Kyiv: Hundreds of Russian soldiers ambushed near Bakhmut - "disabled"

Created: 2022-12-19 04:54

By: Christoph Gschoßmann, Felix Durach

Russia launches a new propaganda campaign.

Ukraine apparently expects a Russian invasion of Belarus soon.

The news ticker. 

• Troop morale

  of

  Russian soldiers

  : Moscow now sends "creative brigades"

• Supply

  of the

  Russian soldiers

  : Shoigu inspects the front in Ukraine

• Russia's troops

  contradict each other in

  Ukraine war

  : "Gap is growing"

• This

  news ticker

  on the military situation in the

  Ukraine war

  is constantly updated.

Update from December 18, 7:01 p.m

.: The Ukrainian armed forces say they destroyed at least two Russian ammunition depots and anti-aircraft systems in battles in the east of the country.

This was announced by the General Staff in Kyiv on Sunday.

The Luftwaffe flew several missions.

Location information was not given.

Heavy losses were inflicted on Russian troops in bitter fighting for the city of Bakhmut in the Donbass.

There, a Russian unit with a strength of 400 to 800 men fell into a carefully prepared ambush and was "put out of action," said presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich in Kyiv.

The information could not be independently verified.

Russia reports heavy Ukrainian shelling of border town of Belgorod

Update from December 18, 2:37 p.m

.: Shelling on a Russian border region with Ukraine: In the city of Belgorod there was one dead and eight injured in an attack.

This was announced by the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov on Telegram, according to the Russian agency Ria Novosti.

Seven of the injured are now in the hospital.

The information could not be independently verified

"Ukrainian troops are constantly attacking the border regions of Russia," the state agency continued.

According to a correspondent, nine explosions could be heard.

However, the air defense system over the region largely worked.

Belgorod is a good 80 kilometers from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Moscow announced in October that an oil storage facility in Belgorod had burned down after being bombed by Ukrainian forces.

Russia had previously complained of increasing artillery and rocket fire in the area bordering Ukraine.

Photo from September 9th from Kharkiv: Russian rockets from Belgorod in the night sky © Vadim Belikov/dpa

Update from December 18, 11:45 a.m

.: The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in times of war: Because of the ongoing Russian shelling, Ukraine held the preliminary decision in a Kiev subway station.

It was converted into a bomb shelter.

Meanwhile, Russian rocket attacks paralyzed the Ukrainian capital's electricity, water and heat supply.

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In 2022 Ukraine was the ESC winner.

Accordingly, Kyiv would have actually had the broadcasting rights for the ESC final in 2023.

However, due to security concerns, it is now set to take place in the UK.

Two days after rocket attacks: Kyiv has district heating again

Update from December 18, 11:03 a.m

.: According to the authorities, the heat supply in Kiev has been restored.

"The city is resuming all services after the recent shelling," said Mayor Vitaly Klitschko on Telegram.

On Friday (December 16) the Russian army severely hit the critical infrastructure of the Ukrainian capital.

The targeted attacks on the energy supply in winter apparently serve to increase the war-weariness of the Ukrainian population and to persuade Kyiv to give up.

Troop morale of Russian soldiers: Moscow now sends "creative brigades"

Update from December 18, 10:28 a.m

.: Moscow now wants to strengthen the morale of the troops in the Ukraine war with music and culture.

A few days ago, two so-called "creative brigades" with opera singers, actors and circus people were announced to be deployed at the front, according to the latest short report by the Ministry of Defense in London.

The British suspect that Russia's culture and entertainment offensive is closely linked to ideologically shaped political education.

This has been closely intertwined with the Russians since Soviet times.

At the same time, there are doubts in London that the Kremlin can actually use this to boost the morale of the Russian troops.

The biggest problems for the Russians continue to be the high number of casualties, poor leadership, problems with salaries and incomplete equipment.

It was said that the creative brigades could do little with these challenges.

Supply of the Russian soldiers: Shoigu inspects the front in Ukraine

Update from December 18, 9:19 a.m

.: Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the Russian military in Ukraine.

Shoigu "flighted over the deployment areas of the armed forces" and inspected the front positions "in the area of ​​special military operations," his ministry said on Telegram.

The text is accompanied by a video showing Shoigu in the helicopter.

Shoigu listened to the commanders' reports and spoke to ordinary soldiers, it said.

The visit was primarily about supplying the armed forces.

After the partial mobilization ordered by Vladimir Putin, numerous recruits complained that they had been inadequately equipped and trained in Russia's war of aggression.

Kremlin chief Putin, on the other hand, has not been at the front since the beginning of the war - in contrast to his Ukrainian adversary Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who appeared close to the front several times to speak to the soldiers.

An image of Shoigu on the Ukraine war front distributed by the Russian agency Sputnik © Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/AFP

Russia's troops contradict each other in Ukraine war: "Gap is growing"

Update from December 18, 8:18 a.m

.: The Russian Bachmut offensive is apparently driving a wedge in Putin's armed forces.

As the US Institute for War Studies (ISW) reports in its latest situation analysis, the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and the mercenary group "Wagner" around "Putin's cook" Yevgeny Prigozhin contradict each other.

