The situation in the Ukrainian SMO on March 08 2023

Wagner claims control over Bakhmut’s east

Bakhmut In Depth Analysis | 4 Possible Scenarios

Battlefield Ukraine Trapped in Bakhmut

Russian invasion of Ukraine [8 March 2023] ‘Today’

UKRAINE BAKHMUT COUNTER ATTACK | Zelensky doubles down | New Nord Stream Bombing Theory

Units of PMC “Wagner” occupied the entire eastern part of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) – Prigozhin

 In particular, the entire territory east of the Bakhmutka River is under the control of “orchestrants”, said the head of the PMC. 

Yevgeny Prigozhin and employees of the PMC “Wagner” against the backdrop of the already famous monument to the T-34 tank in Bakhmut.

“In reality, the world hasn’t met yet the real, Russian army. Those that are extremely well equipped and that haven’t joined the fight yet. Whom are ideally prepared with the latest tech and whom are just waiting for their go. Then the whole world will tremble” – Prigozhin

Evgeny Prigozhin on the operational situation around Artemovsk:

“PMC” Wagner “blocks Bakhmut. In order to unblock Bakhmut, it is desirable to block PMC” Wagner “. For this, the Armed Forces of Ukraine created a number of groups: in Slavyansk (67th brigade), in Seversk (81st and 66th brigades) , in Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka. To securely unblock Artemovsk, the Armed Forces of Ukraine need to block the PMC “Wagner”. You get a “pie”. The filling is the parts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrounded by us, if there is a complete encirclement of Bakhmut. And the shell is the PMC “Wagner”.

Therefore, I knock on all doors and sound the alarm – with ammunition and reinforcements, and also so that we cover our flanks. If everything is coordinated, without ambitions and tantrums, they do this joint work, then we will block the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but they will not block us. If not, everyone will get fucked up. When this pie is created, I will drop a cherry on this pie and stay with my guys, rake this mess. But that doesn’t make it any easier for anyone.

Therefore, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will fight for Artemivsk to the end, this is obvious, and we must also do our work to the end. But when the whole world gathers around you, it is necessary that someone interact with you. That’s why we knock on every door. So far, my representative has been [expelled] from headquarters.”

Bakhtmut may fall in the ‘coming days’, says Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg

Bakhmut may fall in the next few days – NATO Secretary General
 
Stoltenberg stated this before a meeting in Stockholm with the heads of the defense ministries of the EU countries, which will discuss support for Kyiv.

▪️According to him, if Bakhmut comes under Russian control, then this will not necessarily reflect a turning point in the war.

▪️“This only emphasizes that we should not underestimate Russia.”

▪️NATO Secretary General also acknowledged that Kyiv is suffering heavy losses there.

“A completely different war”. British mercenaries scared of Russian kamikaze drones near Artemivsk

Two British mercenaries told Metro about the use of kamikaze drones by Russian troops against enemy troops near Artemivsk (Bakhmut).

“All we could do was escape. There was a makeshift C-4 attached to it and it nose-dived right into the ground. If we had delayed for 10 seconds, we would have been blown up,” mercenary James D reported on the encounter with the drone.

The British said the fighting in Ukraine had become a “completely different war” the moment they returned to the front after a break in January.

In particular, the mercenary said that in winter conditions near Bakhmut it had become impossible to hide from shells because the trees had no leaves or the trees had already been destroyed by shelling.

“Basically, anyone could imagine hell in this way,” D summarised.

There was still an escape from this ‘hell’ before the Russian guns sent the hapless mercenary into real hell.

Situation in Bakhmut

The entire eastern part of the city is now under the control of the divisions of PMC Wagner,  here is the list districts:

▪️Dachi;
▪️Promzona;
▪️Miaskokombinat;
▪️Zabakhmutka.

To the west of the river Bakhmutka liberated districts:

▪️Stupki;
▪️Ilyinovka.

Fierce fights continue in the districts:

▪️Sobacheevka;
▪️Budenovka.

Battle for Bakhmut situation as of 11.00 March 8, 2023 – @Rybar

🔻Founder of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin announced the liberation of the entire eastern part of Bakhmut. Everything to the east of the Bakhmutka River is under the control of the Wagnerites.

▪️Fighting also continues on the southern outskirts of the city near Independence Street, as well as in the south-west near the Lesnoye cooperative and the MiG-17 stele.

🔻At the same time, the Ukrainian command continues to partially withdraw troops from the city along dirt roads under constant artillery shelling and air strikes.

