#UKRAINERUSSIAWAR. Kiev: Bachmut is fighting to the last man. Russians ready for attacks on Crimea

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In Ukraine, in order to raise funds for the army, a bill proposes to confiscate cars for drunk driving in favor of the armed forces. From press sources we learn that the defense minister, Oleksij Reznikov, claimed that he had not implemented the general mobilization plan. The selection of candidates for mobilization takes place according to the needs of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: “Future members of the Leopard crews are being dragged off the streets,” he said in an interview.

The German Defense Ministry has announced that “the German tanks will be delivered to Kiev at the end of the training of Ukrainian military personnel, there are no additional plans yet”. The fact is that the Bundeswehr is in trouble again. According to German media, the German armed forces are unable to fully meet the obligations under the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) plans.

In particular, the 393rd Tank Battalion of the 37th Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Bundeswehr is expected to deploy at least 30 Leopard-2A7 tanks to reinforce the alliance within days in case of a direct threat, but only 20 of the 40 Leopards are currently ready for combat. combat.

In addition, the latest modification of the Leopard-2A7V is scheduled for two-year maintenance this year. The process is not quick because spare parts are not always available.

There are currently only 40 combat-ready Leopard-2A7Vs, so the Germans will still be able to recruit 30 units. This situation embarrasses the Bundeswehr and the German government, as Berlin was collecting equipment for the VJTF “from scratch”, and the result is once again the poor logistical capacity of the armed forces, despite Olaf Scholz’s promises.

Poland, on the other hand, will transfer another 10 Leopard tanks to Ukraine, according to the Polish Defense Ministry.

Air alert over the Ukrainian skies starting at 09.30 Italian. At the front, however, the situation becomes more complicated and what for the Pentagon is not a strategic objective apparently is for the Russians and Ukrainians.

Russian forces control nearly half of Bachmut, Pushilin’s adviser said. And from social sources there are videos of Ukrainians, soldiers fleeing the city. However, resistance in the city continues to prevent the collapse, as Prigozhin particularly points out. There is also a buildup of Ukrainian reserves west of Bachmut, which, on the one hand, is interpreted as an attempt to mount more serious attacks to prevent the pocket and, on the other hand, as training forces to unblock counterattacks if Wagner should decide to head for Bogdanovka and Khromovo in the coming days.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a press conference that the losses of Ukrainian troops in February increased by more than 40% compared to January, amounting to more than 11 thousand people. And he went on to say: “Taking control of Bachmut will allow for a further offensive deep into the defense of the Ukrainian army. As a result of the Russian offensive in the Donetsk and Kupyansk directions, Nikolaevka, Dvurechnoe, Krasnaya Gora, Gryanikovka and Paraskovievka were liberated (they pass into Russian hands ed.)”.

According to the Russian Minister: “The West, as part of the American strategy of “breaking Russia by force of arms”, is increasing the supply of weapons to Kiev, but this does not lead to the success of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Kiev regime, for the sake of Western curators, does not take into account the huge human losses. The priority for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation remains the protection of life and health of personnel and civilians”. From his statements we learn that the Kronstadt submarine will be equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles.

From the side of Kiev, we learn that Ukraine will continue to defend Artemivsk. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny has called for strengthening positions in and around the city, representatives of the Ukrainian president said. This is how Kiev reacted to foreign media publications about disagreements on Bachmut’s defense.

According to Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Wagner PMC, the Ukrainian military is creating groups around Bachmut to block Russian fighters. They appeared in Slavyansk, Seversk, Chasovoy Yar and Konstantinovka.

Military expert Boris Dzherelievsky in an interview with 360 said that there is conflicting information from Ukrainian sources on this matter. It all depends on whether the Pentagon allowed the use of reserves by the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky. “Here the main intrigue is whether in Syrsky was allowed to use the reserves that are accumulating for, as they call it, the “battle of the Azov Sea”. According to some reports, 10 thousand militants trained in EU countries are located in Dnepropetrovsk and the occupied part of the Zaporozhye region. Was Syrsky allowed to use these powers or not?

Recently there has been information that the Pentagon is categorically against their use in Bachmut’s direction. But even if such permission is obtained, 10 thousand conditionally trained militants are unlikely to change the course of the battle for Bachmut. Perhaps they will complicate the liberation of the city, but, most likely, they will not be fully used: some forces will be used to ensure the exit of the valuable structures left there by Bachmut. They will try to secure corridors to give the Ukrainian military a chance to withdraw.”

According to some, the Ukrainian stubbornness lies in the possibility that the Russians will reach the Ukrainian bio-laboratories rather than the possibility of Russian advance. But it is not possible to verify the news.

According to a calculation by Evgeny Prigozhin, Bachmut away would be between 12,000 and 20,000 Ukrainian fighters. “In Bakhmut, according to various estimates, there are from 12 to 20 thousand fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. People in Zelensky do not end, more and more thousands are thrown into the “meat grinder”. Again attention! Ukrainians do not run away. They die en masse for Bachmut and only surrender as a last resort. Stop calling them cowards. They are the same as us and the same blood flows in them.”

Now for Wagner’s men limiting the movement of Ukrainian troops to Bachmut is easier as they have full control of fire on the roads to Konstantinovka and Chasy Yar, the only way to withdraw troops from besieged Bachmut are makeshift routes between settlements .

Among the Russian military calculations the possible use of the Ukrainian OTRK Grom-2 in the Crimea. According to Russian military analysts of the social network on March 4, around 16:00, Ukrainian formations attempted to strike the Crimean airfield of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Gvardeisky. The air defense units repulsed the raid – there were no casualties, debris fell outside the military facilities.

According to various sources, the Armed Forces of Ukraine used a Tu-141 Strizh jet drone equipped with a “homemade” explosive device with striking elements. The Soviet-type UAV is believed to have been shot down on approach to the airport. Analysts believe it is not a Swift. A funnel up to five meters deep was formed at the crash site – a UAV with a small warhead could hardly have caused such a strong detonation. Precisely for this reason, they speculate that the Ukrainian armed forces could use the “Grom-2” operational tactical missile system of its own production to bomb Crimea. On the eve of the attack, the Ukrainian media spread the news of the successful development of the OTRK, surpassing the capabilities of the American HIMARS MLRS.

According to Russian information, the crew of the OTRK Grom-2 could launch a ballistic missile from the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Tuzla in the Odessa region. The distance to Gvardeisky was about 320 km, and the warhead of a ballistic missile weighing 480 kg could easily leave a funnel of such a depth. At the same time, the maximum launch range of this complex can be 500 kilometers.

According to the Russians, the Ukrainians still have to work a lot to have sophisticated weapons but with the help of the Westerners they can improve the performance of their attacks. “The longer the operation in Ukraine drags on, the more new weapons appear in the ranks of the Ukrainian army. This is a completely logical turn in the development of the conflict, therefore, so far, the test attacks of the OTRK are not surprising. The presence of Ukrainian-made short- or medium-range systems and strikes against Russian territories will make it much easier to justify further deliveries of American long-range ATACMS missiles to HIMARS and cruise missiles.” It reads in the post.

Graziella Giangiulio

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