The situation in the Ukrainian SMO on February 05 2023

Russia’s deliberate and methodical conquest of Ukraine

Russia’s artillery targets Ukrainian troops’ positions

Bakhmut almost encircled by Russian forces. Main 2 roads cut off by Wagner Group.

Latest map from Rybar. The Russians have reached the outskirts of Krasnoye to the West of Artemovsk. The M0-3 metalled road west to Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka is thus just hours from being physically cut not just subject to artillery fire or ranged ATGM  fire. The remaining VSU in Artemovsk therefore have hours to make a choice – fight out or stay in place and be destroyed.

02/06/2023 Bakhmut, Donetsk People’s Republic, Russian territory temporarily occupied by Ukraine.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine begin the implementation of an act of goodwill. We are waiting for statements in the style:
“withdrawal to more advantageous positions”, “leveling the front”, “yes, it has no strategic significance at all.”  / now it’s Ukraine’s turn to play “difficult decisions”
 
The subdivisions of PMC Wagner have reached the outskirts of one of the most important defense centers of the settlement Krasnoe, thus taking one of the last supply roads of the Bakhmut group, which will be cut off.

 Evgeny Prigozhin about the situation in Artemovsk:

 ”I’m clarifying the situation. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are not retreating anywhere. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are fighting to the last. In the northern quarters of Artemovsk, there are fierce battles for every street, every house, every stairwell. Of course, it’s nice that the media want the retreat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but this does not happen in the northern quarters, neither in the south nor in the east.”

Boris_rozhin: By Artemovsk.

 1. The main focus of the battle is shifting to the northern and northeastern outskirts of the city. PMC “Wagner” is increasing pressure on the enemy positions, trying to move through the northern quarters, as well as Paraskovievka and Krasnaya Gora to the last serious road along which the relatively safe supply of the Artemov group can go (the rest, to one degree or another, are under fire from Russian artillery) .

2. The enemy perfectly understands these intentions and tries to cling to Paraskovievka and Krasnaya Gora as much as possible in order to maintain the possibility of supplying the group at the current level for as long as possible. Obviously, as soon as this road is under fire, the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artemovsk will have very dark days, as it already happened in Soledar. Therefore, there is no “retreat” – the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine rushes to the extent possible to hold the Wagner, which Prigozhin once again confirmed today, pointing out that the enemy is not retreating, they are precisely pushing through.

3. To the south of the city there are battles for ROPs and VOPs near Krasnoe. The road through the village under the fire of Russian artillery. Yesterday, too, our assault groups advanced to Stupochka, as part of a roundabout movement from the south to Chasov Yar. In fact, there is an advance in the direction of Konstantinovka.

4. In the city itself, during street fighting, there is a slow advance with street fighting in the southeastern and northeastern regions of the city. The enemy here is still acting within the framework of the expected – containment and slow withdrawal, followed by defense attempts in the western part of the city. In the event of a loss of communications, this plan is unlikely to work and the Armed Forces will most likely withdraw from the city in order to prevent encirclement.

Situation on Ugledar
The battle for the town continues. The 155th Brigade continues to be at its toughest. There are small advances by neighbouring units, but it is too early to say exactly
Information from source confirmed,the enemy is actively regrouping the units that suffered the greatest losses and is pulling the most combat-ready reserves to the city. Kraken created barrier troops
In response to the published video of captured tankers and stormtroopers from the Marines, we report that both sides are suffering losses. However, although our side is the advancing side, the marines of Group [V] took many more prisoners from the 72nd and 68th AFU brigades

Situation in the #Ugledar Section until 17:00 on 5 Feb 2023⚡️

📌  In the area of #Ugledar, the situation of the AFU has seriously deteriorated. Russian artillery activity and regular raids by Russian assault groups inflicted heavy losses inflicted heavy losses on the enemy militants.

▪️ In order to stabilise the situation, the AFU command moved part of the reserves that were previously supposed to hold the #Bakhmut garrison. About 100 militants have come to #Ugledar from #Bogatyr via #Bogoyavlenka.

▪️ Yesterday, personnel of the 21st Battalion of the 56th Motorized Infantry Brigade equipped with UAVs with night vision devices have also been deployed to the combat area.

▪️ Engineer-sapper units of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade are mining residential areas and multi-storey buildings in #Ugledar in case of a defence breach.

