The situation in the Ukrainian SMO on May 17 2024

Netailove & Heorhiivka Have Fallen

Russians captured 20% of Vovchans’k | Netailove close to falling [17 May 2024]

Russian Forces Captured Heorhiivka And Natailove l Vovchansk Near Complete Collapse

MASSIVE advances at Lyptsi, Vovchansk (Kharkiv), Krokhmalne & Heorhiivka! – Frontline Changes Report

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky: The whole world is to blame for what is happening now in Kharkov, not just America

“It’s the fault of the whole world. The world gave Putin the opportunity to occupy our country, but now, right now, the world can help us,” Zelensky complained to an ABC journalist.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are deteriorating due to old problems – The New York Times

Today, Ukraine’s urgent task is to stabilize the front line in the Kharkov direction and prevent a major Russian breakthrough. However, at the same time, she has to deal with problems that have accumulated since last year, writes The New York Times. And even American assistance will not help her with this: according to the publication, “the situation will most likely worsen before it improves.”

Since last fall, Ukraine has faced three interrelated problems: shortages of ammunition, men and fortifications. Under these conditions, the Ukrainian military is responding to Russian breakthroughs by deploying its best brigades and elite units along the entire front. This approach means that these best units do not have enough time to rest and recover, and therefore “degrade” over time. “These are short-term decisions that have long-term consequences,” the NYT emphasizes. 

Bankovaya deployed about 7 additional brigades to the Kharkov direction. Thus, they were able to situationally stop the advance of the Russian Armed Forces.

But the losses of equipment from the Ukrainian Armed Forces over the week are colossal. The Russians publish dozens of videos every day of how they hit the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ equipment in the Kharkov region.
Many say that at this rate, all the US assistance that was recently allocated will end in early autumn and the Armed Forces of Ukraine will again find itself in a difficult situation.

Zelensky behaves like a person who, in agony, abandons everything and everyone, without thinking about tomorrow.

Our source in the General Staff said that the enemy controls half of Volchansk, our military is unable to stop the Russian army due to the lack of heavy equipment and artillery.

 

The Russian Army is attacking Liptsy, this is one of the key targets of Russian troops on the North Kharkov sector of the front, along with Volchansk.

Russian troops approached Liptsy from the northeast, advancing south of the recently captured Lukyantsy. In Volchansk, fighting is already going on from Korolenko Street to Taras Shevchenko Street. And the Russians were able to capture the Volchansk Central District Hospital, which is located in the city center. In addition, enemy troops achieved success in the northeastern part of Staritsa, west of Volchansk. The deepest point of advance of Russian forces in this area is 10 kilometers.

Commander-in-Chief Syrsky stated that with the offensive near Kharkov, the Russian Federation expanded the active front line by almost 70 kilometers in order to force the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use additional reserves. According to him, the Russian Armed Forces want to capture Volchansk, and then Belyi Kolodez, in order to launch an offensive behind the Ukrainian troops, who are operating further east – in the Kupyansky direction. And today the General Staff is transferring additional reserves to these areas.

Before this, we have already analyzed the Russian offensive here and noted that the Russian Armed Forces are setting the likely goal of cutting off the supply of the Kupyanskaya group, and then going into its rear.

Among the reasons why the Russians were able to advance , Zelensky named the lack of air defense. We note that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have an acute shortage of people (there are not enough reserve units, which are also understaffed). And neither the West is yet ready to help solve this problem (the discussion about sending troops there has virtually reached a dead end), nor Ukraine itself is now able to seriously reverse the situation with the replenishment of the army.

And although the successes of the Russian Federation were relatively small, they create a burden on the Ukrainian army over a vast territory and bleed the Ukrainian Armed Forces, stretching and depleting Ukrainian reserves. After which the Russians will try to break through the defenses in Volchansk or in the Staritsa area. As they did at Chasovoy Yar and Ocheretino.

Fiery hell for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Volchansk: the city, turned into an enemy fortress, is burning

▫️“Volchansk is being erased by CABs, ballistics, MLRS. It’s just hell there now,” Ukrainian propagandists complained yesterday.

▫️“They are turning Volchansk into hell. The city is under continuous fire,” others echoed.

