The situation in the Ukrainian SMO on May 26 2023

Numerous NATO Mistakes Forced Kyiv to Abandon the Counter Offensive

US has been preparing Ukrainian counteroffensive ‘for months’ – Nuland

The US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told an audience in Kiev on Thursday that Washington has been helping plan the Ukrainian ‘counteroffensive’ against Russia for almost half a year.

“Even as you plan for the counteroffensive, which we have been working on with you for some 4-5 months, we are already beginning our discussions with [the] Ukrainian government and with friends in Kiev – both on the civilian side and on the military side – about Ukraine’s long-term future,” Nuland told the Kiev Security Forum via video-link from the State Department. 

The US civilian and military leadership is utterly delusional. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, having had the misfortune of listening to Victoria Nuland addressing the “Kiev Security Forum” (run by her buddy Yatseniuk), and the Pentagon bigwigs after the “Ukraine Defense Contact Group” meeting.

Every sentence is a collection of NPC cliches, sure, but the whole thing about how Ukraine is a shining example of democracy and spirit and freedom and successful warfare is so utterly divorced from objective reality, even I am having a hard time understanding how these people can be this thick — or that evil.

General Milley actually claimed that the Ukrainians had “effectively” used the US-supplied Patriot missiles! If that’s how he describes firing off an entire battery (billions of dollars up in smoke) before getting wrecked by a Kinzhal… what’s failure look like? (Well, OK, like the F-35 Barely Flying Potato, but still.)

Having lived here for 25+ years, I understand the whole “let’s tell tall tales to boost morale” thing, but there’s that, and then there’s lying to others and yourself about what’s really going on. This is the “Steiner offensive” level of delusional cope.

I almost want to say that at this point it’s just lies all the way down. But then I remember the incompetence as well. I mean, this is the country that made the abovementioned BFP… as well as the joke called La Sombrita (do look that one up, it’s hilarious — and infuriating).

However late you think it is in the imperial collapse timeline, I assure you it’s even later, if these fantasies are anything to go by.

Sunny weather in southern Ukraine suggests new fighting season has begun

ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine — Spring has finally sprung in southern Ukraine. And with temperatures hitting a high of 78 degrees Fahrenheit last weekend, expectations of a long-awaited counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces are in full bloom.

An unusually rainy few months had left the ground muddy, sticky and unsuitable for heavy vehicles. But with the recent patch of dry weather, conditions are nearly optimal for the much-anticipated counterattack, which President Volodymyr Zelensky and others have described as a make-or-break chance to show Western backers that Ukraine is capable of taking back its land.

The GUR of Ukraine says that in the coming hours, the Russians are preparing a large-scale provocation to simulate an accident at the ZNPP.

Let’s analyze why the GUR makes such statements:
1. Provoke panic in Energodar and nearby. Creating additional problems for the Russians.
2. Blame the opponent in advance and create this provocation yourself. All the same, the culprits have already been declared.
3. The GUR creates a false information trail for everyone to discuss, forgetting about the surrender of the Bakhmut fort and the delay in the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

We expect that this is a tactic to build up the situation before the very offensive.

Shot published the moment of a drone strike on a residential building in Krasnodar

UkroReich medias write there that a rocket hit a 3-story hospital building.

The smoke after the explosion of the hospital rises a hundred meters.

And by the nature of the destruction, it somehow looks more like the work of its own air defense than the arrival of a 500 kg warhead of a cruise missile.

But by an amazing coincidence, there are railway tracks and a factory nearby.(which UkroReich medias and officials never shows them) 

Part of the series “UkroReich officials and media debunked in less than a day”

At the affected facility in Dnepropetrovsk, which the IPSO
(Ukraine military psy-ops)is now trying to pass off as a peaceful hospital, a large number of Armed Forces units were clustered. Their corpses, of course, will not be shown.

It is interesting what will happen to the lady who burned the AFU to the public with this picture (of course, the Russian Aerospace Forces has other sources of information about the movements of the enemy).

