Saturday, 22 June 2024

Russian Forces Hit Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure and Western Weapon Depots Overnight

Russian Forces Hit Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure and Western Weapon Depots Overnight

Russian Forces Hit Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure and Western Weapon Depots Overnight




©Russian Defense Ministry / Go to the mediabank






Russia's Ministry of Defense reported that a Canadian-made Senator armored combat vehicle had been eliminated for the first time.







Russia's Armed Forces hit Ukraine's energy facilities supplying the defense industry overnight, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Saturday.


"In response to attempts by the Kiev regime to damage Russian energy facilities, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a group strike tonight with long-range precision weapons from air and sea, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles," the ministry's summary stated.


It noted that the strike targeted Ukraine's energy facilities supporting the operation of the military-industrial complex, as well as ammunition and aviation weapon storage depots supplied by Western countries.


"The strike objectives have been achieved. All designated targets have been hit," the ministry added.


The Defense Ministry also reported that a Canadian Senator armored fighting vehicle operated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces was eliminated for the first time. Additionally, in the area of responsibility of the Vostok Battlegroup, the enemy lost over 140 soldiers.


"Units of the Vostok Battlegroup occupied more advantageous positions and inflicted damage on the personnel and equipment of the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade of the UAF, the 102nd and 123rd Territorial Defense Brigades, and the 21st Brigade of the National Guard in the areas of Varvarovka, Novoivanovka in the Zaporozhye region, Prechystovka, and Neskuchnoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The enemy’s losses amounted to more than 140 military personnel and a Senator armored fighting vehicle of Canadian production," the ministry said.


In addition, the UAF lost four vehicles, a 155-mm FH70 howitzer of British production, a 155-mm M198 howitzer of US manufacture, and a Bukovel-AD electronic warfare station.


Menawhile, the Zapad Group of Forces has taken more advantageous positions, repelled two attacks, destroyed an ammunition stockpile over the past 24 hours, while Ukraine has lost up to 370 soldiers in clashes.


“The Ukrainian armed forces have lost up to 370 soldiers, two vehicles, one 122-mm D-30 howitzer. A field ammunition stockpile of the Ukrainian armed forces has been destroyed,” the ministry said.


The Ukrainian armed forces have lost up to 590 soldiers in battles with the southern group of the Russian forces, up to 425 soldiers in battles with the central group of the Russian forces, over 140 troops in battles with the eastern group of the Russian forces, and up to 90 soldiers in battles with the Dnepr Group of Forces, the ministry added.



Watch Russian Lancet Drone Decimate Ukrainian Military Equipment With Precision Strike



The Lancet unmanned aerial vehicle, developed by the Russian company Zala Aero, is capable of effectively striking enemy targets at ranges of several dozens of kilometers.






The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has released a video of drone operators of a Far Eastern Airborne Forces unit from the Dnepr Battlegroup using a Lancet unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to destroy the Ukrainian Army’s Giatsint self-propelled gun and a US-supplied M-777 howitzer on the right bank of the Dnepr River.


"Within several hours of observation, two objects were detected in the enemy's rear, at a distance of more than 30 kilometers from the front line. They turned out to be the M-777 howitzer and the Giatsint gun, which were obliterated by precision strikes of the Lancet loitering munition," the MoD said in a statement.


The UAV operators guided the drones in manual mode to avoid the slightest possibility of a delivery error, according to the statement.



Border warfare, logistics strikes and hunt for aircraft: The week in the Ukraine conflict (VIDEOS)



The past week in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has seen continuing active combat at multiple locations along the front line, with the most fierce clashes going on along the border between the two countries in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region, as well as in the vicinity of the Russian Donbass town of Chasov Yar.


On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the liberation of the village of Zagornoye, Zaporozhye Region, located some 10km to the southwest of the Ukrainian-controlled town of Gulaypole. The tiny settlement has seen intense combat over the past weeks as the long-static frontline got activated in the area.


https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2024.06/66748a7685f5401e4f3f17b6.mp4?download=1



The town of Chasov Yar remains one of the hottest points at the frontline, with the Russian forces continuing their advance. The combat environment around the town, turned into a major logistics center and a heavily-fortified stronghold by the Ukrainian troops, has proven to be extremely difficult. The town is split in two uneven halves by a major canal, which is used as a fortified line by Kiev’s forces.