▪️ Moreover, residents of the DPR are involved in the Ukrainian formations in the vicinity of #Ugledar. In order to prevent an escape from the battlefield, nationalists from the 226th Kraken Battalion were deployed on the second line as barrier troops.

Armed Forces of Ukraine transfer reinforcements from Artyomovsk to Vuhledar

 Due to heavy losses near Ugledar, the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to transfer reinforcements necessary for the defense of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut), Rosvoinkors report.

According to RT, from January 30, mobilized people from the central regions of Ukraine: Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Poltava regions are being transferred to the Ugledar direction.

Most Ukrainian recruits have never served in the military and have no combat experience. An unprepared Ukrainian fighter is doomed to certain death during a battle for four hours.
 

“The battle for Ugledar is not yet over”

The situation is getting more and more interesting, the enemy is transferring reserves: units of the 35th separate brigade of the AFU Marines, the 80th Separate Air Assault Brigade (the same bastards who shot our prisoners in Makiivka) and territorial defence units. Based on the heavy losses of the enemy and on the basis of open data, Bazalt draws conclusions about:
▪️the strategic importance of this city for the AFU;
▪️heavy position of the same 72 brigade of the enemy, which occupied the first and second echelons of the AFU defense in this direction.

The difficult position of the 72nd AFU Brigade is a credit to the 155th Guards Marine Brigade’s DShB, which, supported by the Kaskad OBTF, used the surprise factor at the very beginning of the assault and stormed a dacha village on the outskirts of Ugledar. Unfortunately, some of the “neighbours” were behind the Marines in their advance, reminiscent of the circumstances of the assault on Pavlovka.

For a week and a half now, fighters of the DShB have been fighting the enemy at these summer houses, imposing close-range artillery and tanks, despite the constant influence of the enemy’s artillery and tanks. But 5 days ago we managed to put out two enemy tanks and today three more tanks were captured. One of them was quite insolent and stopped to land the enemy’s troops right on the dachas and was shot in the back with a grenade launcher while retreating.

The enemy does not abandon attempts to dislodge the assault troops from the dachas, constantly bringing newer and newer reinforcements in armoured vehicles. And if the first days of the assault nothing could be done about it, in the last two days they managed to disable and burn 3 BMPs of the AFU.

In the first phase of the assault, when there were only a few assault groups at the dachas and the enemy threw more and more units into the counterattack, the group commanders had to constantly call in artillery fire practically on themselves. Thanks to those who built their dachas as if they knew in advance that they would be used as full-fledged DOTs. Tanks and enemy artillery took weeks to dismantle them.

Several attempts to send help to the attackers ended with serious losses on our side – the enemy recovered from the destruction of the first line of defense and held under fire all the wooded areas from the dachas northeast of Pavlovka to the dacha settlement in the outskirts of Ugledar. The lack of advance by some of our other BTGRs allowed the enemy to concentrate their main forces against the Marines of the 155th and the Kaskadians. And when the Stormtroopers were already starting to run out of strength and ammunition, a thick fog came to their aid and allowed them to direct help.

Unfortunately, a few days ago one of the assault groups, fighting in the encirclement, repulsed several enemy attacks and called artillery fire on itself 8 times, stopped communicating. I am afraid that video with 155th Brigade Marines prisoners, which the enemy circulates, is the consequence of this very battle, and the soldiers, cut off from their own fighters just ran out of CK and had nothing left from shelter. Or the second variant – one of the groups, with which communication was also lost recently and which was advancing at night to help the assault troops, reached the enemy’s positions in one of the forest belts at night.

Now the battle for the dachas is going on. It’s far from certain that the hardest part of it is behind us. The situation continues to be complicated by the enemy’s fire control of the routes of our reinforcements. This situation is a consequence of the fact that not all units have completed their tasks. The battle for Ugledar continues, and the main question today is whether the AFU battalions pulled in from other directions will be able to turn the tide in this bloody battle.

Two Majors  (https://t.me/two_majors)& (https://t.me/dva_majors) Voin DV (https://t.me/voin_dv)

Situation in the #Starobelsk Direction until 19:00 on 5 Feb 2023⚡️

🔹#Kupyansk Sector:

▪️ Russian forces are entrenching themselves at the previously occupied lines in #Tavolzhanka and in the vicinity of #Gryanikovka.

