the end of April the temperature was below zero, reaching 12 degrees below zero. However, Vashura refused to abandon his creation.
During the days of terrible urban battles in February and May, the menagerie also became a shelter for people. “Twenty-six people lived on my territory at that time, we provided shelter and fed them. We lived in a restaurant, without a bomb shelter - there was a fireplace, we lit it and escaped. Everyone was busy: some were preparing food, some were helping around the zoo, some were guarding. This is how we survived,” recalls the director, who had not yet fully realized that everything was behind us.
He again has a lot of plans and a bountiful offspring from his beloved pets. The Mariupol Zoo is the largest in Donbass and plans to develop further. But all this would not have happened if a year and a half ago people had succumbed to fear and betrayed the animals.
ANIMAL DAD
The massive Vashura, himself a bit like a bear, leans close to the huge brown animal in the cage, calls him “good Potapushka” and strokes him on the head. “Potapushka” happily opens her mouth in response (bears, it turns out, can smile too) and graciously accepts the affection, but I feel uneasy. It seems that he is about to wave his paw - and...
But for Savely Anatolyevich he is like his own son, raised in his arms, fed with semolina porridge. “Potap and Nastya bears bring me offspring every year in January. Potap ran after me like a child. Then I walked with the bears every day and swam together. Just like Amur tigers - they have been in the zoo since childhood. Now you don’t pay much attention: you come, hug, kiss - and that’s it,” says Vashura. All his animals are good, the main thing is to treat them kindly and never hit them. Assault is strictly prohibited here.
This sincerity and attachment to the beast is probably what kept people here during the most difficult times. The director's assistant, Natalya, who gave us the tour, is a restoration artist by previous profession. And when I saw how lovingly Savely Anatolyevich was hugging the little bear Gerda, she asked him to hold her in his arms and that’s it, she disappeared. Since then she has been working here, even enrolled as a zootechnician at a Kaluga university.
We walk along spacious enclosures and approach one of them, where two young lions live. “These are our “refuseniks,” Caesar and Odysseus. Born on November 3 last year, they will soon be one year old. The mother lioness, after stress in the first months, refused to feed them. And, by the way, you should have seen how Savely Anatolyevich got up all the first nights, how the responsible dad filled up the mixtures, washed the bottles, checked every time that everything was fresh,” Natalya recalls, smiling. She enters the cage, and the huge animals caress like kittens and offer their muzzles. It is unsafe to be in a cage with two predators at the same time, so the woman takes Odysseus to another cage and calmly strokes and hugs him there.
She also treats everyone like children: many had to be taken home and fed, nursed, and given IVs. “On the sofa” she grew up with leopards, lion cubs, and the bear cub Balu, the son of Potap and Nastya. In the new location, where everything was built from scratch, the economy of the Mariupol Zoo developed rapidly.
Some animals bred continuously (for example, Amur tigers gave birth two or three times a year), while the director bought others: for example, he went to Odessa to buy white tigers. The total number of animals and birds was never counted. But at the beginning of February 2022, there were more than forty lions and tigers, other felines, fifteen bears, ungulates, monkeys, and countless birds and small animals. Vashura could not take them and leave them to the mercy of fate.
ANIMALS IN THE MIDDLE OF WAR
“If I hadn’t been here, the zoo would have been taken away. War is war: looting and famine began in the city. But after all those events, it’s still hard for me to believe that you and I are sitting here, giving an interview... All the metal in the enclosures was damaged, there were fragments everywhere. Here we are sitting, next to each other, there was a direct hit, and two camels and two of their children died,” he says bitterly. It’s painful to remember: I brought them from Sartana, raised them, and then had to feed them meat from both animals and people. There was simply no other way out; we had to take care of the living.
It’s good that there was enough other food for two months, “it’s customary for us Greeks to live with a reserve.” The well on the property and the nearby river came in handy. Mariupol residents came here for water. In other places they were hit by snipers, but here it turned out to be relatively safe, perhaps because of the trees. Although when the employees were able to turn on two generators to pump water, it immediately “arrived.” Two cars burned down, and the small house that Vashura built so that he could spend the night at work was destroyed.
