Ukraine War, 22–23 June, 2022
Good morning everybody!
A rather ‘quick and dirty’ update today, for I’m short on time.
German-delivered Panzerhaubitze-2000 (PzH-2000) and Czech-supplied RM-70 MRLS are not only in Ukraine, but deployed in combat, meanwhile.
AIR
An UAV crashed into the Novoshakhtinsk oil processing plant, north of Rostov-na-Donu (and about 150km away from the frontline), yesterday morning, causing a major conflagration. No idea what kind of UAV was it, nor who operated it: some guess it might have been an Ukrainian-made PD-2. However, the manufacturer denied this. Meanwhile, opinions are ranging between ‘false flag operation’ and ‘something made in the PR China’. If the latter is correct, that should have been a Mugin-5 Pro-UAV with a payload of 15–20kg and flight endurance of seven hours.
A Russian Iskander quasi-ballistic missile failed shortly after launch from a site outside Belgorod.
Seven Russian missiles have approached the industrial quarter of Mykolaiv, yesterday: two were claimed as shot down but at least one hit an unknown facility, setting it on fire.
The situation south of Lysychansk reached a level where Su-24s and Su-25s of the Ukrainian Air Force reportedly flew around two dozens of air strikes on advancing Russian and Separatist troops there, yesterday.
BATTLE OF DONBASS
Kharkiv….the Russians must’ve made some advance towards the low hills north of the city, then their artillery is capable of shelling Kharkiv again. Between others, they have ‘demilitarised’ one of metro-stations in the north of the city, yesterday. That said, Ukrainians are still holding at least the southern side of Ternova and the southern side of Rubizhne.
Izium-Sloviansk… Dolyna and Bohorodichne remain under Ukrainian control: actually, seems the Russian assaults on these two places became significantly less, the last few days. Ironically, Putin-fans are meanwhile down to reporting, ‘fighting in the Bohorodichne and Dolyna area’…
Severodonetsk Cauldron… the garrison is holding out, no matter what are the Russians throwing on it. Communication remains intact, supplies are flowing: indeed, the garrison was even reinforced and is operating about a company of tanks (the latter have been deployed to help push the Russians away from the International Airport, the last few days, just for example). That much about ‘enemy is completely isolated and cannot get away from the Azot’, reported by the Putin-fans around the Globe…
Lysychansk…this is where there remains a crisis: it seems the rearguard of the 57th Mech and the 118th TD Brigade was cut off while trying to withdraw from Zolote and Hirske towards north. Reason: after taking Pidlisne, the Separatists pushed west, and then the RFA pushed east from Vrubivka, closing the pocket. Ukrainians lost lots of troops trying to keep the route open, but it was in vain. No idea exactly how many troops are inside the resulting pocket, but it’s surely nowhere near ‘2,000’ claimed by the Russians and Separatists: this was a holding action, one aimed to buy time; heavy weapons were withdrawn already the last week; the mass of troops almost as soon as the Separatist 4th Regime broke through at Toshkivka.
Another problem is that the T1302 road (connecting Bakhmut with Lysychansk) is meanwhile continuously shelled by the Russians, and thus — at least temporarily — ‘out of use’.
Furthermore, the Separatists began attacking the southern side of Lysychansk, yesterday, from Vovchoyarivka in the west to the Bila Hora in the east (on the Siversky Donets). Seems, they’re keen to prevent Ukrainians from improving their positions into such fortifications like the one they’ve captured in this case.
Artillery duels (see: both sides trying to hit the artillery of the other side) in the Avdiivka area continue unabated. The Russians claim to have ‘silenced all the Ukrainian guns that shelled Donetsk’, the last few days — and that with help of Kalibr cruise missiles (oh, but sure…). Actually, seems Ukrainians have re-directed these to counter the Separatist attack on southern Lysychansk.
Ah yes, and ‘for the records’: Dejan Beric, Serbian serving with Separatists in Ukraine, has announced the Russians are not taking any Ukrainian artillery-troops captive any more. Means: if they catch any, they are executing them. ‘Good to know’, I would say: is likely to have similar consequences like the German ‘Commissar Order’ of 1941…
