[Sarcastosaurus Substack] Long, detailed, and with pretty photos of the Beriev A-50 — of which only three were still mission-capable before this incident — and its attendant airborne command post. But the writer starts out with this:
So much is going on the last two days - in Ukraine and in the Middle East - that I can’t even decide what way to look as first and what to comment about. Even less so can I summarise all of this in form of ‘useful’ articles - at once. Sure, I’ll try, but…
What am I talking about?
While most of public attention in the West is drawn by Ukrainians killing one of the last few operational Beriev A-50s airborne early warning aircraft of the Russian Air-Space Force (VKS), the Israelis continue genociding the Palestinians, plus are bombing the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) at and around Aleppo International Airport in north-western Syria; the IRGC has deployed ballistic missiles against the US al-Harir base and (possibly) also the US Consulate in Erbil, in northern Iraq; then the IRGC targeted the positions of the Qatari-supported HTS (ex-Jabhat an-Nusra) in the Harim mountains of Western Idlib; while the Houthis in Yemen have attacked – and this time hit – another of merchants transiting the southern Red Sea.
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[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces supported by helicopters and artillery repelled one attack of the AFU 60th Mechanised Brigade's assault group close to Sinkovka (Kharkov region).
In addition, the Zapad Group of Forces inflicted a fire damage on AFU manpower and hardware clusters close to Petropavlovka, Berestovoye (Kharkov region, Stelmakhovka (Lugansk People's Republic).
Up to 20 Ukrainian troops, three armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system have been eliminated.
In Krasny Liman direction, the Tsentr Group of Forces' units, aviation, and artillery repelled one attack of the AFU 63rd Mechanised Brigade's assault group close to Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic), and inflicted fire damage on strongholds of the 5th National Guard Brigade near Serebryansky forestry.
More than 160 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, and one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system have been eliminated.
In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery inflicted fire damage on AFU manpower and hardware near Vesyoloyeloye, Razdolovka, Kleshcheyevka, Andreyevka, and Kurdyumovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
More than 200 Ukrainian troops, one tank, three infantry fighting vehicles, one armoured personnel carrier, 13 motor vehicles, and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems have been eliminated.
One artillery ordnance depot of the AFU 46th Airmobile Brigade was destroyed near Kurakhovo (Donetsk People's Republic).
?? In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery hit units of AFU 72nd, 79th air assault brigades near Novomikhailovka (Donetsk People's Republic).
More than 140 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, four motor vehicles, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system have been eliminated.
In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian Group of Forces supported by artillery inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of AFU 65th mechanised, 3rd,14th National Guard brigades close to Verbovoye, Rabotino, and Novoprokopovka (Zaporozhye region).
Up to 20 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, and one D-30 howitzer were destroyed.
In Kherson direction, as a result of the systematic fire impact, the AFU suffered losses of 40 troops, eight motor vehicles, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.
Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged one POL base and 109 AFU artillery units at their fire positions, manpower, and military hardware in 142 areas during the day.
Russia's Air Defence shot down 25 unmanned aerial vehicles close to Kremennaya, Belogorovka, Krivosheyevka, Nikolayevka, Verkhnekamenka (Lugansk People's Republic), Spornoye (Donetsk People's Republic), Pshenichnoye (Zaporozhye region), and three Tochka-U tactical missiles.
In total, 567 airplanes and 265 helicopters, 10,689 unmanned aerial vehicles, 450 air defence missile systems, 14,632 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,202 combat vehicles equipped with MRLS, 7,736 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 17,489 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title [Korrespondent] 22:38 The enemy may be preparing a repeated large-scale offensive on several sectors of the front. In addition, the Kremlin does not abandon its intentions to capture Kyiv. For more details, see the article Landing to the rear and a new offensive: what the Russian Federation is planning.
21:49 Zaluzhny said that he had a telephone conversation with the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Brown: “Shared the results of the analysis of military operations in 2023 and forecasts for 2024. We exchanged views on issues of mutual strategic interest.”
21:05 The Russians struck New York in the Donetsk region - according to preliminary information, three people were wounded, five more are under the rubble, said the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin. According to him, the Russian army dropped two guided bombs on the village and hit a three-story house with a rocket, in which the entrance collapsed.
20:08 Europe has three to five years to prepare for the fact that Russia will pose a serious threat to the eastern flank of NATO countries, said Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas: “According to our intelligence estimates, this will happen in three to five years, this "will greatly depend on how much we manage to maintain the unity of our position regarding Ukraine."
19:47 Russia has eight A-50 aircraft left in good condition, Budanov said in an interview with the Financial Times. The destruction of such aircraft would likely impact Russia's ability to conduct 24-hour operations and maintain communications in the conflict zone, he said.
19:10 Ukraine and Switzerland are starting preparations for the Global Peace Summit at the leader level, Zelensky said.
18:58 Switzerland will provide Ukraine with 1.5 billion francs (about 1.6 billion euros) of assistance from 2025 to 2028, the country’s President Viola Amgerd said at a joint press conference with Zelensky. She noted that Switzerland places special emphasis on the restoration of Ukraine.
18:47 Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland Andrzej Szejna does not rule out a new wave of Ukrainian refugees: “Poland should not be burdened with additional responsibility in the field of migration, because although we wish the Ukrainians victory, in the end, we cannot exclude the possibility that the Russian offensive will lead to "to shift the front to the West and will force millions more Ukrainians to come to Poland, mainly women and children. This will be a huge burden for our country, and Polish society must be prepared for this."
17:51 With the signing of a cooperation agreement with Britain, similar negotiations between Ukraine and Canada intensified, said the Canadian Ambassador in Kiev Natalka Tsmots. According to her, Canada has already handed over a draft agreement to Ukraine.
