Ukraine News: Snake Island fiercely fought over - up to 60,000 Russian casualties?

Created: 05/12/2022, 04:48 am

By: Patrick Mayer

The Snake Island in the Black Sea is fiercely fought over in the Ukraine war.

Russia's losses are said to be in the tens of thousands.

The news ticker on the military battles.

• Ukraine-News:

  According to British analysts - Russia's losses could amount to up to 60,000 soldiers.

• Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian troops in the Kharkiv region.

• Moscow probably lost control of Snake Island after the sinking of the Moskva.

• This

  news ticker on the military battles in the Russia-Ukraine war

  is continuously updated.

Update from May 11, 10:55 p.m .:

ZDF shows photos of severely injured Ukrainian fighters from Mariupol in the “heute journal” while the Russian attacks on the steel mill continue.

The commander reports on the dramatic situation of the marines and national guards entrenched there.

Around half of the 1,000 trapped fighters are said to be injured and/or wounded.

Illia Samoilenko: Lieutenant of the Ukrainian fighters entrenched in the Mariupol Steel Plant.

© Screenshot/ZDF

Russia-Ukraine War: Warehouse in Lozova town destroyed by bombardment

Update from May 11, 9:55 p.m .: According to the Ukrainian online medium

, a civilian was killed

in a suspected Russian missile attack in Kharkiv Oblast this Wednesday evening .

According to Mayor Serhiy Zelensky, an agricultural warehouse in the city of Lozova was destroyed by the bombardment.

Update from May 11, 8:55 p.m .:

The Czech Republic has given around 100 citizens the green light to participate in the Ukraine war.

President Milos Zeman signed an order on Wednesday allowing 103 volunteer fighters to join Ukrainian troops, according to his spokesman.

Zeman was once a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After Russian troops invaded Ukraine, however, he called the head of state in Moscow a "madman".

After an appeal for help by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, volunteers from Poland, Belarus, Canada, the USA and Great Britain had already joined the Ukrainian armed forces.

A Czech law actually forbids the Czechs from participating in war operations abroad.

However, Zeman and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala decided in March not to punish Czechs who go to war with Ukrainian troops.

Ukraine War: Allegedly Russian troops pushed out of village north of Kharkiv

Update from May 11, 7:55 p.m .:

According to the General Staff in Kiev, Ukrainian forces have pushed out Russian troops from the village of Pytomnyk, around 25 kilometers north of the center of Kharkiv.

The two-lane road E105 leads past the said village directly into the city.

It is a correspondingly important line of communication in the battles.

A counter-offensive is running successfully, it said.

As the ARD "Tagesschau" reported in the evening, Vladimir Putin's invasion troops in Kharkiv Oblast were pushed back up to ten kilometers to the Russian border.

The Ukrainian armed forces had previously reported the recapture of several villages around the city of Kharkiv.

ZDF had reported that the metropolis was now out of reach of Russian artillery.

Destruction everywhere you look: a street north of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

© IMAGO/UPI Photo

Ukraine War: Russian forces pushed back in Kharkiv region

Update from May 11, 7:15 p.m .:

As ZDF’s “heute journal” reports in the evening, the city of Kharkiv with its approximately 1.4 million inhabitants is out of the range of Russian artillery after the Ukrainian armed forces have advanced in the northeast.

There was no shelling this Wednesday, the article said.

The Russian army would instead focus on attacks in Donbass in south-eastern Ukraine, it is reported.

Most recently, the Ukrainian general staff had declared that several villages around Kharkiv could be recaptured.

Mine squads would get through these currently, whether to turn off any booby traps.

There should be some of these.

Russia-Ukraine War: No prospect of liberation of fighters at Mariupol Steelworks

Update from May 11, 6:20 p.m.:

The Ukrainian military leadership has dampened hopes of freeing the fighters trapped in the Mariupol steelworks with an offensive.

"As of today, such a deblocking operation would require a significant number of troops because Ukrainian forces are 150-200 kilometers from Mariupol," Deputy Chief of General Staff Oleksiy Hromov said on Wednesday.

Because the Russian troops have also built powerful defense systems in the meantime, such an operation costs many victims.

