Kiev soon wants to launch a counter-offensive against the Russian attackers.
Russia's Navy suffers heavy casualties.
The news ticker for military events.
Explosions
in
Belarus
?
Russian plane allegedly damaged
Several
dead officers
: new numbers on Russia's casualties
Also
attacks
on
Russian territory
?
Kiev plans counter-offensive “in the spring”
This
news ticker
on
military events
in the
Ukraine war
is constantly updated.
Update February 27, 7:55 a.m.:
A Ukrainian military officer reports that Russian forces are replacing the tactical battalion group (BTGs) with a new unit dubbed “assault unit” or “assault detachment.”
The reason is that the previous attack tactics have failed.
According to the officer, the basis for the report is a Russian manual that has fallen into the hands of Ukraine.
In a longer post on Twitter, the Ukrainian military officer writes in detail about the structure and tactics of these new “assault units”.
According to this, the Russian Armed Forces are moving from larger to smaller, more mobile structures that rely heavily on artillery support and can be adapted to the specific mission requirements.
An “assault unit” is said to even include a flamethrower squad.
An instruction to the soldiers is that in an attack, abandoned enemy trenches should not be manned because of possible booby traps.
Attackers should not evacuate the wounded themselves, but leave this to rescue teams.
🧵 1/16
Russian forces are revamping their assault tactics after experiencing failures with their current structure.
The Battalion Tactical Groups (BTGs) are getting replaced with a new unit called the "Assault Unit" or "Assault Detachment", which I will discuss in this thread.
pic.twitter.com/YVnDGfO1q2
— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) February 26, 2023
At the front: Commander of the Ukrainian ground forces visits Bakhmut
Update from February 27, 6:41 a.m .:
Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed one of the leading commanders in Donbass with Eduard Moskalyov.
This emerges from a one-line decree published on Sunday evening.
Reasons for this step are not given.
Moskalyov assumed command of the combined forces in March 2022, just days after the Russian attack on Ukraine began.
Meanwhile, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, has visited heavily contested Bakhmut, according to the military.
The aim was apparently to boost the soldiers' morale.
"He listened to the unit commanders about urgent problems, helped to solve them and supported the soldiers," the ground forces say on Telegram.
+
Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Army of Ukraine, has visited heavily contested Bakhmut.
© Roman Chop/AP/dpa
Update from February 26, 11:03 p.m .:
According to Ukrainian media reports, air raids on Kiev are apparently underway at the moment.
An air alert is underway,
Ukrainska Pravda reported, and a little later
the Kyiv Independent
reported
explosions on the east bank of the Dnipro in the Ukrainian capital.
Explosions in Belarus?
Russian plane allegedly damaged
Update from February 26, 9:05 p.m .:
In Belarus, explosions have apparently occurred at an airfield used by Russia.
This is reported by the Nexta
portal
, citing independent local media and former Belarusian security officers.
A Russian military aircraft of the type A-50 was damaged.
This information is not verified, official bodies initially did not comment.
Russian “war correspondents” also confirmed the account, it said.
Rumors of a drone attack were circulating,
Nexta
wrote .
The incident happened on Sunday morning.
A helicopter flew a patrol, police forces were present.
The portal attributed the alleged act to "saboteurs" - it would not be the first incident of this kind. However, only a few days ago, ruler Alexander Lukashenko indirectly threatened to enter the war in an attack on Belarusian territory, as reported
by
fr.de.
Meanwhile, on the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Crimea, the fate of the peninsula also comes into focus.
+
A Russian Beriev A-50 - here in the AWACS version.
(archive image)
© Imago/UIG
Ukraine war currently: no front shifts?
Video shows devastation near Donetsk
Update from February 26, 7:05 p.m .:
The front sections in eastern Ukraine have remained unchanged – at least according to a recent statement by the Ukrainian general staff.
Although Russian troops attacked at several points with air and artillery support, they were unable to break through, the general staff said in its daily situation report.
As on the previous days, the heaviest fighting took place near Kupyansk, Bakhmut, Limansk, Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk.
The absolute focus was once again the city of Bachmut, which had been fought over for weeks.
A number of Russian attacks against smaller suburbs were repulsed there.
At Bachmut, members of the notorious mercenary group Wagner are fighting on the Russian side.
Meanwhile, a video from the Associated Press news agency showed the devastation of the fighting in the small town of Marjinka in Donetsk Oblast.
The village seems largely razed to the ground.
It has been the scene of fights since 2014.
The Associated Press showed a panorama of #Marinka, which was completely destroyed by the Russians.
There is still fighting in the city, and in the video you cannot see a single intact building or street.
pic.twitter.com/Y0lgUdnSm2
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 26, 2023
Several dead officers: new figures on Russia's casualties
Update from February 26, 2:09 p.m .
: More than 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the Ukraine war so far.
This is the result of an assessment by the Russian news website
Mediazona
and the Russian-language offshoot of the British broadcaster BBC.
More than 1,800 officers were among those killed, 199 of them with high ranks in the army.
More than 1,200 reservists drafted during Putin's first partial mobilization were also killed.
At least 1,300 of those killed were prisoners recruited by the Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
According to the report, more than 1,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the past two weeks alone.
The warring parties report daily about the “losses” of the other side, which cannot be independently verified, but rarely about killed or injured soldiers in their own ranks.
Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had given the number of 5,937 Russian soldiers killed in September - since then Moscow has not updated the figure.
According to their own statements, Mediazona
and BBC Russia now drew their numbers from publicly available sources such as media reports, social networks and official communications.
News about the Ukraine war: Contradictory reports from Bachmut
Update from February 26, 12:10 p.m
.: The Ukrainian troops are organizing supplies for their battles in Bakhmut via the village of Chromowe.