▪️From the vicinity of Bogdanovka, Krasnoe, Khromovo, Ukrainian assault detachments continue their counteroffensive attempts to preserve the land corridor from Bakhmut to Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka.

▪️In two settlements, advanced ammunition depots are being equipped and personnel are being deployed, and reinforcements have been deployed to the cities themselves.

▪️In the vicinity of Nikiforovka and Minkovka, additional fortifications were created, as well as ditches and trenches were dug. Building materials are brought to the area of ​​Slavyansk and Kramatorsk daily.

Military expert Boris Rozhin (C. Cassad) on the situation in the Artemovsk direction for the evening of March 07, 2023

1. The situation for the enemy in the city has worsened over the past day. There are results of fire control over roads.

2. Despite reports of the withdrawal of some units, the enemy does not abandon attempts to hold the defense in the western and part of the central districts of the city. There is a political task-to keep Bakhmut at all costs, which is solved by a tough defense in the city limits and attempts to keep the localities of Krasnoe, Khromovo and Bogdanovka, despite the pressure of the Wagner assault groups at Bogdanov and Krasny (Ivanovske)

There is pressure from the West to leave Bakhmut, but Kiev has become a hostage to its propaganda campaign to keep the city.

3. There is a transfer of reserves to hold the city, which were intended for Kupyansky, Krasnolimansky and Zaporozhye directions. They are insurance in case ” Wagner “breaks through the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Khromovo area and closes the boiler. Then the reserves will be used for counterattacks in the area of Berkhovka, Yagodnoye and Khromovo.

4. Part of the reserves has already been sent for counterattacks in the direction of Kleshcheyevka and Krasny. Their task is to push our troops away from the road to Bakhmut through Krasnoe and formally continue to supply the defenders in the city, to deliver at least something at night, despite the shelling. The road is now virtually inaccessible. Attempts to counterattack the Armed Forces of Ukraine to de-block it did not bring results due to the good work of attack aircraft, spotters and Wagner artillery, which extinguish the enemy’s efforts.

5. Prigozhin stressed that the shell conflict with the Defense Ministry has not yet been resolved. Hardware friction should affect the pace of the operation in Artemovsk.

Today, Defense Minister Shoigu said that the enemy lost 11 thousand people in February in Artemovsk. Prigozhin noted that the enemy has 12-20 thousand people in Artemovsk (gorod, Krasnoe, Khromovo, Chas Yar).
Part of the enemy’s reserves is concentrated in the Chas Yar area. They intend to use operational reserves in the area of Konstantinovka and Kramatorsk if the crisis becomes operational.

6. In the middle and third weeks of March, they will face the issue of final withdrawal from the city or road deblocking. The Armed Forces of Ukraine in Artemivsk have a certain supply of b/c (ammo), including for heavy weapons, but with the roads cut off and such an intensity of fighting, b / c will be used up very quickly.

The situation in Severodonetsk and Mariupol will repeat, when the enemy defended city blocks with heavy weapons, but after the ammunition for tanks and Grads ran out, it became much harder for them and much easier for us. Therefore, supply issues play a crucial role in predicting the pace of liberation of the city.

7. By the evening of March 7, 2023, 45-52% of the territory of Bakhmut is under the control of Wagner.

Rybarwith Military Chronicles speculated on the Topic of a possible Counterattack by the AFU on #Bakhmut⚡️

🔹 If the Operational Situation there does not change and the flanks of the “Wagnerians” are not covered, for example, by regular units of the RF Armed Forces, a counteroffensive will not just be possible, but very possible.

🔹 Moreover, the other day Yevgeny Prigozhin mentioned by the channel authors already informed that forces for this counteroffensive are being assembled and are available. And in my opinion “from the ground” the most probable direction is the north.

🔹 Another Thing is that such a step would be categorically stupid for Kiev. Because it would be much more competent to simply withdraw to the second line of defence and hold it there, thanks to the fact that these lines have been prepared and equipped for a long time. But the Ukrainian leadership has evidently stuck its neck out in #Bakhmut. And it is either intentionally stalling for time, or simply playing with symbols. Not sparing their own people.

📌 If the Counteroffensive takes place – Bakhmut will finally become a central point of confrontation between the two forces. And it would be desirable that our forces were numerically equal, so to speak.

Western intelligence agencies knew about the Ukrainian trace in sabotage on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines a week after the explosions, the British newspaper The Times reported.

