Ukraine War, 2 March 2023: High Noon
Hello everybody!
Just a brief update on Bakhmut (yes, ‘again’): gauging by available reports, for something like 17–18 hours, meanwhile, the Russians are running an all-out assault on two points of Ukrainian defences.
Main aims appear to be:
- in the west, village of Hromove, on the Road 0506; and
- in the south-west, the area around the WOG Petrol Station and the School №3, on the Road 0504.
The assaults are run in fashion described in my updates yesterday: sustained, almost continuous infiltrations by assault groups of VDV and Wagner, along hedgerows, repeated again and again. They’re supported by heavy artillery barrages and air strikes: Su-34s are bombing by night, Su-25s are spraying and praying by day…
The PSU hit back with own air strikes, but only 11 of these have been reported yesterday (not all in the Bakhmut area, though: for example, a PSU Su-24M is known to have been shot down in the Kherson area, yesterday; at least one crewmember was KIA).
The Russians are grinding forward into northern and eastern Bakhmut, too: indeed, it appears the ZSU is about to complete its phased withdrawal from the area east of the Bakhmutska River.
With other words, seems that in reaction to General Syrsky’s decision to reinforce defences of Bakhmut, Gerasimov decided to have his decision in this battle.
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BTW, quite ironic to monitor online comments of multiple Western ‘war monitors’ in style of, ‘Syrsky acting like Soviet general and only pumping troops into Bakhmut’, or ‘it’s time to withdraw’.
1.) Let me remind everybody that it’s Ukrainians — and nobody else — who are to decide where shall they fight, and where shall they withdraw.
2.) None of us has a trace of clue about what exactly is going on where; what kind of intel are involved commanders receiving about their opposition, its capabilities and intentions; and why are what of involved commanders doing what they do. Indeed, right now, we do not know if — for example — the reinforcements Syrsky reportedly sent to Bakhmut are there to a) bolster the defences, b) secure a withdrawal, or c) run some sort of a counteroffensive — whether ‘in’ or ‘near’ the area. That all is going to become known only weeks, months, and years later. (Good example: immediately after the Battle of Midway, the US press was reporting that it was Boeing B-17 heavy bombers that smashed the Kido Butai (Imperial Japanese Combined Fleet, including its aircraft carriers) and the Japanese amphibious assault ships. It was only months later it became clear that it was the US Navy that ‘ambushed’ the Kido Butai…)
3.) Let me remind everybody that Syrsky wouldn’t have to ‘pump troops’ into this battle, had the West supplied him with enough artillery ammunition, UAVs, and heavy infantry weapons. At least I’m 1000% certain, he would’ve always preferred the latter solution. And, finally,
4.) … well, these ‘Soviet-minded Ukrainian (faggot) generals’ are the people who smashed the 35th CAA north-west of Kyiv, demolished the 41st CAA north of Chernihiv, bushwacked the 6th and 20th CAAs in the Kharkiv Oblast, massacred the 1st GTA when this attempted to cross the Siversky Donetsk and then ‘raided’ it out of eastern Kharkiv… and most of that with troops that had less training than the VSRF’s kontraktniki they were facing…
….the difference was that ‘back then’ they were well-supplied with ammunition…