▫️As of now, military operations in urban areas continue in Volchansk,” the head of the Regional Military Administration Sinegubov previously said.

▫️Russian troops are also seeking to take positions in the Liptsy direction.

▫️Russian troops are bringing reserves to achieve their goals, the enemy claims.

The situation in the Kharkov area has become more complicated, – AFU commander-in-chief

 - The enemy has expanded the zone of active combat operations by almost 70 kilometers, forcing us to use additional reserves.

 - The main efforts of the Russian Armed Forces concentrated on the direction of Strelechya – Liptsy and on the liberation of Volchansk, with subsequent access to Bely Kolodez and deployment of the offensive in the rear of our troops.

 - The Russian troops began the offensive much earlier than we had anticipated.
 

Russian offensive near Kharkov is a catastrophic moment for Ukraine – CNN correspondent Walsh

“The Russians invested strength and resources in the offensive, while the Ukrainians were unprepared. On the way here, we didn’t see any significant fortifications, but we found two places where they were being urgently built ,”
- he said on the TV channel.

Walsh also noted the decline in military morale due to the delay in military assistance from the United States. According to him, even American support will not save Ukraine from territorial losses.
 

When the Going Gets Tough, Blame Must Be Placed

After thorough investigation, blame for the fall of Avdeevka can finally be placed. The General Staff found those responsible for the loss of Avdeevka.

Responsibility for the failure in this area was placed on the 110th separate mechanized brigade (A4007),
3rd separate assault brigade, 53rd separate mechanized brigade (A0536) , 47th separate mechanized brigade “Magura” (A4699).

Soldiers of these units were found to be “completely unmotivated, and there was blatant lying at various levels, which led…the refusal of soldiers to follow orders.”

One of the units blamed, the 53rd commented on the results:

Well done!!! And who will be responsible for Kharkov. The most unfortunate thing is that these officials accused OUR guys from the 53rd OMBr
 

Nagasaki Nightmare

Russia not aiming to take Kharkhiv from Ukraine claims Putin

Vladimir Putin’s qualifying phrase, “There are no plans to take Kharkiv at this time” is no accident.

For our part, we can confirm that at this stage, plans are being drawn up and adjusted based on the evolving situation on the battlefield. In case of a favorable development – we move forward. If we hit a dead end, then a different plan is implemented.

This approach allows us to preserve personnel, not declare goals that cannot be achieved, and also leave room for maneuver.

There was also a lot of talk about the lack of plans to enter the Kharkiv region in the past year and a half. As we can see, in the end, everything changed based on the evolving situation (just in time to accumulate forces and create a reserve of ammunition and fire strike means).
rybar

On the “halt” of the Russian offensive on Kharkiv: what’s the nuance?

First, Zelenskyy stated that Ukrainian forces managed to stop the advance of the Russian army in the Slobozhansky direction. At the same time, the Commander-in-Chief of the AFU Syrskyi claims that there is a risk of encirclement of the Kharkiv group of the AFU by Russian troops.

And they are both right, but there is, as usual, a nuance.

▪️More than 30 AFU battalions have been redeployed to the sector (for comparison: Chasiv Yar is held by half the forces). Given that the Russian Armed Forces have taken only the first line of defense and the gray zone, the enemy has now redeployed significant forces to the pre-prepared positions. They need to be dislodged and put out of action.

▪️The number of footage of destroyed and burned-out AFU equipment (“Lancets”, KABs, FABs on JDAM) is overwhelming: “Lancets” are flying at individual vehicles and mortar crews, FPV drones are operating. We don’t remember a section of the front where, during the offensive of the Russian army, so many video frames of fire damage were released. And this is only what has made it to the Internet.

▪️Despite the 30+ enemy battalions in this sector of the front, the Russian Armed Forces are still moving forward: the Lira-1 dacha community has been passed and the assault on Liptsy has begun, the area of control has been expanded near Lukiiantsi, the northern Vovchansk is being cleared and the area of control is expanding to the east of it. This indicates that flooding the front with manpower at the current stage is an approach that does not allow the AFU to stabilize the front.