▪️ Amid the Russian offensive, the AFU command has rotated the Territorial Defence personnel of the 103rd and 109th Separate Brigades near #Sinkovka and Kupyansk-Uzlovoy and reinforced the grouping with new forces.

▪️ The enemy is actively conducting reconnaissance activities and has dispatched several SRGs to search for Russian positions near #Raygorodka.
➖ Also Ukrainian militants based in #Berestovoye are actively using quadcopters operating near #Kuzemovka and #Vladimirovka for this purpose.

🔹#Liman Sector:

▪️ Soldiers of the 144th Motorized Rifle Division stormed a Ukrainian army stronghold near #Yampolovka and eliminated several enemy militants.

▪️ Not far from #Makeyevka, Russian fighters were able to take up positions near a tactically important height, dislodging the AFU from their stronghold. Fighting in this area continues.

▪️ Fierce fighting continues near the heights near the #Zhuravka gully. The 66th Mechanized Brigade and 25th Separate Airborne Brigade of the AFU are trying to counterattack the positions of the Russian 3rd Motorized Rifle Division.

▪️ Taking advantage of the operational pause, Ukrainian servicemen are trying to take the damaged equipment of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade to the rear for repairs.

▪️ To reinforce its defensive lines, the enemy command moved several units of armoured vehicles from the depots near #Desna in the #Chernigov region to the village of #Redkodub.

The attack on Kupyansk continues: Russian troops entered the village of Gryannikovka

There are fights in the village. The soldiers of the 32nd separate rifle battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fled from their positions, they were not allowed to continue the retreat by their own …

Now the battle is on the eastern outskirts of the village.

Establishing control over the settlements of Gryannikovka and Masyutovka will allow Russian troops to develop an offensive in the West, forcing the Oskol River and starting to encircle Kupyansk.
 

Russians ‘pummelling’ Ukrainian cities, as more missiles strike Kharkiv

Russian rockets hit Kharkiv, Kyiv says ‘ready’ for attack

Ukraine Summary [Kreminna offensive] – 5 Feb 2023

Attack on the location of Ukrainian forces in the building of the Kharkiv National University of Urban Economy

 This morning, the RF Armed Forces launched several strikes on Ukrainian army facilities in Kharkiv – one of the targets was the KhNUGK building on Marshal Bazhanov Street . Judging by the photographs, several floors in the east wing of the building were destroyed as a result of the impact.

In the building of the university, with a high degree of probability, there was a deployment point for Ukrainian formations – enemy fighters often use educational institutions for their own needs throughout Ukraine.

At the same time, according to some reports, foreign advisers or high-ranking Ukrainian officers could be at the facility. Even before the arrival of firefighters, employees of the SBU arrived at the building, taking the situation under control.

The special operation, February 5th. Main:

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that Kiev is preparing a provocation in Kramatorsk to accuse the Russian Federation of “war crimes”. To do this, it is planned to undermine the narcological and oncological dispensaries in the city, as well as the first city hospital, the staff has already been evacuated;

▪️ Losses of Ukrainian troops per day amounted to at least 400 people in the South Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Donetsk, Kupyansk, and Krasnoliman directions, the Russian Defense Ministry reported;

▪️The military from the EU was sent to Ukraine long before 2022 – in the form of instructors, special services, and mercenaries, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova;

▪️ Former Israeli Prime Minister Bennett, who acted as an intermediary between Russia and Ukraine at the beginning of the special operation, said that the negotiations were interrupted by Western countries, and at least 17 draft agreements between the parties were prepared.

Battlefield Ukraine Feb 5th

Russian Defence Ministry Report on the Progress of the Special Military Operation (5 February 2023)⚡️

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

💥 In Kupyansk direction, the artillery of the ‘Zapad’ Group of Forces has neutralised the units from 14th and 92nd mechanised brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) near Sinkovka, Ivanovka, Berestovoye (Kharkov region), and Novosyolovskoye (Lugansk People’s Republic).

◽️ The operations of 6 AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been prevented near Gryanikovka, Liman Pervy, Kotlyarovka (Kharkov region), as well as in the Popov forest (Lugansk People’s Republic).

◽️ Up to 35 Ukrainian personnel, 1 armoured fighting vehicle, and 2 motor vehicles have been eliminated.

