General Winter keeps Napoleon at bay — surely this is a good thing.
[Regnum] Abnormally cold weather down to -42 degrees is expected in the Sverdlovsk region, the press service of the regional main department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported on January 2.
“In the Sverdlovsk region, abnormally cold weather is expected with air temperatures down to -40, -42 at night and in the morning of January 2-4,” the message says.
Along with a sharp cold snap, frost is expected in a number of areas of the region, sleet on the roads in the form of snow, as well as snow drifts and blizzards.
As Regnum reported, on January 1, an orange level of weather danger was declared in Moscow and the Moscow region due to severe frosts. The warning will be in effect until the morning of January 5, the average daily temperature is expected to be 7–12 °C below the climate norm. In addition, until the morning of January 3, a yellow weather alert level is in effect in the capital region due to severe icy conditions on roads and sidewalks.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[LB] Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Kirovohrad regions came under fire.
There is damage in the Kyiv region as a result of a Russian missile attack. According to updated data, two people died, 11 were injured. The consequences are being clarified. In Kyiv, as a result of the attack, debris fell into residential buildings and objects of civil infrastructure in several districts of the capital. Data on the consequences and the victims are being clarified, according to the summary from OVA as of this morning.
"Shahed" was shot down in Kirovohradska after midnight. Previously - without destruction. Air defense also worked in the morning. Private homes were damaged by rocket fragments. Previously, there were no casualties. Data on the consequences are being clarified.
In Sumy, at night and in the morning, the Russians carried out seven shellings of border areas and settlements. 51 explosions were recorded. The communities of Bilopol, Yunakiv, Khotyn, and Esman came under fire. In advance - without consequences. Yesterday, during the day, the Russians carried out 12 shellings of border territories and settlements. 68 explosions were recorded. Khotinsk, Krasnopilsk, Velikopysarivsk, Esmansk communities came under fire. The Esman community was shelled by mortars and artillery, and a "Shaheed" type UAV hit a two-story multi-apartment residential building in Esman. As a result of the impact, two people died, one was injured, and the building was partially destroyed. As a result of the mortar shelling of Velika Pysarivka, one private house was destroyed and one was damaged, and a street gas pipe was damaged.
In Chernihivska, there were five shellings (10 explosions) per day. The enemy fired mortars and artillery in the Chernihiv, Novgorod-Siversky areas, dropping ammunition and drones was recorded. No information was received about losses among the local population or damage to civil infrastructure. The data is being verified.
In Luhansk, along Nevsky and Bilogorivka, the enemy took turns firing mortars and artillery. During the day, the enemy fired 142 rounds (539 shells).
In the Kharkiv morning, the occupiers struck four times in the central part of the city of Kharkiv, in particular in the Shevchenkiv district. The type of missiles is set. There are already data on more than 40 victims. One person died. Multi-apartment residential buildings, commercial buildings, other civil infrastructure were damaged, and cars caught fire. Information is being updated. Services will continue to examine the impact sites. About 20 settlements were hit by enemy artillery and mortar attacks yesterday, in particular: Kozacha Lopan, Vovchansk, Budarky, Synkivka, Petropavlivka, Ivanivka, Berestovka of Kupyan district. The enemy carried out airstrikes in the area of Mala Vovcha and Okhrimivka, Petropavlivka, Kucherivka, and Cherneshchyna. The defenders repelled seven enemy attacks near Sinkivka and Petropavlivka.
In Zaporizhzhia, the occupiers opened fire on 25 settlements; recorded 153 hits. The Rashists hit Novodarivka with an aerial projectile and attacked Gulyaipole, Mala Tokmachka, Robotyne, Malynivka, Poltavka, Novodarivka and Biloghirya with 27 drones. 125 artillery shells hit the territory of Orikhov, Zaliznychny, Novodanilivka, Shcherbaki, Charivny, Levadny, Preobrazhenka, Stepnohirsk, Pyatikhatok, Plavny, Lobkovy and other towns and villages on the line of fire. 16 reports were received about the destruction of residential buildings and infrastructure facilities. No casualties.
In Mykolaivska during the day, the forces and means of anti-aircraft defense destroyed three enemy UAVs Shahed-131/136. At night in Mykolaiv, during the combat work of the air defense forces to repel a drone attack, fragments of a downed UAV of the Shahed-131/136 type fell on a garage and caused a fire. The fire was promptly extinguished by the units of the State Emergency Service. There are no casualties. Yesterday and tonight, the enemy fired artillery at Ochakov. There are no casualties. The water area of Ochakivska hromada was also shelled yesterday. No casualties. Artillery strikes were recorded yesterday in Solonchaky of the Kutsurub community. There are no casualties.
In Dnipropetrovsk yesterday afternoon, seven kamikaze drones were directed by the enemy towards Nikopol region. Covered with artillery fire. I visited the district center and Myrivska hromada. During the day, the occupiers also attacked Kryvorizka district. The Zelenodol community was shelled. Damaged power lines were promptly repaired.
Air defense forces shot down a cruise missile in the Dnipro district in the evening. Around midnight, air defense was working in the region. PvK "East" destroyed six "shaheeds" - in the Dnipro, Synelnyk, Nikopol and Novomoskovsk districts. At night, the occupiers shelled Nikopol with heavy artillery. There are no dead or injured.
In the Donetsk region, the settlements of the past era were under fire: Avdiivka, Kurakhove, Toretsk, Chasiv Yar, Gostre, Zhelanne, Ocheretyne, Pivdenne, Berdychi, Halytsynivka, Dachenske, Klishchiivka, Krymske, Lysivka, Orlivka, Rai-Olexandrivka, Severne. 17 residential buildings (two of them multi-apartment buildings), the building of the agricultural company "Agrolend - S", the power line, and the premises of the dispensary were damaged. In one day in Donetsk region: three dead and three wounded.
In the Kherson region, the enemy fired 87 shells (466 shells) during the day, including two artillery shells (7 shells) on Kherson. The Rashists targeted the districts of 25 settlements of the region; a critical infrastructure facility in Kherson. The occupiers shelled Novokayrs of the Myliv community. A local resident born in 1953 was injured. He received a blast injury and a chest wound. The man was evacuated to the hospital in serious condition. The Russian army also shelled a residential building in Veletenskyi. Two people were under the rubble. A 73-year-old woman was fatally injured. Her body was retrieved by the emergency services workers from under the destroyed house. Another local resident, 50 years old, was rescued. She was hospitalized with leg and back injuries. The enemy attacked Komysany. A residential building was under fire. A 44-year-old woman was injured in her own home. She was diagnosed with a brain injury and contusion. The victim was taken to the hospital for treatment. A local resident was injured due to the Russian shelling of Tokarivka. The occupiers attacked the settlement around 3:30 p.m. A 69-year-old man who was in the yard of the house was injured. The victim was diagnosed with an explosive injury and a hand injury. After providing medical assistance, he will be treated on an outpatient basis. One person died and four were injured in the region during the day. One enemy air target was shot down: "Shahid" UAV.
At night and in the morning, the Russians fired 35 Shahed attack UAVs and 99 missiles over Ukraine. Air defense shot down all Shaheds, 10 out of 10 Daggers, three out of three Kalibrs and 59 X-type missiles.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:37 The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that two Tochka-U missiles and seven Vilkha MLRS missiles were allegedly shot down over the Belgorod region.