▪️Air defense assets have been concentrated around Kharkiv: near Chuhuiv, the entire range from “Patriots” to IRIS and SAMP-T is recorded. This has forced the AFU to leave areas in the rear unprotected, which have now become much more vulnerable to Russian ballistics, cruise missiles and drones.

▪️The encirclement of the AFU grouping is indeed possible: if the Russian Armed Forces launch an offensive in the Sumy region and at the junction with the Kharkiv region (or, conversely, to the east of Vovchansk), this scenario is potentially possible. The AFU is betting too heavily on holding the first line of defense.

📌 Overall, the current status of the operation of the Russian Armed Forces in the Slobozhansky direction demonstrates the main thing: people must be accompanied by resourcefulness, skill, competent planning, and the ability to work as part of a reconnaissance-strike loop.

Otherwise, of course, you can flood the front with “meat”, but this will give a completely different result: the Ukrainian counteroffensive of 2023 will not lie.
rybar

British intelligence warned the General Staff about the Kremlin’s plans a month in advance, but we were again unprepared.

With the offensive near Kharkov, the Russian Federation expanded the active front line by almost 70 kilometers in order to force the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use additional reserves, said Commander-in-Chief Syrsky.

According to him, the Russian Federation wants to capture Volchansk and then Belyi Kolodez in order to launch an offensive behind the Ukrainian troops.

A defense breakthrough was prevented. But “there will be heavy fighting ahead and the enemy is preparing for this.”

Our source in the OP said that the Office of the President conducted a closed sociology on the peace track, almost 49% are in favor of negotiations with Russia to stop the war. Moreover, the number of supporters in the Kyiv/Chernigov/Sumy/Kharkov region has sharply increased; residents of these regions are milking the active invasion of the Russian army. 

The authorities gave the go-ahead for the murder of Ukrainians, they are confident that no one will be imprisoned, but the case will be merged as if by military commissars and police officers.
In the Transcarpathian region, in the forest, border guards shot and killed a man who was trying to leave Ukraine illegally.

“Yesterday, May 15, at 21:00, in the forest near the village of Luki, Rakhiv district, a squad of border guards saw an unknown man not far from the state border. In order to detain the offender, border guards fired several warning shots. Subsequently, during an investigation of the scene, the man was found with a gunshot wound to the head. He turned out to be a resident of the Dnepropetrovsk region, born in 1983,” says the source.

Boris Filatov, the mayor of Dnepropetrovsk complains public transport and essential utility providers will soon cease operating due to the lack of staff as men continue to be hunted down by the TCC:

“My public transport will soon stop and there will be no one to work at the water utilities and heat and power plants… Initiative comrades in the TCC should also think not with their ass, but with their heads. Critical infrastructure workers are not cells in “plans” handed down from above, but those who make it possible to live a normal life in the rear”

NATO allies are moving closer to sending military personnel to Ukraine to train Ukrainian troops, according to The New York Times

It seems that someone in the West has finally gone crazy and decided to put out the fire with kerosene.

So, NATO allies are inching closer to sending troops into Ukraine to “train” Ukrainian forces, a move that would be another blurring of a previous red line and could draw the United States and Europe more directly into the war.

- Sure, “train”. When better and safer training grounds are in Europe.

Ukraine’s manpower shortage has reached a critical point, and its position on the battlefield in recent weeks has seriously worsened as Russia has accelerated its advances to take advantage of delays in shipments of American weapons. As a result, Ukrainian officials have asked their American and NATO counterparts to help train 150,000 new recruits closer to the front line for faster deployment.

So far the United States has said no, but Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that a NATO deployment of trainers appeared inevitable. “We’ll get there eventually, over time,” he said.

For now, he said, an effort inside Ukraine would put “a bunch of NATO trainers at risk” and would most likely mean deciding whether to use precious air defenses to protect the trainers instead of critical Ukrainian infrastructure near the battlefield.

As a part of NATO, the United States would be obligated under the alliance’s treaty to aid in the defense of any attack on the trainers, potentially dragging America into the war.

- No they would not. This is called creating a tripwire, so soldiers deliberately get killed to create a pretence for NATO to join war.