💥 In Krasny Liman direction, the artillery and successful offensive operations, conducted by the ‘Tsentr’ Group of Forces, have resulted in the neutralisation of the units from 25th Airborne Assault, 71st Chaser, 95th Airborne Assault brigades of the AFU, and 27th National Guard Brigade near Novosadovoye, Yampolovka (Donetsk People’s Republic), Stelmakhovka, Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People’s Republic), as well as Serebryanskoye forestry.

◽️ The enemy has lost over 120 Ukrainian personnel, 1 infantry fighting vehicle, and 3 armoured fighting vehicles.

💥 In Donetsk direction, the offensive operations, conducted by the ‘Yug’ Group of Forces, have resulted in gaining more advantageous lines and positions.

💥 Missile Troops and Artillery have neutralised the concentrations of manpower and hardware from 110th Mechanised, 35th and 36th Marine brigades of the AFU, as well as 118th Territorial Defence Brigade near Spornoye, Avdeyevka, and Krasnogorovka (Donetsk People’s Republic).

◽️ Over 115 Ukrainian personnel, 3 infantry fighting vehicles, 4 motor vehicles, as well as 1 D-20 and 1 D-30 howitzers have been eliminated near Yasnobrodovka and Pobeda (Donetsk People’s Republic).

💥 In South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, the artillery and other active operations, conducted by the ‘Vostok’ Group of Forces have resulted in the elimination of over 130 Ukrainian personnel from 72nd Mechanised Brigade of the AFU near Ugledar (Donetsk People’s Republic), and 110th Territorial Defence Brigade near Novodarovka (Zaporozhye region).

◽️ 2 tanks, 1 infantry fighting vehicle, 2 armoured fighting vehicles, 2 motor vehicles, 1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, as well as 1 D-30 and 1 D-20 howitzers have been destroyed near Gulyaypole (Zaporozhye region), and Vodyanoye (Donetsk People’s Republic).

◽️ 1 AFU ordnance depot has been destroyed near Ugledar.

💥 In Kherson direction, counterbattery warfare operations have resulted in the destruction of 1 D-30 howitzer, and 1 Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer near Kachkarovka and Dneprovskoye (Kherson region).

💥 Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have neutralised 111 artillery units at their firing positions, manpower and hardware in 142 areas.

💥 Air defence facilities have destroyed 2 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Yegorovka (Donetsk People’s Republic), and Alyoshki (Kherson region).

◽️ Moreover, 11 rocket-propelled projectiles, launched by Uragan and HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), have been shot down near Volnovakha (Donetsk People’s Republic), and Tokmak (Zaporozhye region).

Zelenskyy warns of possible new Russian offensive

Kyiv pushing West for fighter jets, says ‘Won’t target Russian territory’

Zelenskyy Admits “Things are Tough at the Front”! Russia Doubles Down!

Kiev has received “very reliable intelligence information about Russia’s intentions” to launch a new offensive, the Financial Times has said. According to the Financial Times, the offensive may take place within 10 days.

Experts say the western part of the Luhansk Region near the towns of Kremenna and Liman, where the Russian command has been amassing troops for several weeks now, is the likely location of the new offensive.

Russia is also building up its forces in the south of the Donetsk Region, the weekly said.

Arestovich predicts trouble for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

 The Armed Forces of Ukraine (APU) will not be able to avoid a “bloody fight” with the Russian army during a special operation. This was stated by the former adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Arestovich.

“ Some troubles we, apparently, cannot be avoided. A painfully large group is gathering, exceeding us both in numbers and in weapons. The Armed Forces of Ukraine will not be able to avoid a “bloody fight ,” Arestovich said.

The Sun newspaper quotes the words of the ex-commander of the combined forces of Great Britain, who believes that in the event of a conflict with Russia, the British will be kaput.

 “To rebuild the army so that it can cope with a Russian surprise attack, an additional £3 billion (about 260 billion rubles) will be required this year and every year for the next ten years. The British army is also experiencing a personnel shortage. And in the event of a military clash with Russia, the stocks of shells in the British army will run out in one day.

British intelligence believes that the Russian military is preparing to “catch” Western tanks, which are expected to appear in the war zone in Ukraine.

For this purpose, subdivisions are allegedly specially formed, the main task of which will be to “produce” serviceable Western-style tanks for their further study.

Note that a large reward has already been announced for the downed and captured Leopards, Challengers and Abrams.