17:46 Zaluzhny said that he had a telephone conversation with the Chief of the Defense Staff of the Italian Armed Forces, Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, and discussed a number of issues of bilateral military cooperation and exchange of experience. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine invited Admiral Dragone to visit Ukraine and work together at control points and in brigades.
17:40 Speaker of the Southern Defense Forces Natalya Gumenyuk believes that the destruction of Russian A-50 and Il-22 aircraft can delay missile attacks on Ukraine: “It was with the help of the A-50 that the situation with future targets was determined as much as possible. Therefore, we will count on the fact that “such a strike would be quite sensitive and would at least delay future missile attacks.”
17:14 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) predicts a new Russian offensive in Ukraine in the coming weeks. Analysts believe that the Russian army will begin it in the east and south of Ukraine when the ground freezes, but due to a lack of forces and personnel, there will most likely not be a large-scale breakthrough.
16:51 NATO denied Bild's information that Germany is allegedly preparing for a possible attack by Russia. The director of the NATO Center of Excellence for Strategic Communication, Janis Sarts, said that “this is not a secret intelligence analysis predicting the situation,” but a scenario for the upcoming exercise. "A training scenario is always an imaginary situation to test military capabilities in a particular area. Previously, the scenarios were completely fictitious, with non-existent countries and geography. Now, existing countries and geography are more applicable," Sarts explained.
16:16 A photo of a Russian Il-22 plane, which was shot down by the Ukrainian Armed Forces the day before, appeared on social networks. Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat noted that the plane was probably able to fly to Anapa, but could not be restored. He also said that the plane was on fire, and among the crew there were wounded, and possibly dead.
“The A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft was and remains a priority target for us. And until today, the destruction of this aircraft seemed an impossible task for the Air Force. And then the Il-22 (air command post) came under attack. Two “bold” ones at once “one goal at a time,” Ignat wrote.
16:07 In the Dniprovsky district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, an X-59 guided aircraft missile was destroyed, the Skhid Air Command reported.
15:26 British Defense Minister Grant Shapps said that the future of Ukraine could be decided this year, “the West must not let it down.”
14:38 The Russians shelled Krasnohorivka, Maryinsk community, Donetsk region - at least one person was killed and one was wounded, said the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin.
14:13 Zelensky said that he had already arrived in Switzerland on a working visit, plans to meet with the country's leaders and take part in the Davos Forum. The President plans to discuss, in particular, the return of abducted children, sanctions and the search for mechanisms for using frozen Russian assets, cooperation on humanitarian demining, financial support and restoration of Ukraine.
13:49 Russia still receives components and equipment used in the defense industry through “inconspicuous” companies from Finland, Yle reports. One of the companies operates in the Lappeenranta region and, according to customs information, supplied sensors, diesel engines, fuel pumps, and components used in car gearboxes to Russia. Similar Western components were found in Russian equipment destroyed in Ukraine, but not all of this is subject to Western sanctions.
13:20 British intelligence believes that Russia has significantly inflated data on 500 thousand people who allegedly joined the army last year. Analysts also believe that in Russia, “a disproportionate number of people from poor and rural regions” are being recruited to support the war. In addition, there is confirmed evidence that at least five Russians died in the war in Ukraine in 2005 - after Russian authorities allowed school graduates to sign contracts with the army in April 2023.
12:53 Late in the evening of January 14, two Russian aircraft were hit over the Sea of Azov - the A-50 long-range radar detection vessel and the Il-22M11 control post. According to preliminary information, the A-50 fell into the sea, and Il was in the air and tried to get to the nearest airfield, but disappeared from radar in the Kerch area. In Ukraine they call these planes “fat targets.” About how they were able to be eliminated, see the material Special Operation in the Azov Region.
12:42 The DPRK actively supplied ammunition to Russia throughout the fall - we are talking about about a million artillery shells, said Vadim Skibitsky, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. He clarified that these are mainly 122 and 152 mm shells. As for Russian supplies of ballistic missiles from North Korea, the information is still being clarified, Skibitsky noted.
He also said that Russia now produces about 115-130 strategic missiles per month. In addition, the Russian Federation produces 100-115 operational-tactical class missiles - such as Kh-31, Kh-59, etc.
12:09 In the Mariupol region, the Russian Guard, together with the FSB, began to openly persecute all Protestant churches and religious movements, said Advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol Pyotr Andryushchenko. In particular, according to him, arrests of members of Jehovah's Witnesses continue right now. And despite the fact that their churches were captured by the Russians from the very beginning of the invasion, open persecution has now begun with arrests, searches, seizure of literature and recognition of them as “extremists”. To date, at least 15 people have been arrested in Mariupol and dozens of copies of religious literature have been confiscated.
11:45 Zaluzhny confirmed that the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed the Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and the enemy Il-22 air control center.
11:37 In occupied Melitopol, partisans blew up Russians along with their equipment, reports the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. The explosion occurred on January 14 on Gogol Street - a Russian UAZ Patriot car was blown up. Four occupiers were injured or killed.
11:01 Russians fired artillery at residential buildings in Stanislav, Kherson region, one person was wounded, OVA reported. Over the previous 24 hours, four people were injured as a result of Russian shelling in the region.
10:52 The Ministry of Defense of Belarus stated that Belarusian military personnel will undergo training on the territory of the Russian Federation with an emphasis on “the experience acquired by the Russian Armed Forces during the conduct of a special military operation.” After completing the training, the Belarusian military as “instructors in the most complex subjects of combat training” will transfer the experience gained to units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus.