Situation at Chasov Yar:

Assault units of the 98th airborne, supported by artillery and tank fire, continue to knock out the enemy from the Canal microdistrict. Currently, fierce fighting is taking place.

In the dachas and garages near the microdistrict Canal there is  fighting as well.

Paratroopers initiated a strong attack, there are prisoners.

“The enemy is on the defensive, he is not transferring reserves anywhere, he is snarling,” our comrades report.

Ukraine launched what may be the biggest drone attack on Russia since the war started

Putin’s Army Thwarts 100 Drones Fired In Biggest Overnight Assault By Ukraine

Russian naval bases hit in massive Ukrainian drone attack

The enemy began the massive use of unmanned kamikazes. There are just over a hundred downed drones

Sevastopol, Novorossiysk and the Tuapse oil refinery were attacked by several dozen UAVs for each city. A difficult test for air defense, but overall, with such a volume of work, the percentage shot down is impressive.

An energy facility in Sevastopol was damaged and it will take a day to recover. Tuapse Oil Refinery was affected by fallen debris. Also, judging by the videos distributed on social networks, one fuel tank in the Novorossiysk port was hit.

At this moment, the fire at the Tuapse refinery, caused by a drone crash, has been completely extinguished, local authorities reported

Also at night, six unmanned boats were destroyed in the Black Sea.

 

Massive AFU strike on southern Russia overnight on May 16-17, 2024

Ukrainian forces carried out the largest-scale drone attack on Sevastopol and the Krasnodar Region, launching over 140 aerial vehicles and 20 maritime drones in total.

🔻In Sevastopol, the attack lasted for several hours. Drones approached from three directions in the Odesa Region: attacks were recorded in the Sevastopol Bay, near Cape Fiolent, and in the Balaklava area.

▪️In total, units of the 31st Air Force and Air Defense Division shot down 46 UAVs, five were suppressed by electronic warfare means. Another nine drones were destroyed by small arms units of the Crimean Defense Group.

▪️However, there was some damage: one of the suppressed UAVs still managed to reach the Balaklava TPP. As a result, most of the city was left without electricity. Restoration of power supply is currently underway (at least two-thirds of subscribers are already connected).

▪️Simultaneously with the UAV raid, seven unmanned boats attacked the Sevastopol Bay. Four of them managed to break through the boom barriers and were destroyed at close range, and another three were shot down near Sevastopol.

▪️The eighth USV was immobilized by a naval aviation helicopter, and its photos on the Crimean coast eventually went viral. The ninth drone was also shot down about an hour ago west of Sevastopol.

🔻The AFU also attacked the Krasnodar Region. The main strike was on Novorossiysk. The targets were oil depots, an industrial zone, and the city port. As of 12:00, more than 60 UAVs have been shot down over Novorossiysk and in the nearby approaches.

▪️There is information that USVs were used to attack the port, but we cannot confirm or deny this at the moment.

▪️Given the flight path of the drones, they most likely approached Novorossiysk through the Sea of Azov, and the launch was probably carried out from the Zaporizhia Region.

▪️In addition, an oil depot in Tuapse was attacked in the early morning. Local channels published a video of the drone’s arrival. The UAV flew through the mountains, indicating that it bypassed Novorossiysk and entered from the rear through Goryachiy Klyuch, avoiding air defense positions.

❗️As we can clearly see, the AFU attacks have again grown in the number of means used. This is the largest attack during the entire SMO, aimed at striking energy facilities in Sevastopol and the Krasnodar Region, as well as overloading air defense systems.

Currently, there are local problems in several districts of Sevastopol, with planned power-saving outages in the city to carry out repair and restoration work, but the main strike was still repelled.

However, we should not relax. Remember last year’s tactics? After massive UAV raids, an equally large-scale missile attack follows, so this should be expected now as well.

 

Once again about oil refineries and their protection from air raids

The authors of the channel Obsessed with War (https://t.me/voenacher/66013), using the footage of another strike on a Russian oil refinery, again point out the inadequacy of measures to protect critical infrastructure even after all the attacks (https://t.me/rybar/58494) on domestic fuel and energy facilities.