According to Denis Pushilin, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, the armed forces are currently "squeezing" Bakhmut together.

However, military bloggers ("milbloggers") disagreed with this Saturday (December 17) account, according to the ISW: Pushilin's fighters had nothing to do with the offensive.

The advances were made solely by the Wagner mercenaries.

Prigozhin had previously denied direct cooperation with fighters from Donetsk.

"Statements by Prigozhin and other prominent voices in Russia suggest that the gap between these two groups is growing," concluded the ISW military experts.

"In the past, Prigoschon assessed the slow progress of the Wagner group around Bakhmut, in contrast to the claims of Pushilin," they write.

Russian soldiers in the Ukraine war.

(Picture of December 14) © IMAGO/Konstantin Mihalchevskiy

Update December 17, 5:57 p.m.:

Russia has launched a new campaign to encourage young men to join the armed forces and fight in Ukraine.

The Kremlin had previously denied needing more recruits.

The latest propaganda videos speak a different language.

More volunteers should be lured to the front - with patriotism, morality and social mobility.

Many clips depict the war as men's escape from the grim reality of their daily lives - which, according to the videos, consists of vodka drinking, poverty and helplessness.

One of the articles, published December 14, shows a young man who chooses to fight instead of partying with his friends, and then surprises everyone by handing himself the money he's making from a military contract has, buys a car.

In a video posted December 15, a soldier's former girlfriend was newly impressed by his bravery and pleaded with him to get back together.

In another video, a middle-aged man quits a factory job that doesn't pay him enough to sign a military contract and go to the front lines.

Moscow: Russian attacks continued around Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine

Update from December 17, 2:51 p.m .:

The Russian attacks around the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine continued, according to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow.

There were also counterattacks by the Ukrainian army, which were repelled, as ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow on Saturday.

Russian troops are said to have taken advantageous positions.

The Ukrainian military reported that breakthroughs by Russian troops had been prevented.

In addition, sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the Ukrainian armed forces and a camp with foreign mercenaries were destroyed in the Donetsk region.

Konashenkov confirmed Friday's massive rocket attacks: "The aim of the strike was achieved.

All targeted objects have been destroyed.” 

The attack stopped the transport of weapons, ammunition and the production of armaments factories in Ukraine.

The Russian missiles were fired by bombers from the air and from the sea, Konashenkov said.

In addition, systems of the Ukrainian air defense were defused.

The civilian infrastructure on the ground was also damaged by the "unprofessional actions" of the Ukrainian air defense.

The information could not be independently verified.

Ukraine expects another Russian invasion: "Prepare for it"

Update from December 17, 1:10 p.m

.: The Ukrainian military leadership is currently preparing for another Russian invasion from the north.

This was confirmed by Ukrainian Army Major General Andrii Kovalchuk, speaking to

.

“We foresee such options, such scenarios.

We are preparing for it.

We live with the thought that they will attack again.

That is our task”, Kovalchuk.

The Major General also mentioned a possible time for another invasion.

Ukraine expects "a possible offensive by Belarus from the end of February, maybe later." The end of February marks the first anniversary of Russia's first invasion of Ukraine.

On February 24, Russia officially launched the so-called “military special operation” in Ukraine.

The Russian military leadership could now use the anniversary for a renewed offensive in northern Ukraine.

Russia recently brought more than 60 Russian vehicles to Belarus as part of military cooperation.

President Putin meets with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday.

Moscow worried about Crimea's vulnerability?

British intelligence expresses drone theory

First report from December 17, 12:45 p.m.:

LONDON - During the massive attacks by the Russian armed forces on the Ukrainian energy supply on Friday, Moscow apparently used combat drones again.

Among other things, a video published on Twitter shows a drone being shot down over the capital Kyiv.

In recent weeks, the Russian army has increasingly relied on the use of Iranian “Kamikaze” drones of the Shahed-136 type.

In past missions, the compact missiles were usually fired from the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

Moscow worried about Crimea's vulnerability?

British intelligence expresses theory

According to reports from the British secret service, there was now a change in the process.

The drones, most likely provided by Iran, were launched from the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, the British Ministry of Defense said in a daily briefing on Twitter on Saturday.

The British see the shift as a sign that Moscow may be concerned about Crimea's vulnerability.

In addition, it is easier for the Russians to organize supplies at the new location, since the weapons are believed to arrive in the Russian region of Astrakhan, which is closer.

As part of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south, there were repeated attacks in Crimea.

Above all, the Crimean Bridge, which connects the peninsula with the Russian mainland, was badly damaged in an attack.

The Kremlin blames Ukraine for the attacks.

Kyiv has not yet officially confirmed responsibility for the actions.

Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.

Nationwide air alert on Saturday — Russia targets Ukrainian energy infrastructure

On Saturday morning there were renewed air alerts in Ukraine almost across the country.

According to reports from the Ukrinform news agency, air raid alarms were raised in the major cities of Kyiv, Lviv and Mykolayiv, among others.

The Russian military has been carrying out attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure for weeks.

As a result, there are repeated power failures or entire areas are temporarily cut off from the water supply.