21:52 One of the Russian missiles that flew to Kiev today hit a village in the Voronezh region. This case is not the only one. Ukrainian experts admit that up to 20% of Russian missiles do not reach their targets. Read more in the article How many missiles fail to reach Ukraine .
21:05 In Kiev, the warhead of a Russian missile ended up in a hospital where military personnel are undergoing rehabilitation, the command of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. The debris got stuck in the floor of the first floor and did not explode. The warhead was neutralized by sappers.
20:56 In the attack on Kiev, the Russians used the X-101 missile, launched in the fourth quarter of 2023. Experts suggest that the long pause between massive attacks was due precisely to the fact that the Russians wanted to accumulate more missiles for large-scale attacks. Read about how Moscow is increasing weapons production despite Western sanctions in the article New Missiles .
19:24 Russia launched a missile strike on the territory of one of the enterprises in the Krivoy Rog district of the Dnepropetrovsk region, no people were injured, said the head of the OVA Sergei Lysak. In addition, during the day, the Russian army fired artillery and kamikaze drones at Nikopol, Krasnogrigoryevskaya, Pokrovskaya rural, and Marganetskaya communities. There are casualties and destruction. According to updated information, a total of 19 private houses, a transport enterprise and an energy facility were damaged.
18:39 Over the past five days, Russia has fired at least 500 missiles and drones into Ukraine, Zelensky said in a telephone conversation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The President thanked London for its “significant and diverse” contribution to Ukrainian air defense capabilities, in particular with radars, advanced anti-drone systems and missiles. The parties discussed the continuation of defense cooperation with an emphasis on further strengthening the air defense and long-range capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
18:27 They managed to return to Ukraine a guy whom the Russians took from Mariupol near Moscow in April 2022 as part of a group of 31 children. Then Alexander was 17 years old. The vast majority of children from the group were orphans or deprived of parental care, reports the Ministry of Reintegration. Alexander became the fifth from this group to be returned.
17:40 Russia will need four days to prepare for the next massive missile strike, says Yuri Ignat, speaker of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to him, the enemy programs the missiles in advance, plotting the desired route.
17:31 As of 17:00 in Ukraine, the total number of victims of the massive Russian attack increased to 127, five people were killed , the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports. Fire extinguishing continues at two addresses in the Podolsk district of Kyiv; in Kharkov, work continues to dismantle the emergency structures of a residential building.
16:48 In the Solomensky district of Kiev, as a result of a rocket attack, two people were killed and 49 were injured , KGVA reported.
16:33 The SBU reported that, “hot on the heels,” they established addresses and dismantled web cameras that broadcast the work of air defense and the locations of critical infrastructure in Kiev during the Russian air attack on January 2. Cameras were installed on residential buildings to monitor the local area. As a result of the hacker hack, the Russians gained remote access to control the cameras and collected data through them to prepare and adjust attacks on Kyiv.
15:57 Zaluzhny reported that air defense forces today shot down ten out of ten Russian Kinzhal missiles using the Patriot system. “This is a record. If the missiles had hit their targets, the consequences would have been catastrophic,” the commander-in-chief emphasized.
15:50 The Russians fired artillery at Nikopol, Dnepropetrovsk region, wounding two people, the prosecutor’s office reported. 16 private houses, three high-rise buildings, outbuildings, private and industrial enterprises, a kindergarten, a shopping pavilion, gas pipelines, and power lines were damaged.
15:46 Ukrainian air defense forces repelled the world's largest combined missile attack using hypersonic weapons. About the purpose of Russian missile strikes, as well as details about the consequences, with photos and videos, see the material War for Heaven .
15:19 In the morning, the Russians struck Kharkov with Iskanders, the National Police reported. According to updated data, as a result of the strike in the center of Kharkov, one person was killed and 52 were injured. Among the wounded were six children aged 6 to 13 years. At least three explosions were heard during the attack.
15:15 US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said that the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will independently decide on the range of strikes delivered using HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, which the American authorities plan to transfer to Ukraine in the near future.
14:36 The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that air defense systems allegedly destroyed eight more Ukrainian Vilkha MLRS missiles over the Belgorod region. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claims that as a result of the strike on Belgorod, one person was killed and five were injured.
13:59 Turkey has notified its allies that it will not allow minesweepers donated to Ukraine by Great Britain into its straits, the Erdogan administration said.
13:37 The number of victims as a result of a missile attack on the center of Kharkov has increased to 47 , 16 people were hospitalized, including two children, said the head of the OBA Oleg Sinegubov.
13:35 Today the Russians hit Kiev with an X-101 missile, fired in the fourth quarter of 2023, reports the specialized publication Defense Express.
13:32 In Vishneve, as a result of the morning attack, 11 apartment buildings were damaged by debris, the Kiev Regional Police Department reported. 16 people have already turned to doctors for help, including an eight-year-old child. Two people died in the region. 16 private houses, 11 apartment buildings, two schools, warehouses, a church, and a number of businesses were damaged.
13:24 Poland scrambled F-16 fighters into the sky during today’s massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine, the operational command of the country’s Air Force reported. “To ensure the safety of Polish airspace, two pairs of F-16 fighters and an allied air tanker were deployed,” the statement said.
12:58 In the morning, the Russians carried out two airstrikes with guided bombs on the city of Orekhov, Zaporozhye region, said the head of the OVA, Yuriy Malashko. As a result of the impact, a five-story apartment building was damaged and an entire entrance was destroyed. One person is injured.
12:50 In Kiev, two people have already died as a result of rocket debris hitting an apartment in the Solomensky district, the prosecutor’s office reported. The number of victims increased to 49 , 43 people were hospitalized, Klitschko said. Among those hospitalized is a two-year-old child.
12:46 The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that air defense systems allegedly destroyed nine Ukrainian Vilkha MLRS missiles over the Belgorod region.
12:37 The KGVA showed the consequences of a missile strike in the Solomensky district of Kiev:
11:58 In the Solomensky district of the capital, 43 people were injured, one died, Klitschko said. 37 people were hospitalized, six were treated by doctors on the spot.
11:29 According to preliminary data, during today's attack Russia used 99 missiles of various types, Zaluzhny said. Air defense destroyed 72 air targets:
- 10 out of 10 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles;
- 59 out of 70 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 cruise missiles;
- three of three Caliber cruise missiles.
The enemy attacked civilian and critical infrastructure, industrial and military facilities. The main direction of attack is Kyiv. In the first wave, they attacked with suicide bombers from the south-eastern direction, followed by movement through different regions of Ukraine. All 35 attack UAVs were destroyed.
In the morning, the enemy used strategic aviation: 16 Tu-95MS bombers launched at least 70 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 air-launched cruise missiles. Then the launches of ten Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles from MiG-31K fighters were recorded. The Russian Federation also attacked from the sea with three Caliber cruise missiles, and from the north with 12 missiles flying along a ballistic trajectory, such as Iskander-M/S-300/S-400. Four Kh-31P anti-radar missiles were used from Su-35 tactical aircraft.
11:08 The total number of people wounded as a result of today’s attack on Kiev and Kharkov is already 92 people, four people died, Zelensky said. According to him, since December 31, the Russians have already used about 170 suicide bombers and dozens of missiles of various types. The vast majority of them were directed at civilian targets.