10:46 The SBU detained a Wagnerite - a citizen of Belarus, who was preparing sabotage to cut off power to the central regions of Ukraine, including Kiev. He illegally entered the Rivne region from Belarus and, on instructions from the Russian GRU, was supposed to correct air attacks on the energy infrastructure. The attacker was caught red-handed: he was trying to attach several GPS trackers to the supports of power lines supplying the Kyiv agglomeration.
10:27 In Russia, about 30 thousand people volunteer for the army every month, said GUR representative Vadim Skibitsky: “Russians have a motivation to join the army - it’s wages, especially in crisis regions, where there are either low wages or no jobs at all. Russian prisoners of war openly admit that they joined the army because they pay, and he has “a mortgage, a family, and so on.” And this motive today is the main one for those people who voluntarily go to mobilization, sign contracts and fight."
According to the Main Intelligence Directorate, the salaries of Russian military personnel fighting in Ukraine are approximately $2,500-2,850 per month, and for a day of combat there is an additional salary of about $90.
09:51 Russia has focused on missile attacks on locations of the military-industrial complex, headquarters and control systems, but is not achieving its goals, said Vadim Skibitsky, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Educational Institution: “It does not achieve the goals that the Russian Federation sets for itself. Those weapons, "which is used by Russia, in particular the Daggers, are very inaccurate. And, unfortunately, it is mainly the civilian population that suffers from them."
09:19 A North Korean delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs is in Russia on an official visit.
08:48 At night, the Russians hit Manganets with artillery in the Nikopol district of the Dnepropetrovsk region, said the head of the OVA Sergei Lysak. Two pharmacies and a store, two five-story and two private houses, gas pipelines, and power lines were damaged. More than 2,000 families were left without electricity, no people were injured.
08:42 Against the backdrop of reports that appeared about the downing of a Russian A-50 radio reconnaissance aircraft and the damage to an Il-22 bomber, Air Force Commander Nikolai Oleshchuk wrote: “This is for the Dnieper. Burn in hell, nonhumans! PS No details yet.” January 14 was the anniversary of the Russian missile attack on a multi-story building in the Dnieper, which killed 46 people.
08:36 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of January 15:
personnel - about 370,980 (+980) people,
tanks - 6089 (+14),
armored combat vehicles - 11,322 (+20),
artillery systems - 8771 (+24),
MLRS - 958 (+1),
air defense weapons - 650 (+2),
aircraft - 329 (+0),
helicopters - 324 (+0),
UAV of operational-tactical level - 6865 (+4),
cruise missiles - 1815 (+1),
ships/boats - 23 (+0),
submarines - 1 (+0),
automotive equipment and tank trucks - 11,698 (+31),
special equipment - 1356 (+3).
08:01 Australia will scrap 45 MRH-90 Taipan helicopters that Ukraine requested, ABC reports. The country removed them from service in September due to security incidents: four soldiers were killed during training over the summer. In December, Kyiv sent a request to receive Taipan. The Ukrainian community came out to protest after the decision to dispose of it. Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasily Miroshnichenko hopes that there is still the possibility of transferring the helicopters, although the dismantling process has already begun.
07:23 Over the past 24 hours, 94 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report. In the Avdeevsky direction, the Defense Forces repelled 11 enemy attacks in the areas of Novobakhmutovka, Stepnoy, Avdeevka and another 14 attacks near Pervomaisky and Nevelsky, Donetsk region. In the Maryinsky direction, 16 attacks were repelled (near Krasnohorivka, Maryinka and Novomikhailovka in the Donetsk region), in the Limansky direction - 14 attacks (near Makeyevka, Belogorivka in the Lugansk region and Verkhnekamensky in the Donetsk region).
In addition, in the Kupyansky direction, Ukrainian forces repelled three enemy attacks in the Sinkovka and Petropavlovka areas of the Kharkov region; on Bakhmutskoye - five attacks near Kleshcheevka and Andreevka, Donetsk region; in Zaporozhye - ten attacks near Chervonoye, west of Verbovoye and Rabotino, Zaporozhye region. The expansion of the bridgehead continues in the Kherson direction; over the past 24 hours, the enemy unsuccessfully attempted to storm the positions of the Defense Forces seven times.
06:19 The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that air defense systems allegedly destroyed three Ukrainian Tochka-U missiles over the Kursk region.
00:28 The Estonian Ministry of Defense has prepared for Kiev’s NATO allies and Ramstein format participants a plan for Ukraine to achieve victory in the war in three years, ERR reports. The main message is that the West should not be afraid to help Ukraine in its war. The authors of the document hope that problems with financing assistance to Ukraine in Brussels and Washington will be overcome in the near future.
The document emphasizes that the total GDP of all countries of the Ramstein group is 47 trillion euros, of which 0.2% has so far been allocated to help Ukraine. At the same time, Russia's GDP is estimated at only 2 trillion euros. But the Russian Federation “has switched to the path of a war economy” and directed half of its resources directly to waging war, and the West “has not yet woken up,” says Kalev Stoicescu, head of the Estonian Parliament’s defense committee.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The defense insisted on the need for the presence in court of Nikolai Tskhovrebov and Gersan Kulumbegov, recognized as victims in the case of the death of Inal Dzhabiev, and the court decided to forcibly bring them to the next hearing.
As the "Caucasian Knot" wrote, on October 27, 2023, the South Ossetian prosecutor's office reported that the accused had been familiarized with the materials of the case regarding the death of Inal Dzhabiev, and it had been submitted to court. At the first court hearings, indictments were read to Dzhumber Bibilov, Marat Khugaev, Andrey Dzhioev, Atsamaz Naniev, Irbeg Slanov, Sergei Kozonov, Zaur Gogichaev and Alan Bagaev. The defense does not admit a single article of the accusation, said the lawyers of the criminal police officers. On December 4, it became known that one of the defendants in the case, former security officer Marat Khugaev, was hospitalized in serious condition after a hunger strike, including a dry one, which he had been carrying out since November 15 in protest against his detention and arrest. On December 21, it became known that Khugaev had resumed eating.