EU countries have never considered and are not considering the possibility of sending their military to Ukraine to participate in the conflict  Josep Borrell, head of the EU foreign policy service
 

” I have big doubts about the adequacy of the gardener Borrell. The military of the EU member states have long been sent to Ukraine. And in the form of instructors, and in the form of special services, and in the form of mercenaries. Moreover, their dispatch began long before 2022, ” comments Maria Zakharova Borrell’s words that the West did not send its military to Ukraine.

Deliveries of increasingly powerful US weapons to Kiev indicate a deliberate escalation of the conflict on the part of Washington. Russian ambassador to the USA Anatoliy Antonov said when commenting on the White House’s decision to include high-range bombs in the next package of military assistance to Ukraine.

In his words, the USA sees no limits in its desire to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. The US administration has put almost everything on the “Ukrainian card”: its international credibility, American taxpayers’ money and the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.

He noted that Washington was de-facto instigating its Ukrainian wards to attack Russian regions. At the same time, the diplomat stressed that all the lands that became part of Russia by the will of their inhabitants “are our homeland, which we will defend with all our might”.

“Any attempts to damage Russia are doomed to fail. The sooner the US realises this, the sooner the current conflict will end,” the ambassador concluded. 

PMC Wagner commanders’ council has signed a protocol to consider USA, Great Britain and Canada as illegitimate government bodies and “terrorists”

We know for certain that the policy of these countries is based on the creation and use of terrorist organizations, as well as terrorist methods in the following areas: military, economic, biological, information, telecommunications (cyberterrorism), humanitarian (resulting in various forms of genocide and neo- colonialism: the oppression of the population of Africa, the Slavic people, the oppression of Asians on racial grounds), as well as confessional terrorism, especially against Christians and Muslims

Ukrainian defense minister says Israel promised to share missile warning technologies – TASS (https://tass.com/world/1571633)

Israel has promised to share with Ukraine missile and drone attack warning technologies, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said on Sunday.

“It is true. They (Israel) have promised us that,” Ukrinfrom (https://www.ukrinform.ru/rubric-ato/3665995-reznikov-podtverdil-cto-izrail-poobesal-peredat-ukraine-tehnologii-opovesenia-o-raketah-i-dronah.html) quoted him as saying when asked by journalists when Ukraine would receive Israeli missile waning technologies. The minister however did not say when it will be done.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed the prospect of transferring the Iron Dome missile defense system to Ukraine and called the amount of ammunition removed from Israel for Ukraine, speaking on French television

He stated the following:

“I am studying it. I said I’m studying it and I’m doing just that. The time frame was to first form the [Israeli] ministries, which is almost complete, and then look at the general policy and this more important issue. I wouldn’t make any firm commitments. (…) Israel’s contribution may be somewhere else. Recently, the US government took 150,000 shells that were previously placed in Israel, but in fact were ours, and decided to take them to Ukraine.

On Jan. 31, he told CNN he was “definitely looking into” it. The quote, however, did not appear in reviews and CNN segments posted online

According to US Army Colonel McGregor, when Zaluzhny was visiting the US on 21-22 December last year, he secretly told Defence Secretary Austin and Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Milly that AFU casualties since the start of the SWO were 257,000. 

Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were interrupted by Western countries , said former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who mediated the process

Putin promised not to eliminate Zelensky

Putin promised not to kill Zelensky at a meeting with then Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, which took place in the early days of the war.

 This is reported by the Israeli media.

After receiving the promise, Bennet called Zelensky on his way to the airport from the Kremlin and said that he was not in danger of death.

“Are you sure?” Zelensky asked.

“One hundred percent,” Bennett replied. According to him, a few hours later, Zelensky returned to his office from the bunker, where he had previously hidden, and filmed a video in which he stated that he was not afraid.

From today, the embargo on oil products from Russia comes into force. From day to day the rise in price of gasoline and diesel fuel at European gas stations will begin. The Times magazine writes that the consequences of the restrictions will be more than felt by the entire European business.

“Since the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the price of diesel fuel has jumped sharply (over the year, prices at gas stations rose from 1.66 euros per liter to 2.14 euros per liter), and the growth may continue. And since almost everything people buy is transported by diesel trucks, the rise in the price of this energy carrier fuels inflation.”

 Problems are expected not only in the European consumer market – it will become more expensive to maintain Ukraine. Rising diesel prices mean it will become more expensive to fill tanks. “Leopards” – they do not work on marshmallows.

Reznikov is leaving the post of head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and will become the minister of strategic industries

The head of the main intelligence department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, will head the defense department

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