Probably SBU might visit the person who wrote about the Dnepropetrovsk arrival

“Flanking meat grinder”: heavy fighting on the northern flank of Artyomovsk – the 200th brigade holds back the onslaught of the enemy
 
▪️Fighters from a separate guards motorized rifle brigade of the Northern Fleet repel enemy attacks and strike back. Considerable forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, national battalions and legions of mercenaries were thrown against them.
▪️ The enemy does not spare equipment, militants and ammunition in order to break through the flanks. Artillery duels stretch for tens of kilometers to the rear on both sides
▪️With the end of the Bakhmut meat grinder, a flank meat grinder began, but in the northern sector the enemy was stopped and cannot break through our defenses. 

Ukro source:

Our source in the OP said that Zelensky has not yet made a decision on the updated Syrsky plan, despite the failure of the counteroffensive on the flanks of Bakhmut. For two weeks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were unable to capture the small village of Kleshcheevka, and the continuation of the operation takes too many forces and reserves.

The JOKER of the DPR showed an Act of sanitary and epidemiological investigation of the military unit of the 4th regiment of the protection of especially important objects. The document describes in detail the damaged and surviving buildings (note to spotters), as well as the fact that there is an epidemic of hepatitis “A” in part

It is not clear whether this is due to the storage of biological weapons on the territory of the unit that the regiment guards, but it is worth sending a couple of missiles there. The main thing is not to start a zombie apocalypse.
Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha..

Kiev promises a nuclear disaster.

Somehow very intrusively, using all the informational capabilities, Ukraine is dispersing the wave of “large-scale provocations to simulate an accident at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.”

Allegedly, Russia is going to strike at the ZNPP and announce an emergency leak of radioactive substances, blaming Ukraine.

Thus, according to the GUR, the Russian army wants to get a pause to regroup its contingent and stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive. during the international investigation.

Well. I would take this application very seriously. Kyiv knows what he is talking about. We all remember very well how Ukraine shot down a Malaysian Boeing when its front was falling down. And I got that break.

Budanov also promised to go to the Crimea before the end of spring. But something went wrong. It is necessary to somehow explain the delay to respected partners. I am sure that the most thorough international investigation will not be able to establish with 100% certainty who hit the ZNPP. Just as it happened when the IAEA missions spread the wreckage of Ukrainian attack drones under their noses.

sashakots

Over Mariupol, in the area of “Azovstal”, air defense systems shot down two missiles

The law enforcement agencies of the DPR clarified that we are talking about British Storm Shadow missiles.

A representative of the plant said that now there is an evacuation from the builders’ town to places where there are bomb shelters. An air alert has been declared.

Todays strike in Azovstal appears to have collapsed a tunnel entrance which Russian military personnel were using

Local residents report extra Russian personnel, construction vehicles and other assets arriving on site since the strike and the sound of industrial drills from Azovstal

It looks Storm Shadow cruise missiles hit Azovstal in Mariupol

A few seconds before the explosion, residents of the city heard the whistle of rockets in the sky.

Prior to that, it was reported about the take-off of the Ukrainian Air Force aircraft for missile strikes.

“At 20:10 – from the northwest in the direction of Mariupol, 2 long-range missiles were fired,” the DPR authorities reported

Nothing of value in “Azovstal” vicinity known as of now,no ammunition explosions,nothing,probably hitting somewhere where Russian air defense is thin or is not covering…

This attack has no strategic significance whatsoever,neither HQ is hit or any object of strategic significance…

This attack only might serve to terrorise local population…

A powerful explosion thundered in the village of Maisky, Belgorod region. According to preliminary information from our source, there was a drone attack.

At the moment, there is no exact information about the destruction and casualties. Emergency services are on site.

War Map and the Situation on the Fronts in the Evening of 26 May 2023; pub. 00:05⚡️

🇩🇪 During the 12th #Ramstein meeting (https://t.me/readovkaru/3397) the formation (https://t.me/readovkaru/3402) of a “Fighter Coalition” tasked with training Ukrainian pilots was announced. Although the topic of transferring Western aircraft was not raised, one should not rule out the possibility of F-16s appearing in #Ukraine, as even the minor members of the “coalition” have a considerable number of fighters in their stockpile.

Artemovsk. Video by war correspondent Alexander Kharchenko

MSM Is Covering Bakhmut, Ukraine-Russia Battle All Wrong

Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners of war

⚔️ The Situation on the Fronts over the past Day:

🔹#Svatovo – #Kremennaya Direction:

▪️ Russian army fighters are storming AFU positions near #Masyutovka, where, just as in #Ivanovka, an Ukrainian SRG was liquidated.
➖ Also, our aviation and artillery have covered militant units near #Kuzmino and #Yampolovka.

