Russia Ukraine Update Thread - part 3

British armed forces Minister Leo Docherty has given a breakdown of our intelligence numbers regarding Russia's casualty numbers and lost equipment for the 2 years of the war so far.

Leo Docherty Minister of State, Minister for the Armed Forces, responded:

“We estimate that approximately 450,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded, and tens of thousands more have already deserted since the start of the conflict. The number of personnel killed serving in Russian private military companies (PMCs) is not clear.

We also estimate that over 10,000 Russian armoured vehicles, including nearly 3,000 main battle tanks, 109 fixed wing aircraft, 136 helicopters, 346 unmanned aerial vehicles, 23 naval vessels of all classes, and over 1,500 artillery systems of all types have been destroyed, abandoned, or captured by Ukraine since the start of the conflict.”
ukdefencejournal.org.uk...

27 April Update

Russian forces are continuing to exploit a tactical penetration north and northwest of Avdiivka and recently made additional confirmed advances in the area.

Ukrainian Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk reported on April 27 that Russian forces launched 34 missiles: nine Kh-101/555 cruise missiles from Saratov Oblast; nine Kh-59/69 cruise missiles from Belgorod Oblast and the Sea of Azov; two S-300 missiles from Belgorod Oblast; two Iskander-K ballistic missiles, four Kh-47 Kinzhal ballistic missiles from Ryazan and Tambov oblasts; and eight Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea. Oleshchuk stated that Ukrainian forces destroyed 21 total missiles: six Kh-101/555s, eight Kh59/69s, one Iskander-K, and six Kalibrs.

Unspecified sources told Ukrainian outlet Suspilne that Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the Ukrainian military successfully conducted drone strikes against the Kushchyovskaya airfield

More at URL above.

Cheers

28 April Update

The Ukrainian 47th Mechanized Brigade denied a recent report that Ukrainian forces had pulled US-provided M1A1 Abrams tanks from the frontline.

Russian forces recently marginally advanced near Svatove.

The United Kingdom’s (UK) Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Leo Docherty, stated on April 27 that the UK assesses that Russian forces have suffered 450,000 killed and wounded personnel since the start of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

More at URL above.

Cheers

29 April Update

Russian forces secured additional marginal tactical gains northwest and southwest of Avdiivka as of April 29

The Kremlin is pursuing a hybrid campaign directly targeting NATO states, including using GPS jamming and sabotaging military logistics in NATO members’ territory.

Telegram recently temporarily blocked chatbots meant to facilitate civilian reports on Russian military activity to official Ukrainian channels, including some channels run by Ukrainian security services.

Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Avdiivka and Donetsk City.

More at URL above.

Cheers

30 April Update

Russian forces did not make any confirmed advances in the Avdiivka area on April 30 for the first time in several days, while Ukrainian sources reported that Russian forces conducted several more attacks in the Bakhmut-Chasiv Yar direction than near Avdiivka.

Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin expressed outrage over Russian authorities’ treatment of Central Asian migrants, particularly Tajik citizens, indicating that increased Russian efforts to control migrants living in and entering Russia following the March 22 Crocus City Hall attack are continuing to strain Tajik-Russian relations.

More at URL above.

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

1 May Update

Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in Ryazan Oblast for the second time in less than a month on the night of April 30 to May 1.

Russian forces made confirmed advances near Chasiv Yar and Avdiivka and in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area.

More at URL above.

Cheers

For anyone wondering what happened to the Russian Liberation forces the FRL have uploaded a montage of their actions in March & April of this year.

In March, as part of the ROS (Russian Liberation Forces), the Legion took part in a large cross-border raid into the Kursk and Belgorod regions of the Russian Federation, timed to coincide with the so-called. "elections" of Putin. Having fulfilled their civic duty in Russia, the legionnaires began work in the Donetsk region, participating in defensive battles in the direction of the settlement. Chasov Yar

2 May Update

The US DoS stated that it made a determination under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) that Russian forces have used chloropicrin and riot control agents (RCAs) against Ukrainian forces in Ukraine in violation of the CWC (me: Chemical Weapons Convention)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on May 2 in which it confirmed that Russian forces have executed at least 15 surrendering Ukrainian soldiers since December 2023.

Russian forces recently made confirmed advances west of Avdiivka.

More at URL above.

Cheers

Fall of Ukrainian city a 'matter of time'
The fall of the embattled eastern city of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region is probably only a matter of time, a Ukrainian military intelligence officer has said.

"Not today or tomorrow, of course, but all depending on our reserves and supplies," Major General Vadym Skibitsky said in an interview with The Economist.