The battle for Azovstal, where the fiercest battles took place, is a separate page in the life of all the inhabitants of the zoo. “The plant is only four kilometers away. When they (Armed Forces of Ukraine servicemen in the Azovstal dungeons - editor's note) began to surrender and began throwing heavy shells at them, the mattress on my bed just bounced,” said Vashura.
Then the life of the Mariupol Zoo consisted of daily important concerns: it was necessary to feed and water the animals under intense shelling, and clean up after them. Therefore, the servants and their assistants chose a short period of time - around 7-9 o'clock in the morning, when there was not so much shooting - and at this time they looked after the pets. When the front line moved away from Mariupol, it turned out that the animals had not lost weight, but had even gained weight.
But those who died are still missing.
Natalya admits that when she walks past places where animals were, she always has the feeling that they are still there, alive. They are gradually being replaced by new ones. For example, a pair of adult camels were delivered from Kalmykia through the mediation of the DPR government. The destroyed enclosures are being restored with the help of our sister city, St. Petersburg. The governor of the Northern capital, Alexander Beglov, visited Mariupol, stopped by the zoo and gave instructions to provide the necessary assistance.
But so far the question of “how to live further” has not been generally resolved. The ticket price here is symbolic - only two hundred rubles, there are few visitors, and you need 300 kilos of meat per day. Vashura is thinking of taking aim at elephants and giraffes, returning the monkey nursery and opening a terrarium (a room has already been built for it). He believes this is important for everyone: “Schools and kindergartens can come to us, we have many disabled people. Of the half a million residents of Mariupol, more than 300 thousand people have returned, and the number of schools and kindergartens is growing. If Mariupol continues to develop like this, we can even become a million-plus city!”
And if so, we need a zoo so that children can see little tiger cubs, learn interesting things about the lives of different creatures, learn to take care of and love all living things. “I want the Mariupol Zoo to be the best not only in the Donbass. There is a lot of territory, about five hectares are now developed here, maybe we’ll add a little more, it will be enough for the animals. In the future, it may be necessary to build warehouses, if necessary. Now we need to make large, modern enclosures according to Russian standards. But here, if only the state helps,” says the director.
The main core on which he continues to rely is very simple - the desire to live and do what he loves. Then, in his opinion, it is possible to find a solution where there seems to be no way out. And turn even the most terrible nightmares of military life in Donbass for good.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] In the Khabarovsk Territory, two teenagers were detained suspected of undergoing training for the purpose of committing terrorist attacks. A Regnum news agency source in law enforcement agencies reported this on October 13.
According to the source, both teenagers, one of whom was 18 years old and the other 14, sympathized with terrorists from the Ukrainian “Azov”.
The 14-year-old was looking for instructions on how to work with explosives and prepare Molotov cocktails. According to investigators, he prepared incendiary devices and tested them in deserted places, and posted the results on social networks. A criminal case was opened against him under Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Completing training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities”), which provides for 15 to 20 years in prison.
Since October 2022, an 18-year-old young man has been administering groups and chats on social networks, promoting the ideology of terrorists, and searching for like-minded people. A case was opened against him under Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Public calls for terrorist activities”).
As Regnum reported, on October 10 , a teenager born in 2006 was detained in Krasnoyarsk for preparing an explosion in the market. The investigation established that the ninth-grader wanted to prepare a terrorist attack and, for this purpose, arranged training for himself on the territory of one of the local unfinished buildings. In particular, he learned to arrange explosions. The target, according to the source, was one of the markets.
A criminal case was opened under articles 205.3 and 205.6 (“Undertaking training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities” and “Failure to report a crime”). The teenager was placed under arrest.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
The tanks are T-90Ms, the Russian's most advanced tank with the anti drone hood.
[ColonelCassad] Atmospheric footage from military correspondent Filatov.
Attack of a tank company near Avdievka. Fierce fighting has been going on there for several days.
More from the Live Journal account of Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin, Colonel Cassad:
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Viktor Lavrinenko
[REGNUM] Latvia has canceled the identity cards of more than 3 thousand elderly Russian citizens living on its territory - Russian citizens. Thus, they are forced to leave the Republic of Latvia. So far, these people, brought to the brink of death, are surviving due to the support of well-wishers who organized food collection for them.