On August 17, 2020, in Tskhinvali, an official car in which the Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Naniev was was fired upon; no one was injured. Together with Inal Dzhabiev, Nikolai Tskhovrebov and Gersan Kulumbegov were detained in the case of the assassination attempt on the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of South Ossetia Igor Naniev. After Dzhabiev’s death, they were released on their own recognizance. At the court hearing in the case of Dzhabiev’s death, Kulumbegov stated that after his arrest, he was brought from the temporary detention facility in a mask to the criminal police and beaten.
Nikolai Tskhovrebov also reported that physical violence was used against him within the walls of law enforcement agencies: in the city police department and the border service. On July 15, 2022, the Supreme Court of South Ossetia dismissed the criminal case against Inal Dzhabiev and Nikolai Tskhovrebov, the second accused of attempting to assassinate the minister. The court decided that no evidence was received of their involvement in the assassination attempt. The Tskhinvali City Court decided to pay two million rubles in compensation for moral damage to the relatives of Inal Dzhabiev, who died after interrogation by the police in the case of an attempt on the life of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of South Ossetia.
The consideration of the case regarding the death of Inal Dzhabiev continued today in the Tskhinvali City Court. The victims, Gersan Kulumbegov and Nikolai Tskhovrebov, did not come to the hearing, but the defense considered their presence in court necessary, the Res news agency reported today with reference to the press service of the Supreme Court of South Ossetia.
“The prosecutor filed a motion to read out the testimony of the victims without their presence, but the defense asked to reject the prosecutor’s motion, citing the principle of publicity, immediacy and orality, as well as in view of the legality of the verdict, noting their presence as necessary,” the agency quoted the press representative as saying today. court services.
The court decided “to recognize the appearance of Kulumbegov and Tskhovrebov as mandatory and to force them to be brought to the court hearing on January 17,” the publication says.
Inal Dzhabiev died on August 28, 2020 after interrogation in the case of an attempt on the life of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of South Ossetia. His death caused mass protests and a political crisis in South Ossetia: 16 members of parliament from the fall of 2020 to February 2021 boycotted parliamentary meetings, preventing a quorum from being reached. As a result, the work of parliament was completely paralyzed.
At the same time, Dzhabiev’s relatives, dissatisfied with the progress of the investigation, organized a 24-hour protest, which took place in a square in Tskhinvali from December 4, 2020 to February 26, 2021. The opposition and protesters sought the dismissal of Prosecutor General Uruzmag Dzhagaev, but stopped the protests without achieving their goals.
In October 2022, the Tskhinvali City Court returned the criminal case of death after interrogation of Inal Dzhabiev for additional investigation to the Prosecutor General's Office of South Ossetia. At that time, seven security officials were charged in the case. The Prosecutor General's Office of South Ossetia announced new defendants in the case in March. Among them are former Prosecutor General Uruzmag Dzhagaev, he was arrested in absentia and put on the wanted list, former head of the Tskhinvali Internal Affairs Directorate Uruzmag Margiev, who is under recognizance not to leave. The former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of South Ossetia, Igor Naniev, has been put on the wanted list. All of them are accused of abuse of power.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the DPR Representative Office in the JCCC from 00:00 01/15/2024 to 00:00 01/16/2024
The DPR Representative Office in the JCCC recorded 28 armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces over the past 24 hours.
Information was received about a civilian being injured.
DAMAGED:
1 residential building
4 civil infrastructure facilities
7 attacks in the Donetsk direction;
19 artillery attacks in the Gorlovka direction;
2 artillery attacks in the Yasinovat direction;
A total of 90 units of various ammunition were fired.
23:42 According to the operational lines of the DPR Representative Office in the JCCC for January 15, as of 23:30, additional information was received about damage as a result of artillery attack by the Air Forces of the cities of the Republic:
n.p. Gorlovka (Nikitovsky district):
transformer No. 2 4000 kVA at the filter station is damaged, the pumping station is de-energized.
Information about the consequences of the artillery attack continues to arrive.
22:10 Front bird reports: Yuzhnodonetsk direction. 15.01 22:00
It is reported that our units of the Vostok group of troops successfully hit several enemy armored personnel carriers.
In addition, the field ammunition depot of the 115th mechanized brigade was destroyed.
21:49 Russian Ministry of Defense transmits: about 20.30 Moscow time. An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using aircraft-type UAVs on targets on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped.
On duty air defense systems destroyed a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Belgorod region.
20:50 Front bird broadcasts: LPR (area of ??Svatovo, Kremennaya) 15.01 20:00
Our MI-28N night hunter helicopters are attacking enemy positions.
In addition to 30mm guns, high-precision missiles are also used.
Using Izdeliye-305 guided missiles, they systematically knock out the enemy and provide assistance to our assault infantry.
19:50 Maryinsky direction.
The enemy reports a critical situation in the village. Novomikhalovka. It is reported that our army is carrying out assaults from three directions.
It is assumed that the enemy will soon prepare to leave the settlement.
19:10 Front birdie broadcasts: Donetsk direction. Ugledar. 15.01 18:35
It is reported that in the area of the village of Ugledar, Donetsk People's Republic, our guys from the 39th Motorized Rifle Brigade took out an enemy opornik and a mortar crew.
The FPV drone operators worked efficiently.
17:30 Front bird broadcasts: Sumy region 15.01 17:00
Local publics report that our attack drone has worked in the border areas of the Sumy region.
Explosions have also been reported.