11:02 As a result of the morning strike on Kharkov, one person was killed, 44 were injured, among them five children from six to 13 years old, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA.
10:50 Air Force Commander Nikolai Oleshchuk said that today the enemy actually repeated the attack on December 29, both in type and number of missiles.
10:41 Today’s attack on Kiev lasted about six hours in total, said the head of the KGVA Sergei Popko. First, the enemy launched about 15 Shahed drones onto the capital, and after them, more than 15 Tu-95MS strategic bombers launched X-101/X555X-55 cruise missiles in groups and waves. Simultaneously with the missiles landing on Kyiv, more than ten Mig-31K aircraft launched Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles at the capital. Air defense forces destroyed all UAVs, more than 60 Kh-101/Kh555Kh-55 missiles and about ten Daggers.
10:34 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that this morning, during a flight of an Aerospace Forces aircraft over the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh region, “an abnormal discharge of aircraft ammunition occurred.” There were no injuries, six private buildings were damaged.
10:30 As a result of a massive missile attack, there is damage to the networks of Ukrenergo and oblenergo in Kiev and the region. More than 250 thousand consumers were de-energized, the data is being clarified, Ukrenergo reported. The company emphasized that all power outages are related to military operations, and the use of outage schedules is not planned. Restoration work will begin immediately after assessment of the extent of damage by repair teams of Ukrenergo and oblenergo.
10:26 In the Kiev region, as a result of today’s attack, two people were killed, 11 were injured, among them one child, said the head of the OBA Ruslan Kravchenko. Five apartment buildings were damaged due to falling debris in Vishneve. Private houses and more than 60 cars were damaged in the communities. There was a fire in an unfinished church, several businesses, warehouses and one of the regional medical institutions were damaged. In a number of communities in Brovary, Buchansky, Fastovsky, and Vyshgorod districts, problems also arose with energy supply.
10:13 In Kiev, one of the victims from a house in the Solomensky district died in an ambulance, 27 people were hospitalized , Klitschko said. Interior Minister Igor Klimenko showed a video of a destroyed house.
09:37 There are already 20 victims in a house in the Solomensky district of Kiev , said Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko. Rescuers released 17 people, and another 117 residents were taken out of the house. There is a fire and heavy smoke in the house. In the Podolsk region, water supply lines were damaged and at least six cars were on fire.
09:32 In Kharkov, 41 people have already been injured as a result of the morning missile strike, one person has died , said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OBA.
09:05 In Kiev, there are already 13 victims in a multi-storey building in the Solomensky district. In the Podolsk region, a fire broke out in a warehouse building covering an area of 2,000 square meters. m, said Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.
08:54 In Kharkov, as a result of a morning rocket attack, one person was killed and more than 20 were injured , said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OBA. Russia launched strikes on the central part of the city, in particular in the Shevchenko district. Multi-apartment residential buildings, outbuildings, and civil infrastructure were damaged.
08:52 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of January 2:
personnel - about 360,820 (+810) people,
tanks - 5990 (+7),
armored combat vehicles - 11,100 (+13),
artillery systems - 8531 (+49),
MLRS - 945 (+2),
air defense systems - 626 (+1),
aircraft - 329 (+0),
helicopters - 324 (+0),
UAV of operational-tactical level - 6710 (+53),
cruise missiles - 1710 (+1),
ships/boats - 23 (+0),
submarines - 1 (+0),
automotive equipment and tank trucks - 11,365 (+35),
special equipment - 1284 (+7).
08:46 Over the past 24 hours, 64 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report . In the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled four enemy attacks near Novobakhmutovka, Stepnoy, Avdeevka and another 19 attacks in the Pervomaisky and Nevelsky districts of the Donetsk region. In the Kherson direction, where Ukrainian forces continue to expand the bridgehead, the enemy carried out 19 unsuccessful assault operations.
In the Kupyansk direction, Ukrainian forces repelled seven attacks near Sinkovka and east of Petropavlovka, Kharkov region; on Bakhmutskoye - ten attacks in the Bogdanovka, Kleshcheevka and Andreevka districts of the Donetsk region; in Zaporozhye - three attacks near Rabotino, Zaporozhye region.
08:38 In Kiev, in a multi-storey building in the Solomensky district, where a fire started after a rocket attack, there are already ten casualties, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said. In the Podolsk region there were fires in several places, in Svyatoshinsky there was a fire in a social infrastructure building, in Pechersky there was a fire in the roof of a high-rise building, in Obolonsky there was a fire in a warehouse, in Desnyansky there was a fire in a supermarket building.
08:31 The Russians launched at least four strikes on Kharkov, including the central part of the city, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA. There is damage to apartment buildings and fires have broken out. At this moment, six victims are known.
08:23 In Kiev, due to the attack, there is temporarily no light in some houses in the Shevchenkivskyi, Svyatoshinsky, Goloseevsky and Obolonsky districts, DTEK reported. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said that three people were injured in one of the houses in the Solomensky district.
08:12 Russia attacks Kiev all night and morning - first with attack drones, then with missiles. According to the KGVA, debris fell in several areas of the capital; there was no information about casualties. The mayor's office clarified that some of the facilities and residential buildings in several districts of the capital are without power, and in some areas there is a temporary lack of pressure in the water supply network. According to preliminary data, in the Podolsk region there was a hit on the territory of a civilian infrastructure facility. A gas pipe was also damaged in the Podolsk region.
06:27 Air defense at night destroyed 35 out of 35 attack UAVs of the Shahed-136/131 type , which Russia attacked from Cape Chauda and the Primorsko-Akhtarsk area, the Air Force command reported.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] In Lvov, the museum of Roman Shukhevych, the main commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, burned to the ground due to a Russian attack; the damage was estimated at more than 2 million hryvnia.
Russia continues to fight not only with peaceful Ukrainian cities, but also with museums. On New Year's Eve in Lviv, debris from a Russian drone fell on the museum of Roman Shukhevych, the main commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Shukhevych's memorial items were lost: a table, armchairs, a piano, a bust of Shukhevych and a sculpture of Stepan Bandera.
LEGENDARY HOUSE
The house-museum housed the last headquarters of the main commander of the UPA. There were five thematic rooms on the ground floor. The second floor reproduced the life of Shukhevych during his stay in this underground apartment (spring 1948–1950).
An important historical object of the house was a cache located at the entrance to the attic, in fact, a partition that separated the attic from the room with a double plank wall. The entrance to the hiding place was from the landing. It was possible to get into it from a separate entrance. It was this entrance that Roman Shukhevych used, who entered into the last battle with MGB units on March 5, 1950. The staircase was kept unchanged. The interior of the hiding place and the entrance to it have been restored, preserving all the proportions and originality of the building.
Actually, the house itself was the most valuable monument, but now it is gone.
“The most valuable monument is a destroyed house. Most of the main fund was taken from the museum at the beginning of the war, and it survived. There were some things in the museum that were oversized,” said Pyotr Slobodyan, deputy director of the Lviv Historical Museum, of which the Shukhevych Museum is a department .
HISTORICAL EVENTS
On March 5, 1950, people from the USSR Ministry of State Security cordoned off this very house in Belogoroshche, which at that time was still a village near Lvov.