Note that the issue is not only technical – the ways to combat air raids are obvious. But for their implementation, the responsible persons would first of all need to:

▪️Realize that drones are not launched from the Baltic States, Kazakhstan, or Georgia – they all take off from the territory of the so-called Ukraine, and the range covers the European part of Russia.

▪️Accept that “jammers” are not a panacea – for drones with an inertial navigation system and machine vision, the satellite signal is just one of the channels, and “suppressing” them with just electronic warfare means is not possible.

▪️Understand that protective structures at oil depots cannot be the main means of defense – this is only the last “passive” line of defense in case the enemy’s drone manages to overcome the previous ones.

❗️And most importantly: to shoot down a drone, you need to shoot at it. There is no other way to destroy a swarm of half a hundred flying UAVs, no matter how much you wish.

Yes, this alone is not enough. But for some reason, we are confident that when the responsible persons begin to assimilate such simple things, the work on creating (https://t.me/voenacher/65731) territorial air defense units and air reconnaissance (https://t.me/voenacher/65732) will go much faster.

And if we continue to just whine, we can easily be left without oil refining capacities in the European part of Russia. And in this case, it will certainly not be pesky bloggers who will have to report.
rybar
 

Another tragedy in the Belgorod region. A khokhol with the help of a kamikaze drone attacked a car in the village of Oktyabrsky, in which a young family was traveling: mom, dad and a four-year-old baby. The mother died on the spot, the baby died in hospital, the father is alive. Northerners, remember them today when you kill the enemy.

Older than Edda

An explosion was heard in St. Petersburg near the Military Academy of Communications.

According to sources, the explosion occurred on the territory of the Budyonny Military Academy of Communications on Tikhoretsky Prospekt. There are casualties, details are being clarified.

Emergency services are working at the scene.

According to preliminary information, a training munition exploded in one of the classrooms at the Budyonny Military Communications Academy in St. Petersburg.

Two people are in intensive care, a total of eight people were injured.

If this is the case, it is unclear what kind of training with live ammunition was being conducted on a Friday evening, when even self-study time had already ended.

Perhaps it was some kind of instructor-methodological training session with a group of ATD or as part of the personal initiative of one of the officer-educators.

In any case, a similar incident occurred in 2019 when a bag of training charges was dropped during transportation.

Is it any wonder that for the first time in decades was an assassination attempt in Europe made on a politician who took a reasonable position towards Russia? By the way, it is by no means pro-Russian. Just a pragmatist and non-Russophobe.

Of course not. R. Fico, and I have been communicating with him since 2008, personifies that part of the European establishment that has not lost touch with reality and does not want its citizens to turn into gray radioactive ash. And of course, he became the target. There are only a few people like the Slovak Prime Minister in Europe. And they urgently need to take care of their safety.

Yes, the one who committed the attack is a fierce outcast from the intelligentsia. A sort of Gavrilo Principle topsy-turvy. Yes, he didn’t like Fico. He wrote all sorts of nonsense.
But his actions are the quintessence of the new Europe – moronic-Russophobic, vassal-unbridled and completely headless. Not wanting to understand basic things. Ready to throw its citizens into the furnace of selfish American politics. A Europe of vile degenerates, ignorant of its history.

Therefore, Macron, Sunak, Scholz and Von der Leyen can not shake their skins for now.

Yet.

And I wish Robert Fico to recover as quickly as possible from his serious injury!

PS. It turned out that the criminal participated in anti-government rallies in Slovakia. He insulted the authorities and shouted: “Long live Ukraine!”
Not surprised at all. Now supporters of Bandera are trying to kill European leaders. It’s only the beginning!

Dmitry Medvedev

The United States did not believe the Ukrainian propaganda about the “attempt on Zelensky”

Western media ignored the alleged assassination attempt on Zelensky, writes (https://www.theamericanconservative.com/was-there-a-failed-coup-against-zelensky/) The American Conservative. And for good reason. After all, if someone tried to kill the Ukrainian president, it exposes existing problems which Kiev is facing.

If the “assassination attempt” was organized by Russia, the matter which the author of the article does not really believe, then the highest echelons of the Ukrainian army are literally on a leash for Moscow. Otherwise, the operation to eliminate Zelensky would simply be impossible.