16:22 Front bird broadcasts: Zaporozhye direction. Verbovoe. 15.01 16:05
The advance of our troops intensified again.
The assault groups of the Russian Armed Forces are gradually advancing under the cover of our artillery and mortars.
Once again, the work of attack aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces is also noticeable, in particular, Su-25 attack aircraft are hitting enemy rear positions with NURs.
15:00 Front bird broadcasts: Kharkov direction (n. Kupyansk area) 15.01 14:00
Since the morning, our cannon artillery has been actively working.
In particular, our 152mm MSTA-S self-propelled guns hit fortified enemy positions.
In addition, aerial reconnaissance is currently identifying affected targets and potential targets for future strikes.
14:10 Telegram channel “Colonelcassad": The enemy reports that at night the Russian Armed Forces seriously damaged a certain thermal power plant in eastern Ukraine with an artillery strike.
The main arrivals at night were in Kherson and in the occupied Ukrainian Armed Forces of the western part of Donbass.
13:30 Front bird broadcasts: Yuzhnodonetsk direction 14.01 12:15
It is reported that our artillerymen, together with aerial reconnaissance, covered several enemy strongholds.
The front-line attack aircraft Su-25 of the Russian Aerospace Forces is also actively helping.
The enemy tried to snap back and immediately received a portion of mortar rounds from the sky.
Several military personnel were destroyed and there are 300s.
12:10 Russian Ministry of Defense transmits: Stormtroopers improve their close combat skills in the air defense zone at unique training grounds
Military personnel of the assault units, under the guidance of experienced instructors, master the techniques of conducting tactical combat on the offensive, which showed the highest effectiveness when taking positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the battles in Mar'inka.
As part of the training conducted at unique training grounds that completely replicate the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, attack aircraft hone the skills of proper movement, covering and conducting continuous suppressive fire.
11:25 Front bird broadcasts: Avdeevskoe direction. district settlement Krasnogorovka 15.01 11:25
The advancement of our units continues every day. Only the weather makes its own adjustments. Rain and frost hinder the movements of infantry and armored vehicles.
The guys from the spot report the destruction of the enemy's opornik (underground hole).
10:35 Russian Ministry of Defense transmits Statement by the head of the press center of the "South" group
Units of the “Southern” group of forces, supported by air strikes and artillery fire, defeated the manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the areas of Andreevka, Bogdanovka, Vasilyevka, Kurdyumovka and Kleshcheevka.
In the Donetsk direction, the enemy lost over 300 troops.
Artillery, anti-tank missile systems and FPV drones hit an armored combat vehicle, two pickup trucks, an enemy stronghold and 12 dugouts.
09:55 Telegram channel «WarGonzo":
Frontline report for the morning 01/15/2024
In the Zaporozhye direction, the Russian Armed Forces continue to attack west of the village of Rabotino. The Ukrainian Armed Forces did not conduct active offensive operations.
In the Ugledarsky sector, Russian troops, after shelling, attacked west of Staromayorsky and in the direction of Prechistovka. The last of the listed settlements has new activity of the Russian Armed Forces. Ukrainian positions in Ugledar are under attack. Russian ones - in Priyutny, Zavetny Zhelanie, Novomayorsky and Pavlovka.
On the Donetsk Front, the Russian Armed Forces, with the support of long-range weapons, carried out assault operations southwest of Novomikhailovka and on the approaches to the city of Krasnogorovka. Nevelskoye was also attacked. After the shelling, they launched an attack on Pervomaiskoe. An attempt to advance to Severny (a settlement west of Avdeevka).
The city itself, after artillery and air strikes, was attacked from the northeast. Russian troops, with the support of artillery, carried out offensive operations near Novobakhmutovka, controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (a settlement of the same name to the east behind the Russian Armed Forces).
LBS has not changed significantly. Ukrainian positions in Pobeda, Georgievka, Stepnoe (not to be confused with the settlements of the same name in the Zaporozhye and Ugledar directions) and Ocheretina are under attack. Russian ones - in Donetsk and the village of Krasnogorovka.
In the Bakhmut direction, the Russian Armed Forces, with artillery support, stormed the heights north-west of Kleshcheevka. Under attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Andreevka, Ivanovsky, Bogdanovka and Seversk. RF Armed Forces - in Bakhmut and Yagodnoye.
09:25 Criminal Kyiv 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. Krynki 19 rounds;
-- n.p. Sagi seven rounds;
-- n.p. Alyosha seven rounds;
-- n.p. Kardashinka four rounds;
-- n.p. Novaya Mayachka three rounds;
-- n.p. Kazachi Lagery six rounds;
-- n.p. Obryvka of three rounds.
During the night, the Kiev regime continued to shell civilian infrastructure in the village. Krynki, n.p. Dnepryany, n.p. Peschanivka, n.p. Gornostaevka, n.p. Aleshki, firing a total of 24 rounds from cannon artillery.
Civilian casualties and destruction of infrastructure are being clarified.
08:45 Telegram channel “Fisherman":
Chronicle of a special military operation
for January 14, 2024
Today, the Russian Armed Forces did not carry out massive strikes on targets in the so-called territory. Ukraine, limiting itself only to the defeat of enemy positions in the front-line regions.
In the Seversky direction, Russian troops made a breakthrough near the village of Veseloye. If local heights are captured, the Russian Armed Forces will have the opportunity to improve their position at Razdolvka. In the Artemovsky (Bakhmutsky) direction, fighting continued near Bogdanovka with the aim of creating a corridor to Chasov Yar.
Despite the general decline in the pace of offensive operations in the Avdeevsky direction, Russian troops are fighting on the northern flank of the fortified area in the direction of Ocheretino, as well as near Stepovoy. At the same time, in the southwestern sector everything is limited to local clashes near Pervomaisky and along the entire line of contact.
