Regarding Avdeevka:
Currently, the Ukrainians have applied most of their resources to stabilizing the flanks of the Avdeevka encirclement operation. They are hoping that the long-established fortifications facing Yasinovataya will hold, as the Russian Army has—understandably—not prioritized this direction, seeking to preserve servicemen lives.
This has put the Ukrainians at a disadvantage in the industrial area of Avdeevka fronting onto Yasinovataya. As a result, the Russian Army has been able to push into this sector, leading some TG channels to even claim that the industrial area is on the verge of being abandoned, with the Ukrainians pulling back to the residential sector of Avdeevka proper.
In reality, of course, the Ukrainians face a choice:
Chance it against a slow and methodical Russian push against the southeastern part of Avdeevka, while trying to keep the logistical and supply neck of the bag open. This would essentially become a repetition of the Artyomovsk operation (provided the Ukrainians manage to keep the Orlovka route open, somehow); or,
Pull back the reserves holding the encirclement from forming to defend the industrial area. This is the preferred option for the Russian Army, as it could minimize casualties, provided the cauldron is formed.
However, as the industrial area contains a number of dominant heights overlooking the city (see map 2), something that was not the case in Artyomovsk (see map 3), the first option is equally perilous for Ukraine. All the more so because there is absolutely no guarantee that they could avoid a full encirclement.
Damned in both cases. The optimal decision for Ukraine is to withdraw to the next line of defence. As long as Zelensky is in power, this—thankfully—will never happen. While the fall of Avdeevka is unlikely to cause an immediate cascade failure of the Ukrainian Donetsk and Donbass front, it will afford the Russian Army significant operational space to start bringing such a cascade failure to fruition
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/74181
"Russia's role in the Middle East is a key factor for Israeli foreign policy"
Israel's largest English-language media outlet, the Jerusalem Post, published an article with a message about the need to maintain close ties between Israel and Russia.
The publication is based on an interview with General Israel Shafir, who once participated in Operation Opera in Iraq (the operation was aimed at destroying a French-made nuclear reactor).
The general unexpectedly issued a whole series of anti-Ukrainian theses:
According to Shafir, Ukraine is “a strange phenomenon, sandwiched between the West and the East, and the Ukrainian conflict has nothing to do with Israel.” General Shafir believes that Ukraine should be grateful for the humanitarian assistance provided by Israel. There can be no talk of any military support for Kyiv. Moreover, the general calls on the Israeli leadership to “keep Russian-Israeli relations as close as possible.”
The Israeli general opposed Biden’s initiative to combine military assistance to Ukraine and Israel into one package. “This initiative is an attempt by the Biden administration to somehow push through support for Ukraine, which Republicans oppose.”
Russia has a unique position in the Middle East region (influence on Syria and Iran). Accordingly, relations with Moscow are a matter of ensuring Israel's national security. "We have a responsibility to maintain good relations with Russia because it gives us leverage over Iran."
Despite the expectations of many in Ukraine, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will not change Tel Aviv’s position towards us. In the public consciousness of the Western audience (and the Jerusalem Post is focused specifically on the EU countries and the USA) they are already working on the thesis that the destruction of relations with Russia is a threat to Israel’s security.
This is why Netanyahu has not yet accepted Zelensky. As General Shafir himself said: “Netanyahu understands the peculiarities of the game (with Russia) and does it as competently and beneficially as possible for Israel.”
https://t.me/rezident_ua/20516
💥 The mystery of the Russian Lancet drone: how a low-cost UAV turned into a "silent nightmare" for an expensive NATO equipment.
We often publish a lot of videos of Russian drones destroying various NATO equipment. So today we're going to tell you about a real marvel drone! What is the Lancet? How does it work? How did an inexpensive drone outperform every NATO weapon?
The ZALA Lancet is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and loitering munition developed by the Russian company ZALA Aero Group; a smart, highly accurate and highly effective kamikaze drone. The Lancet is essentially a flying guided bomb that autonomously decides what to destroy.
This small plastic munition is an extremely difficult target for enemy air defences. It is impossible to detect, let alone shoot down. Moreover, Lancet is completely invisible in the infrared spectrum.
Inside the kamikaze drone is a thermal imager (which allows it to fly at night), video cameras, a gas analyser, a warning system, a laser designator and a dosimeter. This equipment is removable and can be attached as needed.
