Published December 18, 2023
Oleksandr Tarnavskyi has led Ukrainian counteroffensives
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Troops are tired but hopeful of victory, he says
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He says foreign aid not arriving in sufficient volumes
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Stockpiles of artillery shells are a problem, he says
KYIV/LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Frontline Ukrainian troops face shortages of artillery shells and have scaled back some military operations because of a shortfall of foreign assistance, a senior army general told Reuters.
Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi was speaking after Republican lawmakers held up a $60-billion U.S. aid package and Hungary blocked 50 billion euros ($54.5 billion) in European Union funding for Kyiv as it battles Russia’s invasion.
“There’s a problem with ammunition, especially post-Soviet (shells) – that’s 122 mm, 152 mm. And today these problems exist across the entire front line,” he said in an interview.
Tarnavskyi said the shortage of artillery shells was a “very big problem” and the drop in foreign military aid was having an impact on the battlefield.
“The volumes that we have today are not sufficient for us today, given our needs. So, we’re redistributing it. We’re replanning tasks that we had set for ourselves and making them smaller because we need to provide for them,” he said, without providing details.
The comments underline Kyiv’s reliance on Western military aid to fight Russian troops along a 1,000-km front nearly 22 months into the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two.
Russian forces also face ammunition problems, Tarnavskyi said, without specifying their nature.
Weary Ukrainian troops on the southeastern front have gone on the defensive in some areas but are trying to attack in others, he said.
Ukrainian forces still expect victories but would benefit from reserves to rotate and rest them, he said.
“In some areas, we moved (to defence), and in some we continue our offensive actions – by manoeuvre, fire and by moving forward. And we are preparing our reserves for our further large-scale actions,” he said.
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
RELATED: Russia and Ukraine Duel in the Skies Launching Dozens of Drones at Each Other on Sunday
A Ukrainian serviceman prepares to launch a drone during a military training which focuses on fighting sabotage groups, in the Chernihiv region, on December 5, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP) (Photo by ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images)
Published December 17, 2023
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russia and Ukraine launched over a dozen drones at each other´s territory for a second straight day Sunday, one of which apparently targeted a Russian military airport.
At least 35 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over three regions in southwestern Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a post on the messaging app Telegram.
A Russian air base hosting bomber aircraft used in the war in Ukraine was among the targets, according to a Russian Telegram channel critical of the Kremlin. The channel posted short videos of drones flying over low-rise housing in what it claimed was the Russian town of Morozovsk, whose air base is home to Russia´s 559th Bomber Aviation Regiment.
Vasily Golubev, the governor of Russia´s Rostov province, separately reported “mass drone strikes” near Morozovsk and another town farther west, but did not mention the air base. Golubev said most the drones were shot down and and there were no casualties. He did not comment on damage.
Also Sunday morning, Ukraine´s air force said it shot down 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched overnight by Russian troops in southern and western Ukraine, as well as one X-59 cruise missile launched from the country´s occupied south.
A civilian was killed overnight near Odesa, a key port on Ukraine´s southern Black Sea coast, after the remnants of a destroyed drone fell on his house, Ukraine´s military said.
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SOURCE: www.breitbart.com
RELATED: Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin ‘threatens Nato’ as paramilitaries ‘destroy’ squadron in cross-border raid
Kremlin’s ‘hostile intent’ towards alliance poses ‘credible and costly threat to Western security’, says think tank
Published December 18, 2023
Vladimir Putin has threatened Finland and the wider Nato alliance, according to a US war think tank, while Russian paramilitaries based in Ukraine have claimed responsibility for a cross-border attack.
The Russian President’s interview with his country’s state TV on Sunday is indicative of the Kremlin’s “hostile intent” towards the alliance, which poses a “credible and costly threat to Western security”, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Meanwhile, the Freedom of Russia Legion – which says it was formed in spring 2022 to fight Putin’s forces from within the Armed Forces of Ukraine – claimed to have carried out a cross-border raid a few miles into Russia’s Belgorod region on Sunday.
The group, designated as terrorist in Russia, alleged it had destroyed a platoon stronghold of Russian troops near Trebreno village, without specifying whether it had destroyed infrastructure or killed soldiers, and said it had left mines behind.
It comes after Ukraine and Russia launched a swarm of drones at each other’s territories on Sunday as both sides step up attacks, with the Russian assault reportedly killing one person in Odesa and the Ukrainian strike targeting a Russian military airfield.
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SOURCE: www.independent.co.uk