Latvians have long deeply resented that they were forced to accept so many Russian colonists, colonists who mostly made no effort to assimilate in what they should have considered their adoptive home.
What is happening fits perfectly into the concept of genocide,
...ethnic cleansing is not genocide, though it’s clear that this is today’s party line. Unless Russia is ready to call all the times the Soviet Union shipped entire populations to Siberia genocide, too...
but does not arouse interest among the leadership of the European Union: they seem to believe that Riga is acting in its own right and are not going to interfere in what is happening. At the same time, in Latvian schools of national minorities, which are being transferred to teaching in the Latvian language, a raid is being carried out on teachers who are still trying to teach in Russian. In other words, there is a shameless liquidation of the local Russian community, depriving it of the opportunity and means to reproduce.
"WE MUST LEAVE"
By now, a specific stratum has formed in Latvia: citizens of Russia, who, as a rule, are already at a very advanced age. These are natives and long-term residents of Latvia, to whom it refused its citizenship in 1991 and in return they took Russian citizenship. But last year, the previous composition of the Latvian parliament, before the end of its term of office, approved by a majority vote a law on depriving Russian citizens permanently residing in Latvia of residence permits.
These people were given a condition : if they want to renew their residence permits, they must pass an exam in the Latvian language by September 1, 2023.
Over two decades to learn the language? That’s generous.
Those certificates of knowledge of the Latvian language that Russian citizens living in Latvia received before 2003 were declared invalid.
If they’d already learnt it then, they ought not have any trouble passing it a second time.
A total of 13,147 Russian citizens registered to test their knowledge of Latvian, and 11,301 appeared for the exam. The exam - the written part - turned out to be very difficult: especially for pensioners who are accustomed to communicating in their narrow circle. Of those 39% who applied were able to pass the exam the first time, and over 6,500 people signed up to retake it.
At some point, the Latvian authorities realized that if they simultaneously deported all 20 thousand Russian citizens living in the state, this could leave a stain on the image of Latvia as a “advanced European democracy.” And in September, the Sejm supported the amendments to the immigration law prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which provide for the extension of language exams for Russian citizens by two years - for this period they will receive a temporary residence permit. However, the amendments apply only to those who have already “taken the initiative to take the exam” but have failed to complete it.
The threat of deportation loomed both over those who did not sign up to take the exam, knowing in advance that they would not pass it, and over those who were unable to do so due to old age's ailments.
In early October, the Latvian Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) sent letters to 3,255 Russian citizens living in Latvia saying that they “may have to leave the country.” These individuals had their identity cards revoked, and were deprived of their pensions and free medical care. According to the head of the OCMA , Maira Rose , in relation to 73 of these persons, it turned out that they were abroad, and about 200 more did not have a declared place of residence - and, perhaps, they themselves moved to Russia. But the rest may be forcibly evicted. Rose reminded that the two-year extension of the deadline for passing the state language exam and obtaining a permanent residence permit is only valid for those Russian citizens who have already tried to pass the exam. “Those who do nothing should leave,” said Mayra Rose.
THERE WILL BE MORE VICTIMS
Daugavpils resident Olga Petkevich, a journalist and social activist, who of her own free will took an almost unbearable load onto her fragile shoulders by organizing the collection of money and food for such elderly people who are facing deportation, talks about what the cancellation of the identity cards of elderly Russians has led to in practice.
“Leonid from Daugavpils will die in about a month - because, having canceled his residence permit in Latvia, the state denied him access to expensive and rare medicines on which his life depends. He devoted his life to the development of this state, his children live here, who also work for this country. But the state decided to “thank” him in such an inhumane way,” says Petkevich about one of the victims of the Latvian state.
Here's another example. “68-year-old Tatyana Matveeva, having learned from me that a canceled residence permit means no pension or social benefits for an indefinite period, said that she would freeze the sausage I brought her today: you never know, there will be nothing to eat at all... She was deprived of all rights and everyone income, were actually doomed to starvation and painful death. She sits and cries: “Why do I need all this? I worked and paid taxes! I just wanted to live peacefully in my old age...” I don’t have answers to these questions ,” says Olga Petkevich.