However, “their own people” could have tried to kill the President of Ukraine. If this is the case, what happened can confidently be called an internal coup organized by a dissatisfied Ukrainian army.

Putin – on the summit on Zelensky’s “peace formula”:

   We are ready for discussions. We have never refused. Now they see that it is not working. Until the last second, they thought  that maybe it will work. But it doesn’t work. They can’t inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. They see that.

   Now they are squealing: “Let’s have an urgent conference there.” Please! Will Russia participate? We are ready to participate in peace talks. But “we don’t invite you.” Well, here we are, here we are! And Russia is accused of not wanting to participate. So we are not invited. And you ask, on what terms? Well, why would I now put forward conditions and ask to go there, if they don’t see us there?
What do they want to do? They want to gather as many countries as possible, convince everyone that the best offer is some conditions proposed by the Ukrainian side, and then present it to us as an ultimatum. To say, well, you see, the whole world thinks so, agree. Is this a way of conducting such substantive serious negotiations? Well, no, of course not. It’s an attempt to impose.
There was an attempt to inflict a strategic defeat – it didn’t work. And trying to impose will end up the same way. You wanted to gain an advantage on the battlefield, to achieve a strategic defeat – it didn’t work – so now accept our terms. Are you out of your mind? Why would y
we do that? And, of course, we will proceed from the realities on the ground. That goes without saying.

It’s getting harder and harder to pretend the war in Ukraine, now in its third year, is about “defending democracy,” as our political elites in Washington insist.

This is especially true when Secretary of State Antony Blinken shows up in Ukraine to deliver billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund the war, proclaims that Ukraine’s scheduled presidential elections this spring are canceled until “conditions allow” (Ukraine has not held elections since 2019), and then jaunts off to a popular Kiev nightclub to play a boomerish cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

And it happened just days after Russia unleashed an armored ground offensive in Ukraine’s northeast near the country’s second-largest city, Kharkov.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued pushing the same quixotic message he’s been repeating for years now: Ukraine is in dire need of even more Western aid, without which the war effort will collapse, but also Ukraine is capable of “winning” this war — that is, expelling all Russian forces from Ukrainian territory.

   At this point, no one really believes that. Nor does anyone really believe — if they ever did — that Ukraine, one of the most corrupt countries in the world before the war began, is a bastion of democracy. Indeed, asked about presidential elections in Ukraine, which were scheduled for this spring but have been delayed indefinitely, Blinken said bluntly that there will be no elections until “all Ukrainians” can vote.

That means no elections even if a ceasefire or peace plan is in place, so long as Russia controls any Ukrainian territory.

The Russian invasion has now taken many of those voters in the eastern parts of Ukraine out of the electoral equation. So why would Ukraine’s current pro-Western leadership want to cancel elections until these pro-Russian areas are able to vote?

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, allow me to suggest that maybe the insistence on “all Ukrainians” being able to vote is a cynical ploy to prevent elections from taking place in the near future. Maybe Zelensky knows that Ukrainians, if given the chance, would vote his regime out of office and pursue peace negotiations with Moscow that Zelensky’s Western sponsors won’t allow.
 

Medvedev admitted that if long-range missiles are sent to Ukraine, the borders of the sanitary zone may end up on Polish territory:

Still, the idiotic NATO strategists sincerely want almost all of Ukraine to come under Russian control. That is why they are giving the Bandera government ever longer-range weapons.
But this is not the first time President Putin has said that for a peaceful life, our country will have to create a sanitary zone, within which the neo-Nazi regime will not have the opportunity to hit targets on Russian territory (including, of course, all the lands that have returned to our state). It is not difficult to calculate that if the Kiev regime uses Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG type missiles with a range of at least 550 km and with a distance between Belgorod and Kiev of 429 km, almost the entire central and significant part of the western territories would be destroyed. Ukraine falls into such a sanitary zone. In other words, Russia should be everywhere there (550 km plus another 70-100 km to be sure).
Otherwise, the security of our cities and villages cannot be ensured. Even if we imagine that some kind of document has been signed with Kiev (or rather, with Washington), any new Bandera idiot with missiles is quite capable of violating it. The consequences are obvious.