🔹#Donetsk Direction:

▪️ The Russian army attacked near #Novokalinovo and to the west of #Avdeyevka. Also in the vicinity of #Vodyanoye, a stronghold of the 53rd AFU Brigade was hit with a Solntepek.
➖ Fighting continues on the western outskirts of #Maryinka.

💥 Near #Novonikolayevka in #Nikolayev region, an Ukrainian “ST-68UM” detection and tracking radar was destroyed.

👠 The AFU launched strikes (https://t.me/readovkanews/59612) against #Mariupol. The militants used two long-range missiles. One fell on #Azovstal territory and the other was shot down by air defence. The Kiev regime will now fire even more fiercely at civilian infrastructure, as supplies of high-precision weapons from Western masters facilitate this.

#Chronicle of the Special Military Operation for 26 May 2023⚡️

🔹 In the night of 25-26 May, the AFU struck #Krasnodar with two drones. As a result of the attack, no one was injured. In addition, in the late afternoon, the enemy launched missile strikes on the industrial zone of #Mariupol, however, according to local authorities, it did not cause any damage.

🔹 There were no significant changes on the frontline in the combat zone. The units of the RF Ministry of Defence replace the fighters of the Wagner PMC in #Bakhmut. The Ukrainian forces, in turn, are transferring reserves to various sectors of the front.

🔹 In addition, the reconnaissance ship “Ivan Khurs” returned to Sevastopol, previously declared as “injured” by the attack of Ukrainian kamikaze boats.

Read more on our 👉 🇷🇺 Website

New Map Style | Full Front Update 26/05/23

Ukraine Front Update [26 May 2023]

Massive Exchange Of Missile Strikes

Russian Defence Ministry Report on the Progress of the Special Military Operation (26 May 2023)⚡️

💥 Last night, the RF Armed Forces launched a group strike by long-range high-precision air-based weapons against ammunition depots of the AFU. The goal of the strike has been achieved. All the assigned targets have been engaged.

The RF Armed Forces continue the special military operation.

💥 In Kupyansk direction, artillery of the Zapad Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on the units of the enemy close to Dvurechnaya and Kislovka (Kharkov region).

◽️ In addition, actions of 2 AFU SRGs were thwarted near Masyutovka and Ivanovka (Kharkov region).

◽️ Up to 35 AFU troops, 3 motor vehicles, and 1 Msta-B howitzer have been neutralised in this direction during the day.

💥 In Krasny Liman direction,  Army Aviation and artillery of the Tsentr Group of Forces engaged the enemy units close to Kuzmino (LPR), and Yampolovka (DPR).

◽️ Over 60 AFU troops, 2 AFVs, 2 pickup trucks, 1 Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, as well as D-20 and D-30 howitzers have been eliminated.

💥 In Donetsk direction, units, Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, and units of the Yug Group of Forces have eliminated up to 190 troops, 2 AFVs, 3 pickup trucks, and 1 D-30 howitzer during the day.

◽️ Moreover, 1 ammunition depot of the AFU’s 54th Mechanised Brigade have been annihilated close to Verkhnekamenskoye (DPR).

💥 In South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, aviation, and artillery of the Vostok Group of Forces have hit the enemy units in the areas of Orekhov, Malaya Tokmachka (Zaporozhye region), and Novosyolka (LPR).

◽️ Over the past 24 hours, the enemy has lost 120 killed and wounded, and 4 motor vehicles in these directions.

💥 In Kherson direction, up to 30 AFU troops, 5 motor vehicles, 1 D-30 howitzer, and 1 Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system have been destroyed over the past 24 hours.

💥 Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, and artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged 78 AFU artillery units, manpower and hardware in 92 areas during the day.

💥 1 Ukrainian ST-68UM radar station was neutralised close to Novonikolayevka (Nikolayev region).

💥 Russian air defence forces have intercepted:

◾️ 1 Grom-2 missile;
◾️ 10 HIMARS projectiles;
◾️ 2 Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles.

◽️ In addition, 20 Ukrainian UAVs were destroyed in the areas of Olshana (Kharkov region), Zolotaryovka, Nikolayevka (LPR), Artyomovsk (DPR), Komsomolskoye, Tokmak (Zaporozhye region), Golaya Pristan, and Velikaya Lepetikha (Kherson region).