08:10 Most resonant cases of armed attacks by the UFU for the period from January 8 to January 15:
January 11 - Kuibyshevsky district of Donetsk - artillery attack with JROF HEF 122mm missiles (damaging elements - 9100 balls) made in Slovakia - 6 civilians were injured, damage to 22 addresses;
January 12 - Nikitovsky district of Gorlovka - double attack by UAVs - first on power workers, and then on doctors who came to help the wounded - two dead women (a medic and a power engineer), 8 wounded (three power workers, three ambulance workers and two local residents );
January 13 - Kirovsky district of Donetsk - again a paramedic was dropped from a UAV onto an ambulance that came to the aid of a woman wounded as a result of artillery attack - the ambulance driver was injured.
Direct Translation via Google Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Artemy Sharapov
[REGNUM] On the night of January 13-14, the Russian Aerospace Forces launched a large-scale missile strike on Ukrainian territory. The enemy also recognized the effectiveness of the attack. According to the official statement of the command of the Air Force and Air Defense of Ukraine, out of 40 air attack weapons, Ukrainian air defense was able to shoot down only eight.
It was previously noted that since the beginning of the year, Russian troops have increased the intensity of strikes. A wide range of weapons are used: from drones to hypersonic missile systems. Moreover, with each strike, Ukrainian air defense works less and less effectively.
However, the targets chosen for the strikes are of much greater curiosity. During the missile attacks, defense factories located in different parts of the country were hit, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.
“A group strike was carried out with high-precision long-range weapons on the objects of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine, producing 155, 152 and 125 mm shells, gunpowder and unmanned aerial vehicles,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The British newspaper Financial Times also reports that the targets of strikes have recently increasingly become targets of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, citing its sources in Kiev.
In particular, the publication reports that the target of the strikes was the Artyom enterprise (formerly the Artyom Kiev Machine-Building Plant), one of the leading manufacturers of weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The plant specializes in the production of aircraft missiles and anti-tank missile systems.
Previously, KMZ had repeatedly become the target of strikes, however, apparently, the Ukrainian army managed to establish partial production by transferring production to the surviving workshops, military expert Alexander Mikhailovsky suggested in a commentary to Regnum news agency.
“ There haven’t been large-scale strikes against military-industrial complex facilities for a long time. It can be assumed that the enemy has become bolder and has lost his vigilance. Maybe they believed that we “didn’t have any missiles left”, and in the end they set themselves up,” the expert argues.
But, he adds, you need to understand that these are “corrective” strikes; the bulk of the military-industrial complex was knocked out in the first months of the Northern Military District.
Also, missile strikes hit enterprises created during the conflict, including drone production workshops.
Former Verkhovna Rada deputy Igor Lutsenko reported a strike on one of the facilities.
According to him, the company specialized in “new solutions” in the development of drones, repairing, improving and modernizing drones.
Lutsenko did not specify where exactly the production facilities were located. However, it can be assumed that other enterprises in the “unmanned” industry also came under attack.
WILL BE LEFT WITHOUT AMMUNITION
According to satellite images published online, one of the targets of the latest strike was the Impulse plant in the city of Shostka, Sumy region. The company is unique in that it is the largest manufacturer of explosive devices, caps and detonators for ammunition in Ukraine.
Before the start of hostilities, the company produced detonators for artillery shells, hand and anti-tank grenades, capsules for cartridges, anti-tank mines and other ammunition.
Simply put, without the products of this enterprise, the Armed Forces of Ukraine can grind out a metal blank for a projectile, fill it with explosives and hand over such a craft to the troops.
In theory, it is even possible to fire such “ammunition” from a gun. However, when hit, such a projectile will not detonate.
The situation is similar with Ukrainian-made cartridges: without primers it will simply be impossible to shoot them.
Realizing the importance of the enterprise for the entire military-industrial complex, the Ukrainian authorities invested in the reconstruction and modernization of the enterprise. In 2019, a new workshop for the production of means of initiating artillery shells and missile weapons was created at the plant.
Ukroboronprom noted that the capacity of the Impulse plant is capable of fully meeting the needs of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to experts, for the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, the failure of an enterprise could be a very sensitive loss, since products of this kind cannot be supplied by NATO countries in sufficient quantities.
“We are primarily talking about initiation means for Soviet-style ammunition. These are calibers 82, 122, 152 mm. And primers for 5.45 mm cartridges. They are produced in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, but the volumes there are not what the fighting army needs,” explains Mikhailovsky.
“So if Kiev does not somehow solve this problem, then in the future they may have serious problems with the production of ammunition,” the expert notes. He noted that Kyiv had previously presented underground factories for the production of “Soviet-style” ammunition, created in the western regions of the country. However, the published photos show machined “blanks” for shells, not equipped with a remote-contact fuse.
It is likely that some industrial facilities of the Impulse enterprise were also evacuated or hidden in underground workshops, but it will not be easy to restore the entire detonator production cycle in such conditions.
It is quite difficult to identify other targets of the recent strikes, since Ukrainian military censorship ensures that any information about the “arrivals” does not appear online. However, this is where local sources come to the rescue.
In local chats of Rivne residents, messages were published about explosions in the northern part of the city, where there are industrial zones and one of the largest chemical industry enterprises - the Rivne Azot plant, where the production of explosives was most likely launched during wartime.
It can be assumed that the damaged facilities in Kyiv, Khmelnitsky and other cities were also directly related to the release of ammunition.
LIKE IN 1915
With the defeat of the main ammunition production enterprises, Kiev faces a difficult choice. On the one hand, the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces would certainly like to completely switch to the NATO standard and abandon Soviet-style ammunition.