According to the authors of the material, NATO tried to prevent this information from becoming public, as this would lead to an aggravation of relations between Ukraine and Germany. The publication also says that European intelligence knows the name of the “private sponsor” of the sabotage. His identity is not disclosed by the security services, but he is a wealthy Ukrainian who allegedly has no ties to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In light of some recent leaks that the Ukrainians have, once again, backed off attacking Transnistria (because it is and always has been a genuinely terrible idea and they don’t have the troops for it) , I think it’s worth taking a look at the fabled Cobasna Ammunition Depot.  According to the usual story pushed by Western pseudo-analysts who went into journalism because they can’t do math, it has enough ammunition to last for years of combat.  But does it really?

Cobasna is generally said to contain something like 20,000 tons of ammunition.  Which sounds like a lot and is a lot.  However, 152mm artillery shells weigh a hundred pounds each.  Which is also a lot.  There’s only 20 152mm shells per ton.  As such, assuming that Cobasna is packed with nothing but 152mm artillery shells, Ukraine would be looking at a total haul of something like 400,000 shells should they capture the depot completely intact and the ammunition within is all usable and not rusted to oblivion and/or sabotaged.

Ukraine is generally said to fire something like 6,000 artillery shells per day, which works out to 180,000 rounds per month.  Zelensky recently demanded a continual supply of 250,000 rounds per month out of NATO.  As such even a completely successful operation to seize and empty the Cobasna depot in Transnistria – an operation absolutely fraught with enormous risks – would only be expected to feed the VSU’s cannons for about two months.

People should stop acting like this is a realistic plan to solve the VSU’s problems.

The Russian military began to gain a foothold on the outskirts of Krasnogorovka, a city north of Avdeevka, from which Ukrainian militants often shell Donetsk, an officer with the call sign “Simon” told RIA Novosti.

He noted that the outskirts of Krasnogorovka were hit “Grad” and “Solntsepyok” MLRS. The combined use of these systems is used to clear the way for advancing troops.

Total desertification of Kupyansk: the city is being cleaned under the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Kupyanskie channels report on the termination of access to the city of humanitarian organizations under the pretext of ensuring the safety of volunteers. Local residents are handed out the remnants of what they managed to bring earlier.

In parallel, the forced evacuation of families with children began. The Kharkiv OVA secured themselves by obliging those who do not want to leave their homes to write an appropriate application.

In the chats of local residents, they believe that special conditions are being created in order to “cleanse” the city from the civilian population, and leave the vacated houses for units of the 14th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Remarks by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on a conference call with the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces

Key points

 ▪️ Bajmut (Artemovsk ) is one of the most important defence centres of the Ukrainian army in the Donbass. Its launch will allow the RF Armed Forces to continue the offensive deep into the enemy’s defensive positions.

Nikolayevka, Dvurechnoye, Krasnaya Gora, Gryanikovka and Paraskovievka have already been liberated in the Starobelsky and Bakhmutsky directions.

▪️ The enemy command does not take into account the huge casualties among the soldiers. The losses of personnel of the Ukrainian formations in February increased by 40%, exceeding 11 thousand people.

▪️ Western countries are increasing arms supplies to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but this does not contribute to the success of the Ukrainian army.

▪️ The priority for Russian troops is to save the lives of personnel and civilians.

▪️ More than a thousand military women participate in the SVO, each third of them received a state award.

▪️ The Kronstadt submarine is planned to be equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles.

▪️ We need to put an end to US-led Western misrepresentations of its main contribution to the defeat of Nazism in WWII.

#Chronicle of the Special Military Operation for 8 Mar 2023⚡️

🔹#Starobelsk Direction:

▪️ The situation has not changed. The RF Armed Forces are striking at enemy positions, stopping attempts by Ukrainian forces to gather reserves for counterattacks near #Gryanikovka in the #Kupyansk sector and #Serebryanskoye forestry in the #Liman (#Lisichansk) sector:

🔹#Soledar (#Bakhmut) Direction (MAP (https://t.me/sitrepmaps/1484)):

▪️ The Wagner PMC storm troopers have established full control of the eastern part of #Bakhmut, mopping up the areas east of the Bakhmutka River.

▪️ In the south of the city, fighting continues in the area of Independence Street and the stele of the MiG-17 monument.

▪️ In the vicinity of #Bogdanovka, #Khromovo (in NW-W of city) and #Krasnoye (SW of city), the AFU are forming strike groups to attempt a counterstrike in order to maintain a corridor into the controlled part of the city.