Special Operation, 26 May 2023, Main;
▪️ Specialists from the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) have seized documents confirming that the Kharkov institute worked on the Pentagon’s military and biological projects, Kirillov said;
▪️ If the West gives Ukraine nuclear weapons, Russia will need to launch a preventive strike, Medvedev said;
▪️ Kiev has lost over 90 servicemen in the Kupyansk and Krasny Liman directions, up to 30 Ukrainian servicemen in the Kherson direction, the enemy losses in the SouthDonetsk and Zaporozhye directions totaled over 120 servicemen;
▪️ Ukrainian army losses in the Donetsk direction amounted to up to 190 servicemen and 6 units of equipment;
▪️ Russian air defense shot down two Ukrainian Storm Shadow cruise missiles, one Grom-2 operational-tactical missile, 20 drones and 10 HIMARS MLRS shells;
▪️ A terrorist attack was prevented in Gelendzhik, a supporter of Ukrainian neo-Nazism was delayed;

The ceremony of handing over to the Ukrainian Navy a river armored boat of the new construction project 58155 “Gyurza-M” with its own name “Bucha”.

The boat was laid down even before the start of full-scale hostilities, however, it was commissioned and tested already in the process of fighting. It is also interesting that the ceremony was attended by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny, who was recently declared dead or seriously wounded.

During the fighting, the Ukrainian Navy lost 5 out of 8 available boats of the Gyurza-M project in a short time, while the survivors were transferred from the Black Sea to the Dnieper river flotilla created.

Putin’s war won’t end? Russia rules out talks with Ukraine as long as ‘Zelensky Is In Power’

Russia threatens Ukraine as Putin’s war grinds on; ‘Will Continue For Decades’

Scholz to dial Putin as NATO Nation Germany slips into recession; ‘Prevent Conflict With Russia’

Russia vs The West: What are tactical nuclear weapons?

Zelensky watches as U.S. defends holding off on F-16s | No NATO nation has agreed to hand over jets

U.S. General warns Zelensky after images of Humvees used in Belgorod attack go viral

I did Nazi that coming

As long as there is the Kiev regime and Volodymyr Zelensky, negotiations with Ukraine are impossible,” said Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Medvedev.

“Sooner or later it will be necessary to negotiate, but ‘as long as these people are in power,’ the situation for Russia will not change in terms of negotiations,” he noted.

Deputy Head of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev’s full statement during a visit to Vietnam:

◾️ Negotiations with Ukraine are impossible while the Zelensky regime is in power;

◾️ All proposed plans for a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict should be studied

◾️ The Russian military, located in the zone of the special military operation, has enough shells. The Russian defense industry has adapted, having managed to adapt to growing needs and has reached large volumes of arms production

◾️ Russian defense enterprises have already begun to introduce captured technologies that were obtained during the special operation

◾️ Russian assault detachments in the zone of the special military operation must be provided with weapons on a priority basis, the number of shells for them must be several times more than the established standards

◾️ The collapse of the American economy is not threatened, because the Americans will restart the printing press. Moreover, a US default would not be in Russia’s interests

◾️ Confidence in the dollar is very undermined in the world, countries are afraid that the West will do with them, as with Russia

◾️ Unique Russian hypersonic technologies are very important, but artillery, tanks and fortifications are needed to hold territories.

Dmitry Medvedev:

Recently I wrote why Ukraine will disappear.

 Now is the time to say how Ukraine will disappear, as well as what is the risk of renewed conflict in Europe and in the world.
 This will depend on which path the process of disintegration of this dying state will follow as a result of a lost military conflict. There are two of them. Or the path of relatively slow erosion of Ukrainian statehood with the gradual loss of the remaining elements of state sovereignty. Or the path of its instant collapse with the simultaneous annihilation of all signs of statehood. In any case, after such a collapse, three scenarios are likely.