More than 700 soldiers of the internal troops were involved in Operation Wolf (as the general-cornet was called in KGB documents). Trying to break out of encirclement, Shukhevych killed a Soviet major. After that, he was shot through with machine gun fire. The commander's liaison Galina Didik tried to take poison, but she was rescued and sentenced to 25 years in the camps.
In the report to the Minister of State Security of the USSR, Shukhevych’s last battle looked like this: “Having entered the house, our group began an operation, during which Shukhevych was asked to surrender. In response to this, Shukhevych offered armed resistance, opened fire from a machine gun, with which he killed Major Revenko, the head of the department Directorate of the 2-N MGB of the Ukrainian SSR - and, despite the measures taken to capture him alive, he was killed during a shootout."
The liquidation of one of the leaders of the nationalist underground was preceded by a search operation that lasted almost 6 years.
SYMBOLIC BLOW
The destruction of the Roman Shukhevych Museum on Stepan Bandera’s birthday is considered by many to be an attempt at a “symbolic murder of national memory,” the history and memory of Ukraine.
The mayor of Lvov, Andrey Sadovy, believes that “after the victory” the museum will be restored and it will become larger.
“There will definitely be a part dedicated to our struggle today. The victorious struggle for independence, of which Shukhevych, Bandera, Konovalets, thousands and millions of Ukrainians are a part,” Sadovyi is convinced.
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[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation delivered a group strike with high-precision long-range weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles on enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine that carried out orders for the production of missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and repair of weapons and military hardware in Kiev and its suburbs, as well as storage sites for missiles, ammunition, and aircraft weapons supplied to the Kiev regime by Western countries. The purpose of the strike has been achieved. All the targets have been engaged.
In Kupyansk direction, the Zapad Group of Forces, ground-attack aircraft, helicopters, and artillery repelled six attacks launched by the assault groups of the 21st, 60th, 115th Mechanised, and 95th Air Assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Sinkovka and Terny (Kharkov region).
The units of the 4th tank, 14th, 44th Mechanised brigades and the 103rd Territorial Defence Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were hit close to Petropavlovka, Vishnyovoye, and Peschanoye (Khar'kov region).
As a result, over 115 troops, three tanks, nine motor vehicles, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, and one 122mm D-30 howitzer were neutralised.
In Krasny Liman direction, the Tsentr Group of Forces supported by artillery and aviation inflicted fire damage on clusters of manpower and military hardware of the 63rd Mechanised Brigade, 5th National Guard Brigade, 100th and 125th Territorial Defenсe Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic), Torskoye (Donetsk People's Republic), as well as Serebryansky forestry.
The enemy's losses amounted to 90 troops, one tank, one infantry fighting vehicle, 12 motor vehicles, as well as one 122mm D-30 howitzer.
In Donetsk direction, the coordinated actions of the Yug Group of Forces, strikes of Operational-Tactical Aviation, and artillery fire repelled the enemy's attack close to Artyomovskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
Units of the 42nd mechanised, 46th Airmobile, 80th Air Assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the 112th Territorial Defence Brigade were hit close to Andreyevka, Bogdanovka, Georgiyevka, Kurdyumovka, and Kleshcheyevka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The total enemy losses amounted to 300 troops killed and wounded, three tanks, one infantry fighting vehicle, three pick-up trucks, and 19 motor vehicles.
In addition, during the counter-battery warfare, the Russian troops struck one U.S.-made M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery gun, one 52mm 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer, two 152mm Giatsint-B howitzers, one 152mm D-20 gun, one 122mm D-30 howitzer, one U.S.-made M119 towed howitzer, and one 100mm Rapira antitank artillery gun.
Ammunition depots of the 27th Rocket Artillery and 47th Mechanised brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were obliterated close to Lysovka and Zhelannoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
In South-Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces, supported by air strikes and artillery fire, struck the manpower and military hardware of the 79th Air Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the 128th Territorial Defence Brigade close to Novomikhailovka and Staromayorskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
The daily losses of the enemy in this direction amounted to 140 troops, three motor vehicles.
During the counter-battery warfare, the Russian troops hit two U.S.-made M777 artillery systems, three self-propelled artillery systems (two U.S.-made M109 Paladin, and one Polish-made Krab), one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, and one D-20 gun.
In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian Group of Forces repelled one attack launched by assault groups of the 117th Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine north of Novoprokopovka (Zaporozhye region), and also inflicted fire damage on the 33rd, 65th Mechanised, 82nd Air Assault, and 128th Mountain Assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Verbovoye and Rabotino (Zaporozhye region).
The enemy's losses amounted to more than 50 troops, two armored fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, two D-30 howitzers, and one D-20 howitzer.
In Kherson direction, as a result of coordinated actions of the Dnepr Group of Forces and systematic fire exposure, up to 20 troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, three motor vehicles, as well as one D-30 howitzer were neutralised during the day.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have hit 112 AFU artillery units at their firing positions, enemy manpower and hardware in 137 areas.
Russia's air defence systems have intercepted 11 HIMARS and Olkha MLRS projectiles during the day.
Moreover, 34 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down close to Pologi, Gulyai Pole, Basan (Zaporozhye region), Lisichansk, Kremennaya, Svatovo (Lugansk People's Republic), Vodyanoye and Panteleymonovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
In total, 565 airplanes and 263 helicopters, 10,352 unmanned aerial vehicles, 445 air defence missile systems, 14,434 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,194 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 7,611 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 16,976 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the DPR Representative Office in the JCCC from 00:00 01/02/2023 to 00:00 01/03/2024
Over the past 24 hours, the Representation has recorded 51 incidents of firing from the AFU.
There were no reports of civilian casualties.
No damage to residential buildings and civil infrastructure was recorded.
The areas of four settlements of the Republic were under enemy fire: Gorlovka (Nikitovsky district), Yasinovatsky district, the capital city of Donetsk (Kuibyshevsky, Petrovsky districts), Makeevka (Chervonogvardeysky district).
In the Donetsk direction, the enemy carried out 29 attacks from 155mm artillery, incl. with a cassette warhead.
At Gorlivske there were 21 artillery attack s from 152mm and 155mm artillery.
On Yasinovatsky there was one artillery attack from 155mm artillery.
A total of 160 units of various ammunition were fired.
In the previous day, 58 artillery attack s were recorded from the Ukrainian Federal Unitary Forces.
22:11 Front birdie broadcasts: Sumy region 02.01 22:00
Repeated explosions in the area.
Our kamikaze UAV “Geranium” worked again.
Due to the short approach time, the enemy does not have time to come to his senses and recognize the air target.
20:48 Captured soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: Everyone who is standing is sent to “zero” -video.
20:02 Urgent information from Artyomovsky direction.
At these moments, a repeated attack on our positions in the Khromov (Artemovsky) area continues. A powerful battle is underway, the enemy will use a large number of armored vehicles and manpower. The enemy is trying to break into the village.
At the moment, our army is fighting back. Our artillery, MLRS and aviation are working. The attack is very serious.
The enemy suffers significant losses
19:21 Front birdie broadcasts: Avdeevskoe direction 02.01 19:00
I would like to note that the advance of our troops continues every day.
Our tanks and armored personnel carriers move under the cover of front-line aviation and combat helicopters.
Today the Bukovel radar station and the enemy command post were hit.