🔹#Donetsk Direction (MAP (https://t.me/sitrepmaps/1490)):

▪️ The RF Armed Forces resumed their offensive in the direction of #Krasnogorovka, occupying a number of positions near the liberated village of #Vesyoloye.

▪️ To the south of #Avdeyevka, the Sparta battalion launched an offensive near #Vodyanoye, destroying the AFU at strongholds in the landings and on heights.

The AFU is reinforcing positions at the base of #Avdeyevka, and attempts of counter-offensive actions in the area of #Novobakhmutovka are possible.

🔹#Zaporozhye Direction:

▪️ Ukrainian drone strikes power lines in #Energodar, fire broke out at the site of the arrival. Part of the power lines were de-energised.

🔹#Kherson Direction on #SouthFront:

▪️ AFU moves equipment near #Novoberislav. This may indicate preparations for offensives or diversionary strikes as part of the upcoming spring campaign.

Special Operation, 8 Mar 2023; pub. 22:33 War Map and the Situation on the Fronts in the Evening of 8 Mar 2023; pub. 00:05⚡️

⚔️ Situation on the Fronts for the past Day

🔹#Svatovo – #Kremennaya (#Starobelsk) Direction:

➖ Artillery and aviation strikes were carried out along the entire front line in the #Kupyansk sector.
➖ In the areas of #Tabayevka, #Gryanikovka, #Olshana in #Kharkov region, #Artyomovsk, #Novosyolovskoye and #Stelmakhovka in the LPR, the activities of ten Ukrainian SRGs have been foiled.

🔹#Artyomovsk (#Bakhmut) Sector:

➖ “Orchestrants” have entered Dubovo-Vasilyevka, fierce fighting is taking place.
➖ The Wagner PMC fighters have 👉 fully occupied (https://t.me/sitreports/5518) the eastern part of #Artyomovsk, advancing towards the centre of the city from several sides. Also, our forces continue to advance in the Sobachevka and Budenovka areas.

🔹#Donetsk Direction:

➖ The Russian army continues its offensive on #Avdeyevka.
➖ To the north, our forces are advancing towards #Krasnogorovka, and #Vesyoloye has been liberated.
➖ In addition, information appeared (https://t.me/RVvoenkor/40102) about fighting in #Avdeyevka industrial zone.
➖  Also, the RF Armed Forces continue their assault on #Maryinka and #Pervomayskoye.

🔹#SouthDonetsk and #Zaporozhye Directions:

➖  There is no change in #Ugledar, the marines are at the dachas.
➖  Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defence said that strikes were launched against militants units in the areas of #Ugledar, #Pavlovka, #Novosyolovka DPR and #Novodanilovka in #Zaporozhye region.

⚡️ (https://t.me/sitrepmaps/1493)🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ Special Operation, 8 Mar 2023, Main; pub. 22:33⚡️

▪️ The Russian military has hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s 59th Motorized Infantry Brigade in the DPR, the Russian Ministry of Defence said;

▪️ Russian forces control the entire eastern part of #Artyomovsk in the DPR, Prigozhin said;

▪️ Publications in Western media on Nord Stream explosions are a coordinated throw-in, the authors of the terrorist attack want to divert attention, Peskov said;

▪️ German Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to RIA Novosti the searches on the vessel allegedly carrying explosives to blow up Nord Stream;

▪️ NATO does not yet know who is behind sabotage of Nord Streams, Stoltenberg said;

▪️ US intelligence believes that the Russian Federation does not want a military conflict with Western countries, but the risks of escalation in Ukraine are high, according to a report of the special services;

▪️ US needs six years to replenish stockpiles of artillery shells handed over to Ukraine, media report said;

▪️ Leopard 2 tanks with trained brigades will go to #Ukraine in March, German defence minister said;

▪️ UN ready to lend its services to reach agreement on security zone around ZPP, Guterres said during visit to #Kiev;

▪️ Food and fertilizer exports from both #Ukraine and #Russia are critical to global food security and lower food prices, the UN secretary general said.
 

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Republican for California) has declined and refused Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky’s invitation to visit Ukraine, saying that he does not support “a blank check”, a position he repeated on Tuesday, implying he wants to know where Ukrainians are spending the money given by US Government.

— “Let’s be very clear about what I said: No blank checks, OK? So, from that perspective, I don’t have to go to Ukraine to understand where there’s a blank check or not,” McCarthy told CNN. “I will continue to get my briefings and others, but I don’t have to go to Ukraine or Kyiv to see it. And my point has always been, I won’t provide a blank check for anything.”
(https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/08/politics/zelensky-mccarthy-ukraine/index.html)

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