He compared the situation in the city to Avdiivka, from which Ukrainians withdrew in February after becoming outnumbered.

Ukrainian officials believe that Moscow wants to seize Chasiv Yar by 9 May, when the Russians celebrate Victory Day.

If they succeed, it would place some of the largest Ukrainian-held cities in the Donetsk region within artillery range, military analysts from Black Bird Group - a group of volunteers in Finland - said yesterday." news.sky.com...

originally posted by: F2d5thCavv2
2 May Update

The US DoS stated that it made a determination under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) that Russian forces have used chloropicrin and riot control agents (RCAs) against Ukrainian forces in Ukraine in violation of the CWC (me: Chemical Weapons Convention)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on May 2 in which it confirmed that Russian forces have executed at least 15 surrendering Ukrainian soldiers since December 2023.

Russian forces recently made confirmed advances west of Avdiivka.

More at URL above.

Cheers

I've never understood that part about the riot control agents. I can see why things like mustard gas and such are banned. But riot control agents? If you can use them on civilians for riot control, why would it be illegal to use them on troops?

Are they different agents, more concentrated, or more deadly somehow? Only thing I can think of is if they sink into trenches they can asphyxiate maybe?

I had to get tear gassed in basic training. It was unpleasant of course but it wasn't so horrible that I thought it should be illegal. It was undoubtedly less unpleasant than getting shot or blown up.

a reply to: YourFaceAgain

I think the bit about LE agencies being allowed to use riot control agents boils down to this--

RCAs when used by law enforcement officials in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions and in line with international human rights standards are an important alternative to other applications of force more likely to result in injury or death i.e. firearms.

On page 8 at--

this website

This, on page 19 of the same document, implies that allowing their use on the battlefield is the 'slippery slope'--

“There is an increasing interest among some governments to adopt a more flexible interpretation of the CWC rules on the use of incapacitating chemical weapons, even as a method of warfare, in order to use them in diverse situations. Such an interpretation, in the view of the Commission, would constitute a dangerous erosion on the fundamental ban on chemical weapons that the authors of the Convention intended.” Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, 2006

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

I guess I can see their point. Thanks.

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

LE agencies using this is different to using it on folk you are trying to kill.

Well, mostly.

originally posted by: Oldcarpy2
a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

LE agencies using this is different to using it on folk you are trying to kill.

Well, mostly.

Hmm, that depends on the LE agency and the situation.

It is a murky area. If white phosphorus is fired to create smoke, and the fumes burn the lungs of people downwind ... that kind of thing.

Interesting that the specter of gas warfare from World War One still holds such sway.

Cheers

4 May Update

Russian forces made a notable tactical advance northwest of Avdiivka near Arkhanhelske on the night of May 3 to 4, likely following a Ukrainian decision to withdraw from the area on May 3.

Russian forces recently advanced near Avdiivka and Donetsk City and in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area.

More at URL above.

Cheers

Footage of drunken Russian soldiers trying to go to a battle.


"Don't hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning. Think the bridge will be there and it will be there. It's a mother, beautiful bridge, and it's gonna be there"

a reply to: gortex

Yeah, but the crew in that video isn't amusing at all.

Cheers

a reply to: gortex

Reference "KELLY'S HEROES"

"Drinking a little wine, Catching some rays"

originally posted by: YourFaceAgain

originally posted by: F2d5thCavv2
2 May Update

The US DoS stated that it made a determination under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) that Russian forces have used chloropicrin and riot control agents (RCAs) against Ukrainian forces in Ukraine in violation of the CWC (me: Chemical Weapons Convention)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on May 2 in which it confirmed that Russian forces have executed at least 15 surrendering Ukrainian soldiers since December 2023.

Russian forces recently made confirmed advances west of Avdiivka.

More at URL above.

Cheers

I've never understood that part about the riot control agents. I can see why things like mustard gas and such are banned. But riot control agents? If you can use them on civilians for riot control, why would it be illegal to use them on troops?

Are they different agents, more concentrated, or more deadly somehow? Only thing I can think of is if they sink into trenches they can asphyxiate maybe?

I had to get tear gassed in basic training. It was unpleasant of course but it wasn't so horrible that I thought it should be illegal. It was undoubtedly less unpleasant than getting shot or blown up.

It's a lot more potent than the police version and main effect is to disdable people by causing uncontrolable vomiting.

It was used in WWI alongside other gasses as the particles are tiny and get through gas masks meaning soldiers either drowned in their own vomit filled mask or took it off and died from phosphene.