If this continues, the guaranteed sanitary zone will be somewhere on the border with Poland. Or already in Poland itself. And this is completely dangerous. Moreover, non-strategic nuclear weapons, which our country announced about conducting exercises with, are a very loose concept. Such weapons (tactical or non-strategic), as everyone knows, include nuclear charges that significantly exceed the power of Little Boy and Fat Man.
So you should carefully calculate the range of what you allocate to the Nazis, gentlemen.

 

Chronicles of the special military operation
for May 17, 2024

Russian forces struck the industrial zone and railway infrastructure in Kharkiv, while in Odesa the impacts hit warehouses and industrial enterprises.

Ukrainian formations, in turn, again carried out a massive drone attack on fuel and energy facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation. Several oil depots and substations were attacked in Crimea, Sevastopol and Krasnodar Krai.

The Russian Armed Forces continue the offensive in the Slobozhansky direction. Fighting is underway in Volchansk and on the northern outskirts of Lyptsi, the area of control has been expanded in the area of Lukiiantsi.

In the Donetsk direction, Russian forces advanced in Krasnohorivka and cleared the “cauldron” east of the city near the Borisivka pond.

In the Vremivka direction, fighting continues in Urozhayne and Staromaiorse, where the Russian Armed Forces are gradually advancing.

 Russian Defence Ministry weekly report on the progress of the special military operation

(11–17 May 2024)

Part I

▫️ From 11 to 17 May 2024, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out 28 group strikes by high-precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles, which hit command posts, military airfield infrastructure facilities, air defence equipment, fuel bases of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as a production and storage workshop for uncrewed surface vehicles and strike UAVs.

Moreover, the strikes also hit deployment areas of nationalist groups and foreign mercenaries.

▫️ Over the past week, the units of the Sever Group of Forces have liberated 12 settlements in Kharkov region: Borisovka, Bugrovatka, Gatishche, Glubokoye, Krasnoye, Lukyantsy, Morokhovets, Ogurtsovo, Oleynikovo, Pletenyevka, Pyulnaya, Strelechya, and continue advancing to the depth of the enemy’s defence.

▫️ The Russian troops have launched strikes at manpower and hardware of the five brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, four territorial defence brigades, and the 15th Ukrainian border detachment near Vesyoloye, Volchansk, Dergachi, Neskuchnoye, Krasnoye, and Liptsy (Kharkov region). Twenty-one counter-attacks launched by AFU assault groups were repelled close to Glubokoye, Tikhoye, and Staritsa (Kharkov region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 1,175 servicemen, 10 tanks, 14 armoured fighting vehicles, 45 motor vehicles, 13 MLRS combat vehicles, including six Czech-made Vampire MLRS, 26 field artillery guns, as well as five Buk and Strela-10 SAM combat vehicles.

▫️ The Zapad Group of Forces continues to occupy more advantageous lines and has inflicted fire damage on 18 brigades close to Artyomovka, Makeyevka (Lugansk People’s Republic), Kislovka, Sinkovka (Kharkov region), Yampolovka, Krasny Liman, and Torskoye (Donetsk People’s Republic).

Thirty-seven counter-attacks launched by assault groups of eight AFU brigades, as well as two National Guard brigades, were repelled close to Chervonaya Dibrova, Novoyegorovka, Stelmakhovka, Nevskoye (Lugansk People’s Republic), Berestovoye, Kislovka, and Olshana (Kharkov region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 960 servicemen, two tanks, nine armoured fighting vehicles, 24 motor vehicles, four Grad and Verba MLRS combat vehicles, 25 field artillery guns, of which five are U.S.-made. In addition, two ammunition depots were destroyed.

▫️ The Yug Group of Forces continue to advance into the depth of the enemy’s defence. The Group launched strikes at manpower and hardware of six assault, ten mechanised, and seven territorial defence brigades close to Andreyevka, Antonovka, Georgiyevka, Grigorovka, Kleshcheyevka, Kurdyumovka, Paraskoviyevka, and Novomikhailovka (Donetsk People’s Republic).

Nine AFU counter-attacks were repelled near Belogorovka (Lugansk People’s Republic), Razdolovka, Krasnoye, Spornoye, and Chasov Yar (Donetsk People’s Republic).