18:42 Kuibyshevsky district of Donetsk – artillery attack continues. At risk are Azotny, Gornyak, Grabari, Lozovskoy, 10-bis and the surrounding area. Don't leave shelters!
The work of enemy air defense, including small arms, is reported.
Local publics are at a loss.
The rumble was heard in the southern part of the region near the port.
Arrival information is being updated.
17:05 Front bird broadcasts: Kharkov direction (n. Kupyansk area) 02.01 16:45
It is reported that the enemy attempted reconnaissance in force from the northwestern direction.
The enemy DRG was promptly identified and destroyed.
The BTR82 performed excellently with 30mm. guns on enemy concentrations.
16:10 Around 14.30 Moscow timesuppressedanother attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack on targets on the territory of the Russian Federation using missiles from the Vilkha multiple launch rocket system.
Eight missiles were destroyed over the Belgorod region by air defense systems on duty.
15:25 Front bird broadcasts: KYIV. Kyiv REGION 02.01 14:00
Our 9-A-7660 Kinzhal ballistic missiles successfully hit a number of military and industrial facilities in Kyiv and the region.
In particular, a warehouse of military equipment and military enterprises of the Armed Forces were hit.
However, the enemy, as always, reports a 99% percentage of missiles being shot down.
13:12 Russian Ministry of Defense transmits Statement from the head of the Vostok group’s press center:
Units of the Vostok group of troops continue to carry out combat missions in the South Donetsk direction.
Bomber aircraft and artillery strikes hit temporary deployment points, strongholds and areas of concentration of manpower and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Novomikhailovka, Priyutnoye and Urozhaynoye areas. A reconnaissance group was destroyed in the Novomikhailovka area.
The enemy's total losses were: three armored combat vehicles, three automobiles and up to 110 military personnel killed and wounded
.
12:13 Russian Ministry of Defense transmits Statement from the head of the press center of the "South" group:
In the Donetsk direction, units of the “Southern” group of forces, through coordinated actions in cooperation with operational-tactical aviation and artillery, defeated enemy manpower and equipment in the areas of Belogorovka, Kleshcheevka and Andreevka.
As a result, more than 260 military personnel, two infantry fighting vehicles, four pickup trucks, three Polish-made 155mm Krab self-propelled artillery mounts, and an AN/TPQ-37 counter-battery radar were destroyed.
11:11 Front bird broadcasts: Attack of the Geraniums 10:50 02.01
As a result of yesterday's attack by the Geranium UAV, several command posts and an operational control center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Zaporozhye and Nikolaev regions were hit.
09:58 Maximum damage to enemy: combat Job 15mm Self-propelled gun "Msta-S" of the group of forces "West"
Kupyansk direction
Artillery units of the “West” group of forces carry out precise strikes around the clock on exposed military targets, positions, fortifications, armored vehicles and manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
As soon as the artillerymen are given the coordinates of the target, the soldiers immediately take their places, go to firing positions, aim and shoot. This is how they work every day.
Being at a considerable distance from enemy positions, the 152mm Msta-S inflicts maximum damage even on the concrete fortifications of Ukrainian troops.
09:19 Front bird broadcasts: Zaporozhye direction. Verbovoe. 02.01 08:35
This morning began with aerial reconnaissance and the work of our cannon artillery.
The fighters also found several Ukrainian Armed Forces pickup trucks near the forest belt.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Kamran Hasanov
[REGNUM] The past year turned out to be sensational for the South Caucasus. It would seem that after the 44-day Karabakh war in 2020 there was nothing to surprise. Until September, few people believed that after the deployment of Russian peacekeepers to Karabakh, the status quo could change.
However, Ilham Aliyev managed to surprise not only his neighbors, but the whole world.
AZERBAIJAN: PLUS KARABAKH, MINUS MULTI-VECTOR
The Azerbaijani leader finally decided to send troops into Karabakh and took full control of it.
Not only Baku, but also Yerevan surprised with its behavior. Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan did not enter into an armed conflict. Moreover, the authorities of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced self-liquidation.
There are very few examples in modern history of a country that lost its territory regaining it 30 years later. The only one that comes to mind is Sinai, taken by Israel from Egypt after the Six-Day War and returned in 1979 in exchange for Egyptian recognition of the Jewish state.
Part of Baku's success can be attributed to the determination of its leader, but geopolitical alignments played a significant role in it. Nikol Pashinyan’s administration has done everything to alienate Russia as far as possible.
The loudest anti-Russian steps of Yerevan took place precisely this year. The Prime Minister's wife Anna Hakobyan's trip to Kiev with promises to provide humanitarian assistance. Signing of the Rome Statute and joining the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. And finally, Armenian-American military exercises.
Such steps by a CSTO ally forced the Russian Foreign Ministry to hand over a note of protest to the Armenian ambassador for the first time in the history of relations. The sequence of the two events listed above should not cause surprise - first a note of protest, then Azerbaijan’s operation in Karabakh.
Victory was not easy for Aliyev. If previously Azerbaijan traditionally boasted of the multi-vector nature of its foreign policy, it has lost one vector. The United States, through its Deputy Secretary of State James O'Brien, made it clear that Washington is ending high-level contacts with Azerbaijan and suspending aid until it sees progress in negotiations with Armenia.
After Aliyev’s harsh reaction, the State Department backed down and sent that same O’Brien to Baku to normalize relations. But the Azerbaijani side still holds a grudge against America and is not going to hold peace negotiations with their Armenian colleagues in Washington.
THE EU REMAINS ON THE SIDELINES
Some European countries are equally, or perhaps more, unhappy about geopolitical changes in the South Caucasus. Especially France. During the presidential race, a number of French politicians, such as Valérie Pecres, visited both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
In 2023, the mayor of Paris wanted to visit Karabakh at the head of a humanitarian aid convoy, but could not, since Azerbaijan had already taken control of the Lachin road.
France and Azerbaijan exchanged formal accusations, and the process culminated in the declaration of two employees of the French embassy in Baku as persona non grata.
The USA and France are no longer mediators for Aliyev. This is a blow to the prestige and influence of the entire NATO and partly the European Union in the region.
Since 2021, the European Union has seized the initiative in the Karabakh issue from Russia, Aliyev and Pashinyan periodically met in Brussels and discussed peace terms. But the deepening crisis in Azerbaijani-French relations and its emergence in Azerbaijani-American relations creates a window of opportunity for Moscow.
The “3+3” platform promoted by Russia has reached a new level. In November, a meeting was held with the participation of the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
At the end of the year, Putin gathered the leaders of the CIS countries in St. Petersburg and created the opportunity for a one-on-one meeting between Aliyev and Pashinyan.
Unlike the United States and the EU, which are trying to conduct negotiations exclusively on Euro-Atlantic platforms, Moscow advocates a regional solution to regional problems.
This approach pleases Iran, which fears isolation, and suits anti-Western Turkey and Azerbaijan, which is becoming one.
Pashinyan feels more comfortable in Brussels and Paris, but cannot negotiate with himself.
GEORGIA KEEPS TO ITSELF
Meetings in the 3+3 format are still ignored by Georgia, although it has normal relations with all other participants. The problem rests on formalities - the existence of territorial claims to South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
At the same time, Tbilisi manages to sail between Scylla and Charybdis. The government of Irakli Garibashvili took a bold step by not joining the anti-Russian sanctions. Georgia resumed flights with Russia; in response, Russia canceled visas for Georgian citizens.