The conquest of the village of Jahidne would clear the way for the Russian attackers to Khromow - however, the information provided by both sides on the course of the front is contradictory.
While Russian sources reported Jahidne as captured, the Ukrainian general staff report on Sunday (February 26) said Russian attacks there had been repelled.
Both sides also confirmed fighting around the village of Ivanivske west of Bakhmut.
On Friday, mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose group is fighting on the Russian side, claimed territory gains from the region.
Ukraine war news: Russia loses numerous elite armed forces
February 26 update, 10:47 a.m
.: Moscow has lost numerous forces from an elite unit.
That's what the British secret service assumes.
The Marines of the 155th Brigade had been tasked with some of the most difficult operations in the Ukraine war and had to record "extremely high casualty figures", according to the latest short report by the British Ministry of Defense in London.
London published a satellite image that is said to show a cluster of destroyed Russian military vehicles south-east of the embattled Ukrainian city of Wuhledar.
According to the British, these are said to come from the elite unit that recently played a central role in the Russian offensive.
The skills and clout of the marines are said to have deteriorated significantly.
Nevertheless, it is realistic to assume that the units would be used again in new attacks near Wuhledar, the British said.
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
News about the Ukraine war: Belarus is said to have 1.5 million volunteer soldiers
Update from February 26, 8:54 a.m .:
As the state Belarusian news agency Belta reports, there are said to be a good one and a half million volunteer soldiers outside of the military in Belarus.
In the event of martial law being declared, these would be “retrievable”, according to Alexander Wolfowitsch, State Secretary of the Security Council.
The Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered in February that "territorial defense" be formed from volunteers in the event of an attack.
Lukashenko, an ally of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, leads a country that is financially and politically heavily dependent on neighboring Russia.
Last year, Lukashenko allowed Putin to launch Russian attacks on Ukraine from Belarusian territory.
In recent months, fears have grown that Belarus could enter the war and fight alongside Moscow.
News on the Ukraine war: Kiev plans counter-offensive “in the spring”
Update from February 26, 6:26 a.m .:
The deputy chief of the Ukrainian military intelligence service, Wadym Skibizkyj, says he expects his army to launch a counter-offensive against the Russian occupiers this spring.
"I think we'll be ready for a counter-offensive in the spring," Skibizkyj told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
However, the exact time depends on several factors - such as the delivery of western weapons, which are very important for Ukraine.
Skibizkyj emphasized that Ukraine's goal is the liberation of its entire territory - including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia had annexed in 2014.
“We won't stop until we have our country back in the 1991 borders.
That is our message to Russia and to the international community.”
The secret service agent also did not rule out attacks on arms depots in areas close to the Russian border: “It is possible that we will also destroy arms depots or military equipment on Russian territory, for example around the city of Belgorod.
Attacks on Ukraine are launched from there.
This is something like a threat to Kharkiv.”
Bachmut is currently one of the most contested regions in the Ukraine war.
Since December, the mercenaries of the Wagner Group in particular have repeatedly launched new offensives for Russia on the city.
According to unconfirmed reports, Vladimir Putin's army is said to be suffering losses of several hundred soldiers there every day.
According to research by
Welt,
Ukraine also seems to be recording heavy losses.
According to medics who are responsible for transporting wounded Ukrainian soldiers from Bakhmut to hospitals, on Wednesday (February 22) alone, 200 wounded were gathered at one collection point.
Ukraine war news: Russia occupies nearly 2000 towns and villages
Update from February 25, 9:45 p.m .:
The Russian troops are currently occupying 1,877 villages and towns in Ukrainian territory.
This was confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at an event on Saturday evening on the current situation in the Ukraine war.
Since the start of the Ukraine war last year, Russian troops had been pushing west from eastern Ukraine, occupying towns and villages there.
During a counter-offensive last fall, the Ukrainian military succeeded in recapturing initial areas.
News about the Ukraine war: Prigozhin reports Wagner's advance near Bakhmut
First report from February 25th:
KIEV – For several months now, fierce fighting has been raging in the Donetsk region for the city of Bakhmut.
Currently, Russia is apparently continuing to advance in the area where the fiercest fighting in the Ukraine war is raging.
Already on Friday, mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin reported gaining ground in the region.
The Wagner mercenaries under his command would have taken the village of Berkhovka northwest of Bakhmut.
On Saturday, "Putin's cook" spoke up again to announce further progress.
News about the Ukraine war: Bachmut increasingly encircled - Wagner mercenaries conquer the next village
The Wagner group has meanwhile advanced to the village of Yahidne.
This is what the Reuters
news agency reports
on the current situation in the Ukraine war.
She refers to a voice recording by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Yahidne lies south of Berkhovka and immediately borders the northern foothills of Bakhmut.
A picture was shared several times on Twitter on Saturday evening, which is said to show members of the Wagner group in front of the Yahidne town sign.
However, the authenticity of the recordings and Prigozhin's claims cannot be independently verified.
If the Wagner mercenaries did manage to capture Yahidne, that would indicate a sustained advance.
After Russian troops had already advanced to the city limits of Bakhmut in the east, the Ukrainian defenders are now threatened with an attack from the north-west as well.
The Russian armed forces would thus surround the city more and more.
News about the Ukraine war: the battle for Bachmut is entering its final phase
It was reported more than a week ago that Ukrainian forces had blown up a bridge in Bakhmut.
This was seen as a sign that Kiev could already be preparing to withdraw from the city.
Finally, the military leadership said that the supply lines for the city could be kept open.
Before the start of the Ukraine war, more than 70,000 people lived in Bakhmut.
(fd)
List of rubrics: © Imago/UIG