The situation in Kharkov Region remains complicated as well, with active fighting continuing following Moscow’s advance into Ukrainian territory in the effort to set-up a buffer zone to stop indiscriminate cross-border attacks on its soil. The towns of Volchansk and Liptsy arguably remain the two hottest points in the area, with Kiev’s forces reportedly pouring in reserves and staging multiple countera@ttacks daily in the effort to push the Russians back.



Logistics strikes



Over the past week, the Russian military continued strikes on Ukrainian logistics, targeting multiple bridges near the frontline. Some of them were hit by aerial strikes a few weeks ago, but have been already fixed by the Kiev forces since then. The strikes appeared to be primarily concentrated on Kharkov Region.


Footage circulating online shows a new strike on a bridge across the Oskol River located in the town of Kupyansk-Uzlovoy,. The bridge sustained considerable damage in the strike, with waters flowing it, the video suggests.






Another video shows a strike on a bridge across the Seversky Donets river located near the village of Stary Saltov. A high-precision missile hit the bridge connecting two sides of a long dam running across the river. An unlucky truck, believed to be a military vehicle got caught in the blast and was destroyed.







Strikes on airfields



Both sides of the conflict have continued to hunt for each other’s aircraft, launching repeated strikes on airfields. For Russia, the task is aggravated by the scarcity of the surviving Ukrainian frontline aviation, which is being actively relocated by Kiev between multiple airfields scattered across the country.


Last week, the Russian military conducted strikes on a military airbase located in the city of Mirgorod in Poltava Region. Surveillance footage circulating online showed the airfield was hit by an Iskander ballistic missile, with at least one Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet destroyed in the strike and two others reportedly sustaining damage.






The airfield was subjected to additional airstrikes in the following days, with several hits with unknown munitions reported on Monday, as well as a large-scale attack with Geran-2 kamikaze drones reported on Wednesday. It was not immediately known whether any aircraft were hit by these strikes.



Hunt for Western-supplied hardware



Over the past week, the Russian military has destroyed several Ukrainian high-value assets, including Western-supplied conventional artillery pieces and multiple rocket launchers.


Footage showing a strike on a M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) multiple rocket launcher, said to be taken in Kharkov Region, emerged online on Thursday. The system was tracked from its firing position by a surveillance drone to a hiding spot in a wooded area. After the launcher and a support vehicle got parked, their location was hit with a ballistic missile, likely an Iskander. Both vehicles likely got destroyed or heavily damaged by the strike, footage suggests.






A few days earlier, a heavier tracked cousin of HIMARS, M270 MLRS system, got hit by an Iskander ballistic missile in the vicinity of the city of Zaporozhye.






The launcher, said to be packing US-supplied ATACMS ballistic missiles, was discovered upon reaching its firing position, ending up destroyed before firing its munitions, footage circulating online suggests.



Russia fields heavier winged bombs



On Thursday, Russian Telegram channel Fighterbomber reported the first-ever use of a massive high explosive FAB-3000 aerial bomb fitted with a guidance module. To date, only smaller bombs such as high explosive FAB-250 and FAB-500, as well as thermobaric and cluster munitions fitted with the Universal Correction and Guidance Module (UMPK) winged upgrade kit saw action amid the hostilities.






The reported debut of FAB-3000 occurred in Liptsy, with the bomb hitting near a building used by the Ukrainian forces to station personnel. The blast left the building heavily damaged while obliterating smaller utility structures nearby, drone footage shared by the channel shows.


While the development has not been officially confirmed yet, it apparently indicates that the UMPK kit received a bigger brother, given that the original modules were too small to fit a FAB-3000. Should the new larger kit get adopted, the development potentially paves way for use of even larger bombs, such as FAB-6000 or even FAB-9000.





















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