From this point of view, it can be stated that Russian positions in Georgia have strengthened.
At the same time, Tbilisi does not abandon its course towards European integration, even receiving slaps in the face from its Western partners.
At every opportunity, as with the adoption of the law on foreign agents in March, demonstrations of thousands take to the streets of Tbilisi.
The EU constantly reminds Garibashvili about human rights and the release of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.
Georgian authorities are demanding clarification about US Agency for International Development (USAID) funding of unrest in the country, but it is extremely difficult to resist pressure from the US, NATO and the EU. Since you yourself have hooked yourself on the European bait, you have to reckon with the demands of Brussels.
Last year, Tbilisi was upset that Georgia was not given EU candidate status. This year, Brussels corrected itself and granted the desired status.
But the price is still the same - during a visit to the Georgian capital, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, explained that the EU expects anti-Russian steps from Georgia, condemnation of the “war in Ukraine” and joining the sanctions.
RUSSIA IS STRENGTHENING ITS POSITION
Is it possible to observe the formation of some kind of sustainable trend, taking into account all the above events in the South Caucasus? On the one hand, no. The struggle for the region has been and continues to be, and there are no winners yet.
The loser of the Second Karabakh War, squeezed out by Russia and Turkey, managed to take revenge, strengthening itself in Armenia and dragging the blanket of Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations to Brussels.
Even if Washington and Paris are dissatisfied with something, neither Aliyev, nor even more so Pashinyan, refused to participate in European platforms. Aliyev recently opened an interconnector from Bulgaria to Serbia, through which Azerbaijani gas will flow. European authorities welcome the diversification of gas supplies and the reduction of Russia's role in providing Europe with energy resources.
Moscow increased its chances of mediation by holding the first meeting between Aliyev and Pashinyan after the September conflict. But to maintain this advantage, you need to increase your efforts.
As for Georgia, here the initiative also remained with Russia. The European Union gave candidate status to Tbilisi not for progress in reforms, but despite its pragmatic course towards Moscow.
A further tightening of Brussels’ positions over Ukraine and sanctions could lead to the loss of EU-oriented Georgia.
At the same time, the status of a candidate country may turn out to be a trap for Garibashvili. And Brussels will have more political and legal grounds to shake the authorities and strengthen the opposition.
In the future, extra-regional processes will continue to influence the South Caucasus. The main events, as before, are unfolding in Ukraine. And here the initiative belongs to Russia.
While the US and EU were thinking about how to help Israel clear out the Augean stables in Gaza and where to find money for financing and ammunition for Kyiv, Russia confidently went on the offensive and took Mar,inka.
If American President Joe Biden is greeted in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries with hidden hatred, then Putin is greeted with fireworks and parades.
In a word, the stronger Russia is on other fronts, the easier it will be for it to push its agenda in the South Caucasus.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Oleg Krivoshapov AC/DC: "You shook me all night long"
The air raid siren, warning of the approach of missiles and drones of the Russian Armed Forces, sounded on January 2 throughout almost the entire territory of Ukraine from the very early morning for several hours.
At 05:52 Moscow time, the alarm began in the Kharkov and Vinnytsia regions, and after some time, the rest of the regions began to pick up the baton one after another. Almost simultaneously, sirens turned on throughout Western Ukraine - in Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, Transcarpathian, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky and Chernivtsi regions.
At the same time, the main power of Russian strikes fell on targets in Kyiv and Kharkov. Ukrainian portals suggest that there was a real hunt for air defense systems.
"THE ASPHALT WAS BOUNCING"
Moreover, in the Ukrainian capital, even the day before, January 1, and on the night of January 2, despite the active work of air defense systems, explosions of ammunition delivered by Russian carriers were heard. At least six strong explosions were heard in two districts of the city on the morning of January 2.
Information about the explosions was confirmed by the mayor of the city, Vitaliy Klitschko, who clarified that in the Desnyansky district, a fragment of a UAV was burning in an open area. He also reported fires “in several places” in the Podolsk region and a fire in a warehouse in Obolonsky.
During the day of January 2, explosions in Kiev resumed, and as a result, the arrival and fall of debris were recorded in eight of the ten districts of the city. As a result, as Klitschko admitted, “some of the facilities and residential buildings in several areas” were cut off from power.
Also, several times during January 1 and 2, a series of explosions were reported in Khar'kov, in the Vinnitsa and Kirovograd regions, in Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson. On the morning of the 2nd, the air raid warning in the cities of Ukraine lasted a total of almost three and a half hours : the sirens went off at 07:23 Moscow time, and the alarm was lifted only at about 11 o’clock in all regions, with the exception of the Dnepropetrovsk and Nikolaev regions.
In turn, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that during a group strike, long-range precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles hit military-industrial complex facilities in Kiev and its environs, which were responsible for orders for the production of missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and the repair of weapons and military equipment. The department clarified that the target of the strike was achieved and all objects were hit.
Many sources say that today’s attacks on military targets in the Ukrainian capital are almost the strongest during the entire conflict. Judging by indirect evidence, this is very similar to the truth. It is definitely not worth assessing the scale of the blow by relying only on Klitschko’s words. In this sense, ordinary Kiev residents provide much more valuable information.
The interlocutor of our publication, an ordinary Kiev resident of deep retirement age, very succinctly described his feelings from the past night: “No sleep, no tangerine to eat, no gift to friends. ”
According to him, the city’s residents spent the night in bomb shelters, and around “everything was exploding and rumbling so loudly that the walls were shaking and the asphalt was bouncing.” For the first time in a long time, Kyiv truly felt the danger, which very seriously reduces the mood of the haters and plunges the population into despondency. All this is happening against the backdrop of depressing news from the battlefield for Ukraine. And although they are carefully filtered, the lesions have already turned into an awl that cannot be hidden in a bag.
“We communicate with each other, we all understand that everything is bad at the front. But a distant front is one thing, and explosions nearby are quite another. You immediately evaluate everything differently and really want peace,” our interlocutor expresses his deepest sentiments.
"FOR BELGOROD!"
Shortly before today’s strikes on targets in Kiev, on December 31, the Ministry of Defense reported on a successful missile strike on a former hotel complex in Kharkov, where representatives of the Main Intelligence Directorate and the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed. As official representative of the defense department Igor Konashenkov clarified, those liquidated were directly involved in the planning and execution of the recent terrorist attack on Belgorod.
Let us remind you: on December 30, the central square of this Russian city was attacked from the territory of Ukraine: Alder missiles with cluster filling and Vampire MLRS were used. Air defense systems intercepted the bulk of the deadly targets. However, many buildings were damaged by the fall of the remaining shells, and fires broke out in the places where they fell. But the most horrifying result of the shelling was the death of 25 civilians, including five children.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces' attack on Belgorod constitutes a terrorist act and will not go unpunished. At the same time, the head of state emphasized that “everything is boiling” after what happened, but Russia will not strike civilians in Ukraine, but will continue to destroy enemy military installations.
In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova accused the UK of involvement in this crime, “which, in coordination with the United States, incites the Kiev regime to terrorist actions.”
And the Russian soldiers who are on the front line in the Northern Military District zone recorded a “New Year’s” address to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, promising: “For every child, we will take a division from you.” Also from the line of contact, reports began to arrive about new attacks on the positions of the Ukrainian military under the motto “For Belgorod!”