However, Ukraine itself does not produce the same 155-mm artillery shells and requests them from the West, but the EU and the USA are not able to satisfy the requests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. For example, in March 2023, Kiev requested 250 thousand shells per month from the EU, FT noted.
Brussels promised significantly less - a million shells per year, but could not fulfill even these obligations, delivering only 480 thousand, as reported by Reuters. In any case, this could not but affect the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ ability to conduct effective artillery fire.
“There are estimates that the Ukrainian Armed Forces fire about 1/5 of the shells they need to maintain parity,” notes Mikhailovsky.
If it is possible to significantly influence the production of shells in Ukraine itself, then this value may decrease even further. And since assistance from the EU and the US is slowing down, we can talk about the prospects of a shell famine.
Mikhailovsky recalled that the canonical example of a “shell famine” is the crisis of the Russian army in 1915, which ultimately led to a retreat along the entire front. Therefore, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should prepare for “difficult decisions” if Western partners in the future are not generous with new supplies to cover the arms shortage.
Col. Macgregor mentioned some time ago the Russian were planning for an offensive operation in Khar'kov.
[Regnum] Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny and other representatives of the leadership of the Kiev army and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine gathered near Kharkov due to fears that the Russian Armed Forces would take control of this region, British expert Alexander Merkouris said on January 15.
“Kharkov is a large industrial center. The Ukrainian authorities are in great tension, they are very afraid that Russia may be planning something there,” Merkouris said during a broadcast on his YouTube channel.
At the beginning of January 2024, a large meeting of the military command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was held in the Kharkov region, which was attended by Zaluzhny, commander of the ground forces Alexander Syrsky and Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, the expert recalled.
Some of the meeting participants are on bad terms with each other, but were forced to hold the meeting because the situation in the region is negative for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine does not yet know what to do about it, Merkouris added.
As Regnum reported earlier, on January 14, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the destruction of an ammunition depot and 16 pieces of enemy equipment and weapons in the Kupyansk direction in one day. On January 13, it was also reported that an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was destroyed in the Kharkov region, near Volchansk. Kiev-appointed regional authorities later reported the defeat of an “industrial enterprise” in the city.
Former adviser to the head of the Pentagon, Colonel Douglas McGregor, previously suggested that Russia will not complete a special military operation in Ukraine without taking control of Odessa and Kharkov. McGregor noted that Western intervention will not help the Kyiv regime, since none of the Western countries is ready to directly help the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the conflict with Russia.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] A court in Donetsk sentenced a Ukrainian marine to 25 years in a maximum security colony for the murder of a man in Mariupol, the press service of the prosecutor's office of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) reported on January 15.
“The Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic passed a verdict in a criminal case against the 26-year-old commander of the 2nd squad of the 2nd platoon of the 2nd company of the Marine Corps battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ivan Oliy. Taking into account the position of the state prosecutor, the court sentenced Oliy to 25 years in prison to be served in a maximum security correctional colony,” the prosecutor’s office told TASS.
At the beginning of March 2022, he shot with targeted shots from a machine gun a car moving along Zaozernaya Street in Mariupol, in which there was a civilian. As a result of his injuries, the man died at the scene of the crime.
The convict was found guilty under clauses “g”, “l”, part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder committed by an organized group, motivated by political, ideological hatred), Part 1 of Art. 356 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (cruel treatment of civilians in occupied territory). The prosecutor's office explained that Oliy carried out the criminal order of company commander Cholovsky, who had previously been sentenced by the court in absentia to 26 years in prison to be served in a high-security penal colony.
As reported by IA Regnum, on December 12, the Supreme Court of the DPR sentenced in absentia the Ukrainian soldier Alexander Zazhirenko, who tortured a Russian prisoner and killed him. According to the case materials, on March 29, 2022, Zazhirenko met a wounded Russian serviceman who was unarmed on one of the streets of Mariupol. A representative of the Ukrainian Armed Forces delivered a soldier of the Russian Armed Forces to a nearby residential building to conduct an interrogation, during which he tortured the prisoner, and then shot him.
On November 7, the Donetsk People's Republic sentenced Ukrainian sniper Igor Kleshchunov, who shot four local residents in Mariupol, to life imprisonment. He was convicted on charges of training for terrorist purposes, violent seizure of power, murder and cruelty to civilians.
On December 13, in Rostov-on-Don, Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman Anton Baydrakov was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the murder of a resident of Mariupol and an attempt to seize power in the DPR.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova called Germany’s “secret plan” to prepare for war with Russia last year’s horoscope. She wrote about this in the Telegram channel.
“I read the German “secret plan” leaked into the Bild information dump. Powerful last year's horoscope for Pisces in Cancer. I do not exclude that the analytical part of the Bundeswehr was provided by the German Foreign Ministry under the leadership of Baerbock,” wrote the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
As reported by IA Regnum, earlier the publication Bild, citing a certain document, reported that Germany is preparing for an armed conflict between NATO and Russia, which, according to the assumption of the German Ministry of Defense, could break out in the summer of 2025. According to the publication, on “Day X”, according to a secret Bundeswehr document, the NATO Commander-in-Chief will give the order to transfer 300 thousand troops to the eastern flank, including 30 thousand Bundeswehr soldiers.
The leader of the French Patriots party, Florian Philippot, said on social media that NATO needs to be destroyed because of his desire to start a third world war. According to him, Western countries have not stopped dreaming of inciting another world war, using the European continent for these purposes.
On January 12, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, in an interview with the Romanian TV channel Digi 24, admitted that the conflict in Ukraine will end no earlier than 2025. According to him, NATO currently does not see any possibility of ending the conflict with decisive actions on the battlefield. At the same time, Joana emphasized that the alliance countries will continue to support Kyiv and will not allow the Russian military to approach the border with Romania.