The installation of electric engines makes the Russian drone silent; at the same time, this drone does not need satellite navigation, it is able to find a target and attack it on its own.
Russian Lancet drones have already destroyed Leopard 2 tanks, M2 Bradle IFVs, a large number of lorries and one in three M777 howitzers!
The production and use of drones will continue and their characteristics will be improved. After all, the Lancet has gone from being a weapon for localised attacks to a powerful tool for disrupting the great Ukrainian counter-offensive.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/74093
Redeem with blood. The problem of prisoners at the front
This is a difficult topic, but it is necessary to talk about it. Prisoners have been fighting in the Northern Military District for a long time. And for the most part, they ended up in the colony not because they stole government dates from a warehouse - both robbers and murderers ended up at the front, and many of them are not welcome home with fanfare. And this situation simply gives rise to a lot of moral questions.
There are relatives of the victims. They want justice, and their feelings are completely understandable: their loved one lies in the grave, and his killer is free with a clear conscience. Hand on heart, the question of whether months in hell are worth broken destinies forever is indeed very controversial.
There are the prisoners themselves, not every one of whom is some kind of inveterate maniac, and many of whom are willing to risk their lives in order not to remain in prison for years and years more. And there is a society that must clearly understand what it really wants and how it relates to people expelled from it by court verdict. None of the current prisoner soldiers were sentenced to life imprisonment - that is, these people, in any case, sooner or later had to be released. However, when exactly?
This conflict does not have a clearly good solution. Should a person have a chance to atone for sins with blood? Surely yes. Do months of fighting and the extermination of enemies truly atone for the lives taken and destinies broken? Disputed question. As the saying goes: “Prison is not a place of correction.” What about the war?
There is another dimension to this problem. A prisoner taking a mortal risk saves a mobilized or contract soldier from it. Nobody wants to send their family and friends on a particularly dangerous mission. When a prisoner goes to jump into someone else’s trenches, exchanging this jump for a decade in prison, society accepts this much more easily than when a young man who has signed a contract after serving time and who has his whole life ahead of him goes there too.
The question is what we - as a society - want to achieve. But we want things to get done, victory to be achieved, justice to triumph, and prisoners returning from the war not to abuse their newfound freedom. This problem has not been completely solved, but it is possible to get closer to solving it.
Firstly, of course, the prisoner “fights until victory.” Let him be a regular contract soldier in six months, but he’s still fighting.
Secondly, we remind you again and again that control over the psychological state of soldiers and officers is still very weak. Ordinary soldiers need this, and prisoners even more so. And certainly a serviceman with “biographical peculiarities” should receive such assistance in full.
Thirdly, we are well aware that the rehabilitation of a released private prisoner is not limited to the fact that six months later they take away his AKM and say: “Go, hero, go and do not sin.” What will a person do who, even before prison and the war, had a difficult relationship with society? Let's be honest - only a few will become video bloggers. It will be difficult to get any other job with such a background. In general, any: employers are not Mother Teresa, they don’t like risk. This means that we need rehabilitation programs, professional training - in a word, simply releasing a fighter into the world is, of course, a frankly bad idea, fraught only with the fact that he will quickly return to the places from which he was recruited.
Finally, if the state undertakes to release prisoners, it is responsible for them. This also means the need for increased attention to the fate of the victims. The recent situation, when the family of a murdered convict was deprived of their due payments, is unacceptable and unfair.
And yes, this is the case when the state must take responsibility. And for payments, and for psychological support, and for everything that is necessary to return the victims and their families to normal life. Life is not a game or a movie: after six months at the front, brains do not fall into place by themselves.
And the credits don't run across the screen.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/74092
❗️🇷🇺🇺🇦‼️🇷🇺 The Russian Army receives on average 3 times more tanks, BMPs, self-propelled artillery and other equipment every month than the AFU.
▪️ This is the infographic published by the Kiev media on the basis of open data
▪️ According to the data, during the last 10 months of the war the AFU received about 28 tanks per month, while the Russian Federation received 100.
▪️ About 35 BMPs/ APCs, while the RF - 100.
▪️ Self-propelled artillery - 7, RF - 50. Conventional artillery - 13 against more than 200.