In addition, on New Year's Eve, the Ukrainian military subjected the center of Donetsk to massive rocket fire, as a result of which four civilians were killed and twelve more were injured. Before this, on the night of December 30-31, the Ukrainian Armed Forces opened fire on the city four times. In Belgorod, the missile danger siren sounded again today.
Thus, the massive Russian group attack on targets in Ukraine, which took place in the midst of the New Year holidays, looks like a large-scale response to the provocations of the Kyiv regime, during which dozens of civilians, including children, were killed and injured.
Earlier, Russian journalist and historian Pavel Danilin, commenting on the motives of the Kiev regime, which struck the central square of Belgorod on December 30, noted that the Ukrainian side was striving to increase the level of hatred against the backdrop of heavy defeats on the battlefield.
Associate Professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Gevorg Mirzayan noted that the Kiev regime and the Western media serving it declared the shelling of Belgorod as revenge for the Russian missile attack carried out a day earlier - on December 29. However, the targets of Russian missiles were, as always, Ukrainian military and dual-use facilities, and not civilians who came to the shopping center two days before the New Year.
Russian media also drew attention to the fact that the criminal attack on the center of Belgorod was reminiscent of the practice of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in relation to Donetsk, which has been under constant terrorist attacks from the Kiev regime for nine years.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] In 2023, two combined arms armies, one mixed air corps, as well as 50 formations and military units were formed in the Russian Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense reported on January 2, summing up the department’s activities in the past year.
“Two combined arms armies, 1 mixed aviation corps, 50 formations and military units, including 4 divisions, 18 brigades and 28 regiments have been formed,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
As Regnum reported earlier, on December 19, at the board of the Ministry of Defense, the head of the department, Sergei Shoigu, said that the ministry’s tasks for 2023 were generally fulfilled, the specified level of the country’s defense capability was ensured, and the priority task of the Russian Armed Forces in 2024 would be to continue the special military operation until full completing tasks.
All plans for recruiting the Russian army and navy in 2023 were fulfilled in full, their number was increased to 1.15 million people, Shoigu also said. From December 1, the Ministry of Defense began increasing the number of the country’s Armed Forces to 1.32 million people, and later, in proportion to external threats, the number of Russian Armed Forces will be increased to one and a half million military personnel, the minister added.
By the end of 2024, the number of contract soldiers in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces, taking into account the recruitment of new formations, is planned to increase to 745 thousand people, the Minister of Defense also reported. The course towards the progressive development of the Russian army and increasing its combat capabilities will continue, Shoigu noted.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Since the beginning of the special operation, the production of ammunition for the Russian Armed Forces has increased 17.5 times, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on January 2 in its Telegram channel.
The Russian military department also clarified that since February 2022, the production of tanks has been increased by 5.6 times, infantry fighting vehicles by 3.6 times, armored personnel carriers by 3.5 times, and drones by 16.5 times.
As Regnum reported, on December 28, the general director of the Rostec state corporation, Sergei Chemezov, at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, said that the corporation had increased the production of ammunition for small arms and MLRS by 50 times. According to him, the production of light armored vehicles and armored vehicles has increased five and a half times, tanks - seven times. The CEO of Rostec called this growth global.
On December 19, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, during a speech at an expanded board of the department, informed that Russian troops in the Northern Military District zone are provided with ammunition to the extent of the tasks they perform.
At the same time, the head of state at a board meeting clarified that there is still a need to seriously increase the production and supply of high-precision projectiles and various UAVs to the troops.
#1
One of the things I think gets lost in translation is the russian theme of how cheap their ammo is vs the western rocketry that it is shooting down.
Could be my reader bias, but i think it is something they snicker at.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] Early in the morning a powerful missile attack was launched on Kyiv.
Since night there has been a "Geranium" raid aimed at opening the enemy's air defenses and pulling out missiles.
After which, after 6 am, cruise and hypersonic missiles were launched.
As a result, in Kiev there was a whole series of arrivals, traditional Ukrainian air defense hits on residential buildings, problems with power supply (apparently the energy company was hit again), arrivals in the air defense position area, etc.
The enemy claims that more than 100 missiles were launched, but as a rule, there a significant number of declared missiles are decoys, which are also used for air defense missiles.
Putin just promised strikes on January 2 yesterday. We are waiting for the official message from the RF Ministry of Defense,
PS. In Kharkov there were also significant flights in the morning.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Oleg Khavich
[REGNUM] Six European countries did not support the declaration on security guarantees for Kyiv. Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrey Sibiga reported this on air at the national telethon. He clarified that we are talking about Austria, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Croatia.
“I think that all these states have the political will to become a party to the declaration. We are now working with these partners so that they also join in guaranteeing our security,” said Sibiga, who is the “gray eminence” of Ukrainian foreign policy.
BLACKMAIL IN FAVOR OF BOSNIA
If we take out the island Malta with its army of 1,700 people, the remaining five countries, which so far refuse to sacrifice their security for Ukraine, have two important points in common. Firstly, they are all located in Central and Eastern Europe. Secondly, the territory of all these countries (in whole or in part) until 1918 was under the rule of Austria-Hungary.
In Kiev, they chose not to notice the last fact - most likely because part of the territory of Ukraine (the current Ivano-Frankivsk, Transcarpathian, Lviv, Ternopil and most of the Chernivtsi regions) was also once part of the Danube Monarchy.
However, journalists and diplomats have been talking about Austria-Hungary appearing on the map of Europe for many years now, and recent events have only intensified the discussion of this topic.
Thus, on the eve of the recent European Union summit, which considered the issue of starting negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, the Brussels edition of the American portal Politico published a large material entitled “Rumors of the revival of Austria-Hungary.”
It said that Austria and Hungary act as a duo against the EU on issues of Ukraine, Russia and even the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “Make no mistake: this is a dual monarchy rising from the grave,” the publication quoted an unnamed Brussels diplomat.
In the situation with the accelerated advancement of Ukraine into the European Union, the problem is that the Austrians have their favorites among the candidate states for accession to the EU, primarily Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
It, like Ukraine and Moldova, received candidate status last year. But Brussels proposed to begin opening negotiations only with Kiev and Chisinau. In response, Austria, in fact, began open blackmail of the European Union - they say, either you open the doors for our favorite, or everyone remains behind the door.
Speaking on December 11 before deputies of the federal parliament, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that his country is not ready to support the opening of negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the EU in the current conditions.
According to him, no one should have special conditions for entry: “There should be no preferences for Ukraine, especially in comparison with Bosnia and Herzegovina. ”
Of course, in Brussels they were sure that Austria would give in at the last moment (in fact, that’s what happened at the summit). At the same time, the Politico article quoted an unnamed senior Austrian official as saying: “We are not going to stand in Ukraine’s way into the EU, because that is the same as standing in front of a freight train. But we want to quietly attach Bosnia and Herzegovina to the back of this train.”
Of course, this also applies to the course of future negotiations on Ukraine’s accession: at each stage, Vienna will use its voice, bargaining for preferences for BiH.
“When it comes to Austria's political direction, there is still plenty to worry about. In the fall of next year (2024 has already arrived - editor's note) elections are planned to be held in the country. The anti-European Freedom Party, which sees Orbán's Hungary as a model, leads the polls by a comfortable margin,” Politico wrote.