[Breitbart] Ukrainian officials vowed to continue the war against Russia until Moscow returns all of the occupied territory during a so-called peace summit in Davos, Switzerland ahead of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
Switzerland hosted a meeting of 81 representatives from countries and international organisations in Davos on Sunday to discuss a formula “for a lasting and just peace in Ukraine”. American officials from the Biden administration attended the meeting, including U.S. special representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien, Reuters reports.
Remember, he run on platform of making peace. After he won (IMO, mainly because he was plying Ukrainian president in TV serial for 3 years) Ukra Nationalists started treatening him. He immediately switched. To summarise: he probably has influence as the rep of foreign sponsors (EU/UK/and guess who).
[MCM] This a friend’s translation of Alina Lipp’s recent Telegram on the murder of Gonzalo Lira.
Outrageous facts have come to light about the murder of journalist Gonzalo Lira: The American, who was tortured to death in SIZO, a Kiev pre-trial detention center in a special wing controlled by the SBU, was the victim of extortionists. SIZO employees and an SBU agent extorted $250,000 from Gonzalo for a change of preventive treatment. The vice-consul of the US embassy, who dealt with the problems of Lira, knew about the blackmail and twice wrote a statement to the SBU and the OP. As a result, the extortionists began demanding $500,000 for Lira’s transfer at his own expense.
The money was to be transferred in cryptocurrency to the SBU agent’s bank.
Three days after the increase in rates, Gonzalo called his lawyer, but before the lawyer got there, he was killed. An ambulance crew found that he had died of cardiac arrest, with multiple burns from stun guns. The US embassy is silent, Zelensky's office is silent, the Ukrainian security service is ready to pay for the delivery of the body to Poland, and that's it. Curtain closed.
#1
Lira (aka Coach Red Pill - check that out) was caught taking photos of Ukrainian military installations and sending them to Russia. He was placed under house arrest, but then tried to escape to Poland where he was caught at the border.
That's when he was put in prison.
Overweight and a heavy smoker. Pneumonia can really take out someone with those qualities quite easily (kinda like wuflu in that regard).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/16/2024 8:33 Comments ||
Top||
[Daily Mail, where America gets news] Germany's fears that Russia could launch an all-out war are justified, the United States Army's former European commander has warned, and insists that Putin will do the unthinkable if he suspects NATO are unprepared.
Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges today said that if nations don't take the threat of Russia 'seriously' and act in 'alliance' then a World War Three could develop in just 18 months.
His comments come after secret documents from the German Ministry of Defence outlined a step-by-step doomsday guide on how Russia could escalate the conflict in Ukraine to an even bigger battle.
The leaked plans, published by German newspaper Bild, reveal in detail the path to a Third World War with Putin using Belarus as a launching pad for an invasion - as he did in February 2022 for his war in Ukraine.
Kevin Ryan, a retired US Army Brigadier General, agreed that the threat was real, adding that NATO 'not getting ready' could 'invite' a war.
The release of the terrifying documents come just days after Sweden's civil defence minister warned that his country could soon face the prospect of war and urged citizens to join voluntary defence organisations in preparation for a Russian attack.
#1
Well, history teaches us that: if you invade Russia, eventually, they invade you back. And, to Russians, Ukraine is as much part of Russia as Moskow.
#3
And Ukraine (known as the Kievan Rus historically and was considered European or even Nordic) was annexed by Moskoviya (who had been under Mongol control for centuries), who then appropriated the area's 'Rus' name to make them sound more 'European'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/16/2024 9:04 Comments ||
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#4
Ukraine (known as the Kievan Rus historically)
Bullshit. Kievan Rus is like Mycenaean Greece - culture not state. And most of it did not lie in what's today's Ukraine.
p.s. Today's Ukraine is, basically, an African Country.
#8
Note well, it was the Germans who started war that lead to the loss of Prussia. Similar to who started a full fledged war on Oct 7, and for that matter since 1947.
#9
No offense but I'll take Princeton's analysis over yours, From
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/16/2024 12:27 Comments ||
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#10
Enjoy. If Princeton says that Kievan Rus (a term invented in 19th century) was a state & that Ukrainians are Nordic. Than Princeton worth less than bird shit.
It's not like you were spending any more defense money back then as you do now. It's just that the sucker you relied upon to die to defend you now has all their forces spread out all over the world and engaging in institutional self-destruction.
#15
This is interesting. First Sweden, now Germany and one of our Army guys is warning us via Super Secret leaks that Putin, not Russia but Putin himself, is planning to start WWIII in the next 18 months. We can assume this is true because Putin is a deranged madman bent on ruling the entire solar system.
I have no idea how Putin spends his day, but last I looked, the Russian military seemed to have their hands full with Ukraine. Eighteen months is approximately a year and a half. Given the style of warfare we have seen, I would not expect the Russians making it all the way across Ukraine to the Fulda Gap any time soon. I would, however, expect them to continue making slow, grinding process towards the Dnieper.
As Ukraine runs out of war-fighting stuff, the West is faced with the decision to either fold or up the ante by sending more stuff and possibly troops. All this WWIII chatter sounds like NATO will go all in.
#16
Is it really probable that Russia will attack Europe, or just another plan like the American military's plan to conquer Canada? Because Europe is an awful lot bigger than Ukraine, which Russia is still chewing on.
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.
[Korrespondent] 22:38 The enemy may be preparing a repeated large-scale offensive on several sectors of the front. In addition, the Kremlin does not abandon its intentions to capture Kyiv. For more details, see the article Landing to the rear and a new offensive: what the Russian Federation is planning.