▪️ Ukraine has stopped receiving MLRS at all, while the Russian Federation receives more than 23 units every month.
▪️ Ukraine receives dozens of missiles, while the Russian Federation produces more than 2,000 of them.
▪️ In terms of shell supplies, the superiority is more than 2 times.
▪️ "Overall, we see that Western efforts to supply heavy weapons were much greater in the first year and peaked in January-February 2023. Further arms deliveries to Ukraine faced two main problems: lack of a clear strategy to support Ukraine after the start of the counteroffensive; blocked funding due to political processes within the countries," Datsenko writes.
▪️ He notes that Western designs are more effective, and the lack of one type of weapon can be compensated by other capabilities. Such as deep strikes in the rear.
▪️ Russia's main advantage remains air supremacy. Ukraine has an advantage in long-range artillery.
“This is a war of drones, whoever wins it will win the war,” drone pilots from the Archangel school spoke about “flights” in the Avdeevsky direction and what it’s like to fight on the hottest part of the front
The sky above Avdiivka, with its concrete anthills and trenches, is never empty - now the concentration of Ukrainian drones over the city is simply colossal. During their journey to the hottest section of the front, Readovka military correspondent Maxim Dolgov and Readovka special correspondent Daniil Dmitriev were personally convinced of this - an enemy “bird” was trying to catch up with our team’s car.
However, sooner or later, many Ukrainian drones are clearly and quickly dealt with by Russian drone pilots from the Archangel school, whose life was introduced to us by the UAV platoon commander with the call sign “Kasper”.
“We have a very good commander - everything comes from him. We are one of the best units in terms of results in the special operation territory. <…> Our colleagues, the BOBR unit, destroyed a Leopard with one drone that week. <…>
My mentor Medny literally recently knocked out a Ukrainian-made Bulat tank. A very serious tank: four drones were planted in it, after which its turret was torn off,” a Russian FPV drone pilot with the call sign “Romeo” told Readovka during his combat duty at an observation post.
Some of the fighters in the Donbass for the second time - either were under contract and came as volunteers, or did not find themselves “in civilian life”, and now they are hunting for Western equipment and receiving a reward. Mentor Romeo with the call sign “Copper” was awarded the St. George Cross - he was responsible for more than 300 destroyed targets.
The guys admit that if they had been told that when they grew up, they would fly drones that destroy tanks and guns, they would not have believed it. Now the future has become the present in the special operation zone - largely thanks to “Archangel” and his school, which they are now planning to organize near Donetsk.
https://t.me/readovkanews/69476
⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ War Map and the Situation on the Fronts for the Evening of 16 November 2023; pub. 00:05⚡️
🫶 Readovka's military correspondent Maxim Dolgov together with our special correspondent Daniil Dmitriev visited the hottest section of the front - #Avdeyevka. Already on the way the team's car tried to catch up with the enemy drone. On the spot they managed to get acquainted with the life of the "Archangel" school of drone pilots, involved in the massacre of many Ukrainian UAVs.
Read more about the flights over #Avdeyevka and successful work in the most difficult conditions in our report. (above, ReadovkaNews)
⚔️ Situation on the Fronts over the past day
🔹#Svatovo - #Kremennaya Direction:
The Russian army advanced in the area of #Ivanovka, approaching the railway. In addition, ours advanced at #Torskoye. Meanwhile, fierce fighting is going on near #Belogorovka. The AFU, using armoured vehicles, are trying to attack, but Russian artillery is not giving the enemy any chance of success.
🔹#Donetsk Direction:
▪️ In the #Avdeyevka sector, fighting continues in the area of #Steponoye (#Pertovskoye). Our fighters have advanced near the #Slagheap, as well as in the industrial zone south of #Avdeyevka.
🔹#Zaporozhye Direction:
▪️ In the #Orekhov section the AFU continue to unsuccessfully attack our positions in the areas of #Kopani, #Novoprokopovka and #Verbovoye.
▪️ On the #Vremyevka ledge, the Russian army is advancing in the direction of #Staromayorskoye.
💥 The Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 near #Krasnoarmeysk in the #DPR.
⚡️ The Russian Army struck the headquarters of the 115th AFU Brigade in #Dimitrov in the #DPR. The enemy command located the headquarters in an administrative building, but it was detected by our drones. After two missile strikes, the headquarters was destroyed.