Tatyana did not pass the first exam, did not sign up for the second on time, and then fell and broke her hip. According to the majority of Seimas deputies, this helpless, lame pensioner is the main threat to the security of Latvia.
It is quite possible that the number of candidates for deportation will soon increase.
The coalition party “New Unity” reported that they had developed legislative amendments that would allow depriving Latvian citizenship of those who were convicted of “betrayal”. The criteria for this “betrayal” have not been defined, and there is no doubt that this concept will be interpreted extremely broadly.
As Andrejs Judins , chairman of the parliamentary commission on legal issues, explains , every ex-USSR citizen has the opportunity to become a citizen of Russia, that is, old people expelled from Latvia will not become people without a homeland. Yudins, who has been playing the role of a “good Russian” for several years now, is known for putting forward the most Russophobic initiatives related to an attack on the rights of Russians in Latvia.
GHETTO FOR RUSSIANS
Last year, Latvia passed a law according to which Russian children will be deprived of even the last remnants of teaching in their native language. Currently, in those schools in Latvia where children from families of national minorities study, mass testing of teachers is taking place: teachers are checked for perfect knowledge of the Latvian language. They try not to advertise this fact, but information about what is happening within the school walls still leaks to social networks and the press.
“In one of the Riga schools there is another state language test. Again they want to subject the same teachers to humiliating execution. But this time everything is worse than usual. If a teacher does not pass the test, he must be suspended for three months without pay. If during this time the teacher does not take courses at his own expense or does not pass a repeat exam, he faces being deprived of his “crust.” This automatically entails the loss of any job. In order not to take risks, teachers en masse write resignation letters before the exam , ” reports Riga blogger Alexey Gulenko .
There are other messages of this kind. “ Eighteen resignation letters. In the same school ,” says Latvian blogger Degi Karaev . He published an anonymous letter from one of the school teachers:
“Today I am with a Russian child, who has not yet spoken his native language, because he has problems, developmental features, I am obliged to speak and teach him in Latvian! Literally under the doors, the headmistress eavesdrops and sarcastically reprimands. <…> Directors and managers bypass the laws of common sense and revel in the opportunity to offend and humiliate.”
Even the editor-in-chief of the state Latvian agency Rus was outraged by the situation. LSM Ekaterina Safronova. “Basically, we either want to create a ghetto, or we just want to show that you guys don’t belong here. Where is the place? I don’t know,” Safronova said publicly. The famous Latvian journalist Inga Springe agreed with her words . “And she's right. Even if the nationalists don’t like it,” the journalist wrote in the comments under the video with Safronova. But both Safronova and Springe immediately began to be accused of spreading “Kremlin propaganda” and working for Moscow.
Safronova’s courage may be explained by the fact that she has nothing much to lose - the authorities have made a conceptual decision to liquidate all state media broadcasting in Russian in two years. However, the Russian population of Latvia is in no hurry to sympathize with the journalists of these media. The memories are still fresh of how, fearing to lose access to state feeding, they deliberately ignored, for example, the problem of eliminating Russian-language education in the country.
“I have repeated and will repeat: a country where there is no Russian education does not need Russian-language media. More precisely, such Russian-language media,” says Alexey Gulenko. In his opinion, further restrictions should be expected on social networks, where information can still be obtained. “The country has been moving in this direction for years. It’s just that now what has been going on for years is being resolved in a couple of days,” notes the Riga blogger.
#5
If we weren't talking about Latvians, I'd suggest accepting proficiency in one of the great languages of trade and diplomacy in lieu of Latvian. English. French. Maybe Mandarin, which Russians should be learning anyway. And of course Yiddish.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
During the day, the enemy conducted three shellings (18 explosions) in the Chernihiv region . Fired from mortars and artillery. In the village of Semenivsk community of Novgorod-Siverskyi district, four private houses burned after shelling. There were no victims, according to the summary from OVA as of this morning.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully repulse enemy attacks