ALL THE TROUBLES ARE BECAUSE OF UKRAINE
The publication recalled that during a recent visit to Budapest, the leader of the Freedom Party, Herbert Kickl, called Hungary “a refuge of national self-determination and resistance to globalist interference from Brussels.”
True, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who was the main target of criticism from Politico and all mainstream European media, unexpectedly retreated at the EU summit on the issue of starting negotiations on Ukraine’s accession under pressure from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Scholz is rumored to have threatened Orban that German companies could leave Hungary, which account for a quarter of the country's exports and a fifth of all foreign investment.
However, having returned to his homeland, Viktor Orban hastened to assure his somewhat discouraged electorate that he was not going to give up his opposition to Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
In the last week before Christmas, Orbán filled the Hungarian media landscape, assuring voters that everything was under control.
Contrary to the rules, he gave live interviews to TV2 and Hir TV, newspapers Magyar Nemzet and Mandiner, and appeared on the Mandiner podcast. And this is in addition to the traditional monologue interview on the public Radio Kossuth and a large press conference for local and foreign media in Budapest.
“We know that the decision to start negotiations can lead to many problems, but we have legal grounds to prevent these problems as soon as they turn out to concern Hungary,” the Hungarian prime minister explained his new tactics for negotiations with Ukraine in an interview with the main government Magyar Nemzet publication.
“The decisive argument for Hungary’s consent was that now it has nothing to lose from the start of negotiations,” he added in a conversation with Mandiner, emphasizing the “now.” And in the future, the process of Ukraine's accession will require more than 70 unanimous votes of all EU member countries.
At the same time, during the ongoing “national consultations” in Hungary, millions of citizens received notices from their government explaining why the country is facing financial problems.
They say that EU money does not come to Hungary because it is transferred to Ukraine. Ukraine's accession to the EU will lead to additional problems for Hungary, because now all the money will go to Ukrainians. Brussels is demanding permission to import GMO products from Ukraine into Hungary and is killing local farmers. And all this is happening because the EU does not want peace, but war, and therefore supplies Kyiv with weapons.
In a word, all the troubles of the Hungarians are because of Ukraine. And such a signal is greatly amplified by the government propaganda machine, which provides constant support for “consultations” and encourages people to take part in them, including online.
At the same time, even Ukrainian analysts explain the absence of the issue of the rights of the Hungarian community of Transcarpathia among the directions of criticism of Kyiv by the fact that Orban is simply waiting for the Kyiv authorities to fail to implement recently adopted changes to the legislation on national minorities.
THE EUROPEAN UNION AS AN ADVERSARY
However, if Viktor Orban is still taking a wait-and-see approach, then his Slovak colleague (by the way, all of Slovakia was part of Hungary until 1918) Robert Fico looked very decisive in his address to the nation following the results of 2023.
“I am convinced that most of the EU is deliberately mistaken about the war in Ukraine. A significant, I would say overwhelming, part of the EU states is literally obsessed with Ukraine and hatred of Russia. This gives rise to strange opinions that are spread completely uncritically in the European media. Allegedly, we must continue to support the war in Ukraine, and peace negotiations are now undesirable,” he said. At the same time, it was clearly implied that Slovakia belongs to the minority that thinks correctly.
According to Fico, Ukraine is simply being used to weaken Russia economically and internationally. “Ukraine has become a Klondike for arms firms and merchants of death. I am afraid that in the name of these geopolitical goals, the West will fight Russia to the last Ukrainian soldier. And we are no longer so far from this,” stated the Prime Minister of Slovakia. He did not mention that his government had stopped any military assistance to Kyiv - the Slovaks already know this very well.
Robert Fico feels confident: his fourth government, created following the parliamentary elections on September 30, has a comfortable majority in parliament and support in Slovak society.
But Croatia, consisting of the former lands of the Austrian and Hungarian crowns, will face both parliamentary and presidential elections in 2024.
And if the president of this country, Zoran Milanovic, always opposed military assistance to Ukraine and tried to prevent it, then Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovic achieved the transfer to Kiev of a considerable amount of weapons from the Croatian arsenals, in particular, more than 20 Mi-8 combat helicopters.
However, on the eve of the Sabor (parliament) elections, in which his right-wing Croatian Democratic Union party may lose to the left-wing opposition supported by the president for the first time in more than 20 years, Plenkovic is becoming increasingly cautious with pro-Ukrainian statements. The above-mentioned refusal of security guarantees for Ukraine by Croatia is just one example of this.
The most paradoxical is the situation in Poland, in which the former Austrian possessions make up less than 20% of the territory - we are talking about Western Galicia with its center in Krakow. During the parliamentary campaign in the summer-autumn of 2023, the right-wing conservative party “Law and Justice” (PiS) in power took a number of steps directed against the Kyiv authorities.
Firstly, a ban was introduced on the import of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products. Secondly, then-Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland would no longer transfer weapons and military equipment from its arsenals to Ukraine.
But the elections on October 15 were won by the left-liberals, who sharply criticized PiS for insufficient support for Ukraine. It is not surprising that the new government of Poland, formed on December 13, headed by Donald Tusk, was expected in Kiev to resolve problems in bilateral relations. And first of all, unblocking the border, which has been closed by Polish truckers since November 6, 2023.
However, so far Kiev has only waited for the visit of Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski last week - with assurances of friendship and support.
At the same time, on the eve of the visit, Polish Deputy Minister of Agriculture Michal Kolodziejczak said that the new government would leave the ban on grain imports from Ukraine in force, although Brussels is strongly opposed to this.
Moreover, he allowed a blockade of Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU for at least 20 years if Ukraine succeeds in becoming a full member of the European Union. “We must protect our interests, as Germany did when Poland joined the EU. Then the labor market for Poles was closed for eight years,” he recalled.
And the leader of the Polish People's Party, part of the new ruling coalition, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysh, previously demanded to expand the embargo on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products and stated that he would stand on the side of Polish carriers blocking the border.
At the same time, Kosiniak-Kamysh, who has held the post of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Poland since December 13, has not said a word about military assistance to Kyiv from Warsaw since that time. He also did not comment on the situation with the refusal to provide security guarantees to Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is also silent about this. However, he gave Kyiv hope for ending the blockade of three of the four automobile checkpoints on the Polish-Ukrainian border.
“We are close to the conviction that our actions can produce results both at the negotiations in Kyiv and in Brussels. I don’t think we will reach the maximum that truckers want, but what can be achieved will allow us to relieve emotions and lift the blockade on the border,” he said on December 27 at a press conference in Warsaw.
With these words, all that remains is to remember that a little over 100 years ago, the question of the border crossings Medyka - Shegini, Korchovaya - Krakovets and Grebennoye - Rava-Russkaya would have seemed like an inappropriate joke to a citizen of Austria-Hungary. After all, then all the mentioned settlements were within one Austrian province - the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (Vladimeria, i.e. Volyn).
By the way, the mentioned Politico article also begins with a joke: “A surefire way to anger an Austrian is to mention the upcoming Austria-Hungary football match and then ask who the opponent is. ” But the following conclusion follows: now there is such a rival, and it is the EU.
And this applies not only to Austria and Hungary, but also to almost all states created on the territory of the former dual monarchy.
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.