The port city of Mariupol in south-eastern Ukraine has been under siege by Russian troops for more than two months.

The last Ukrainian fighters, in addition to marines and units of the nationalist Azov regiment, have entrenched themselves in the Azovstal steelworks there.

They are calling on Kyiv and the international community to use either diplomatic or military means to save them.

In the past few weeks, around 500 civilians who were also staying at the steelworks have been rescued via refugee corridors.

Russia rejects a free withdrawal of the fighters.

They should lay down their arms and go into captivity.

According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereshchuk, around 1,000 defenders are still in the factory, half of whom are injured.

According to Russian information, 2,500 Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries are said to have holed up in the steelworks.

Russia-Ukraine war: 501 Ukrainian national guards killed so far, according to Kyiv

Update from May 11, 5:45 p.m .:

501 Ukrainian national guards have been killed in battles with the Russian invasion troops.

This was announced by Oleksii Nadtochyi, head of operations at the main directorate of the National Guard, according to

on Wednesday.

According to him, another 1,697 soldiers were injured in the fighting.

The National Guard supports the regular army and reports to the Interior Ministry in Kyiv.

War in Ukraine: Russian troops in Kharkiv region probably far repulsed

Update from May 11, 5:15 p.m .:

The governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Synegubow, said that the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine was “relatively quiet thanks to the successful actions of the Ukrainian armed forces and the liberation of some towns”.

that one must remain "vigilant" and not take to the streets unnecessarily 

 .

It is also dangerous to return to towns recently liberated by Russian troops, as the area is full of mines.

Russian troops also laid mines in schools, kindergartens and private households, Synegubov explained.

Special units are currently busy removing the mines.

The Kyiv had previously reported the liberation of four towns around the city of Kharkiv (about 1.4 million inhabitants).

Ukraine War: According to British analysts, Russia could lose up to 60,000 soldiers

Update from May 11, 4:30 p.m .:

According to information from the Ukrainian general staff this Wednesday, the losses among Russian soldiers are now said to amount to more than 26,350 soldiers killed, wounded or missing.

However, Moscow's losses could be much higher, according to UK analysts.

As Justin Bronk of the independent research institute Royal United Services Institute told the British

, the number could be "up to three to four times" as high.

Analyst Bronk believes that the number "after two more weeks of fierce fighting could well be 50,000 to 60,000 victims".

After Ukrainian attacks: satellite images show severe destruction on Snake Island.

© Uncredited/Planet Labs PBC/AP/dpa

Russia-Ukraine War: Moscow probably lost control of Snake Island after the sinking of the "Moskva".

First report from May 11th:

Munich/Kiev - A radio message went around the world: When Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24th, the Russian missile cruiser "Moskva" and the "Vasily Bykov" in the Black Sea made their way to to conquer the tiny little snake island off the coast of Romania.

The few Ukrainian border guards on the island answered the Moskva's call to surrender with the announcement: "Russian warship, f... you!" Nevertheless, they had to surrender.

The Snake Island is so important because from here the airspace on the coasts of southern Ukraine around Odessa can be monitored.

But: According to British findings, Ukrainian drone attacks in the Black Sea recently prevented Russian troops from dominating the country.

Russia is always trying to strengthen its forces on the strategically important Snake Island near the port city of Odessa, the Ministry of Defense in London reported this Wednesday (May 11), citing British secret services.

Since the sinking of the guided missile cruiser "Moskva" and the withdrawal of the navy to the annexed Crimean peninsula, the Russian supply ships have had little protection.

"The Moskva" had controlled the airspace in this area of ​​the Black Sea with its S-300 air defense.

War in Ukraine: Bayraktar TB-2 combat drone causes problems for Russian troops

"Russia's current efforts to strengthen its forces on Snake Island give Ukraine more opportunities to attack Russian troops and destroy materiel," the UK ministry said.

Ukraine has successfully deployed Bayraktar (TB-2 drone) combat drones.

However, if Russia manages to consolidate its position with strategic air defense and cruise missiles for coastal defense, this could change the situation.

Reports from both sides had recently suggested heavy fighting around Snake Island, which is 35 kilometers from the coast just off the Danube Delta in the Odessa region.