First. The western regions of Ukraine are coming under the control of a number of EU states with the subsequent “Anschluss” of these lands by the recipient states. At the same time, a certain “no man’s” Ukrainian territory will remain, which is squeezed between Russia and the lands that have come under the sovereignty of a number of European countries. The remaining ownerless territory announces its succession from the former Ukraine, its international legal personality and its intention to return the lost lands by all means. Naturally, meaning only those lands that became part of Russia. At the same time, this “new” Ukraine immediately declares its desire to join the European Union and NATO, which is happening in the medium term. The armed conflict resumes after a short time, turning into a permanent one, but with the threat of its rapid spillover into a full-fledged third world war.
 Second. Ukraine disappears after the completion of the NWO in the process of its division between Russia and a number of EU states. The government of Ukraine is being formed in exile in one of the European countries. The conflict ends with reasonable guarantees of its non-resumption in the near future, but with the preservation of the terrorist activity of the Ukrainian Nazis, who will be dispersed on the territory of the EU states that received Western Ukrainian lands. The risk of the resumption of a full-fledged conflict or its escalation into a world war in this case can be considered moderate.
 Third. The same thing happens as in the first case, but with the opposite sign. Western lands of Ukraine join a number of EU countries. The people of the central and some other ownerless regions of Ukraine within the framework of Art. 1 of the UN Charter immediately declares its self-determination by joining the Russian Federation. His request is granted, and the conflict ends with sufficient guarantees of its non-recurrence in the long run.

 There are simply no other options. And this is already clear to everyone, even if it is unpleasant for someone in the West to admit it.

We may be temporarily satisfied with the second option, but we need the third one.

In the UK, they proposed to unfreeze Russia’s assets – but only on the condition that Moscow agrees to pay compensation to Ukraine, writes The Guardian. The estimated damage exceeds the frozen assets by an order of magnitude, and the British BP’s share in Rosneft is comparable to the value of the frozen one.
The UK violates the laws on the immunity of funds from Central Banks, but believes that it has the right to punish Russia for actions in a third country.

General Waldemar Skrzypczak, former commander of the Polish Land Forces & former Deputy Minister of Defense, has said Poland should prepare for a coming uprising against Lukashenko in Belarus.

He added that Poland should aid those military formations just as it aids Ukraine

Skrzypczak commented on the Russian Volunteer Corp’s actions in Belgorod & said similar things could soon happen in Belarus too.
 
“If the Ukrainian counteroffensive is successful, the Belarusian soldiers allied with the Ukrainian Army won’t quit. They’ll go to Belarus”

” I hope this will trigger an uprising in Belarus, this is what Lukashenko is afraid of. Let’s prepare for an uprising in Belarus, because it will happen. The point is that we should not sleep through this moment.”

“We must be ready to support the troops that will carry out the operation against Lukashenko. We have reasons to help them, just as we help Ukraine. The Belarusians will support them against Lukashenko with enthusiasm. He doesn’t have the military potential to prevent such an uprising”

The trend of the Ukrainian conflict is shifting in favor of Russia – 19FortyFive

 Kiev decided to defend Artyomovsk to the end, and, having lost a staggering number of troops, conceded the city itself, writes former US Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis.

Now the sad reality is that the development of the Ukrainian conflict has shifted in favor of Russia.

“Ukraine faces a global dilemma: use the remaining offensive capabilities in the last hope of inflicting a severe wound on the Russians defending the occupied territories, or save them in case Russia launches its own summer offensive,” the author of the article writes.

NEVER GO FULL RETARD: In a “Ukraine of the brain” moment, this French mainstream media episode says the Russian army “on its last legs”, unscrewed a monument tank in Melitopol, Zaporozhye region (ex-Ukraine) to send it to the frontline.

In actual news – this very rare and legendary T-70 tank was sent to St Petersburg, Russia, to be completely restored for Melitopol’s Liberation (from Nazi invaders) Day on October 23.

…Speaking of the invaders, remind us which Ukraine-sized state got rolled over in WEEKS by Hitler’s forces? Ah oui, the wrinkly, smirking anchor’s state – France. Lucky Russia saved you from fascists, so that you can spout your drivel 80 years on.

~ @IntelLana 

Chinese position on Ukraine is getting louder

 Chinese representative Li Hui, who is in charge of the Ukrainian settlement, during a trip to Europe called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine with Russia retaining its new regions, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Today, Chinese Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui arrived at the Russian Foreign Ministry, where he held talks on the Ukrainian settlement for an hour and a half.

Vladimir Rogov

South African Politician Puts BBC Journalist Back in Line