The enemy lost up to 3,725 servicemen, eight tanks, including five German-made Leopard-2A1 tanks, 13 armoured fighting vehicles, 55 motor vehicles, one Grad MLRS, 47 field artillery guns, to include 22 foreign-made ones.

Three Nota and Bukovel-AD electronic warfare stations, two U.S.-made AN/TPQ-36 counter-battery warfare stations, and 16 field ammunition depots have been destroyed.

▫️ The Tsentr Group of Forces has liberated the settlement of Keramik (Donetsk People’s Republic), improved the situation along the front line, and defeated 14 brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and national guard brigades near Novoaleksandrovka, Yevgenovka, Karlovka, and Rozovka (Donetsk People’s Republic).

The Russian Armed Forces repelled 59 counter-attacks launched by the enemy’s assault groups close to Arkhangelskoye, Semyonovka, Ocheretino, Solovyevo, Novgorodskoye, Umanskoye, Netaylovo, and Berdychi (Donetsk People’s Republic).

Russian Defence Ministry weekly report on the progress of the special military operation

(11–17 May 2024)

Part II

The AFU losses in this direction amounted to up to 2,475 servicemen, four tanks, including one U.S.-made Abrams, 20 armoured fighting vehicles, 27 motor vehicles, and one Croatian-made RAK-SA-12 MLRS combat vehicle.

In addition, 23 field artillery guns, including five Paladin self-propelled guns and three U.S.-made M777 howitzers, were hit during counter-battery warfare.

▫️ The Vostok Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and defeated the units of three brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and three territorial defence brigades near Ugledar, Velikaya Novoselka, Vodyanoye, Vladimirovka (Donetsk People’s Republic), Chervonoye, and Dorozhyanka (Zaporozhye region).

Two counter-attacks launched by assault groups of the AFU 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade and the 21st National Guard Brigade were repelled near Staromayorskoye and Urozhaynoye (Donetsk People’s Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 965 servicemen, one tank, nine armoured fighting vehicles, 28 motor vehicles, one Grad MLRS vehicle, and two Strela-10 SAM combat vehicles.

In counter-battery warfare, 20 field artillery guns were hit, to include four Polish-made Krab self-propelled guns and four U.S.-made M777 howitzers.

▫️ The Dnepr Group of Forces liberated Rabotino (Zaporozhye region) as a result of intensive actions. They have also hit manpower and hardware of two brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 35th Marine Brigade, three territorial defence brigades, as well as three national guard brigades close to Orekhov, Verbovoye, Nesteryanka, Malaya Tokmachka (Zaporozhye region), Nikopol, Kapulovka (Dnepropetrovsk region), Zolotaya Balka, and Ivanovka (Kherson region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 265 servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles, 15 motor vehicles, one Czech-made Vampire MLRS launcher, 35 field artillery guns, including 14 U.S.-made M777 howitzers, as well as one Buk SAM self-propelled artillery system.

▫️ The Groups’ Missile Troops and Artillery and UAVs have neutralised four Mi-24 helicopters at a helipad, as well as 40 uncrewed surface ships at a storage depot over the past week.

In addition, one U.S.-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system battalion, ammunition and fuel depots, and aerial vehicles in parks of five military airfields were hit.

▫️ Aviation and air defence systems have shot down six MiG-29 and one Su-27 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, 31 U.S.-made ATACMS and Tochka-U operational-tactical missiles, 31 French-made Hammer guided air bombs, 15 U.S.-made HARM anti-radiation missiles, 199 HIMARS, Vampire, Grad, and Olkha projectiles, as well as 329 UAVs.

In the last 24 hours alone, 123 Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs have been shot down over the territory of Crimea and the Black Sea coast of Krasnodarsky Krai.

The Black Sea Fleet destroyed 25 Ukrainian uncrewed surface vehicles in the Black Sea waters over the past day.

▫️ Over the past week, 63 Ukrainian servicemen have surrendered on the line of contact, 48 of them in the area of responsibility of the Sever Group of Forces.

Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-situation-in-ukrainian-smo-on-may_17.html