Ukraine/Russland/NATO – der Sammler am 18. Mai 2022 (m. Updates)

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Im anhaltenden russischen Angriffskrieg gegen die Ukraine sind die Kämpfe in Mariupol auch mit der am Vortag verkündeten Aufgabe ukrainischer Soldaten nicht beendet – weiterhin spricht der ukrainische Generalstab von Kämpfern dort. Finnland und Schweden haben der NATO ihre Aufnahmeanträge überreicht.  Der Sammler am 18. Mai 2022:

• Das britische Intel Update:

Despite Russian forces having encircled Mariupol for over ten weeks, staunch Ukrainian resistance delayed Russia’s ability to gain full control over the city.
This frustrated its early attempts to capture a key city and inflicted costly personnel losses amongst Russian forces.
In attempting to overcome Ukrainian resistance, Russia has made significant use of auxiliary personnel. This includes a deployment of Chechen forces, likely consisting of several thousand fighters primarily concentrated in the Mariupol and Luhansk sectors.
These forces likely consist of both individual volunteers and National Guard units, which are routinely dedicated to securing the rule of Chechen Republic Head, Ramazan Kadyrov.
Kadyrov likely maintains close personal oversight of the deployment, while his cousin Adam Delimkhanov has likely acted as the Chechen field commander in Mariupol.
The combat deployment of such disparate personnel demonstrates Russia’s significant resourcing problems in Ukraine and is likely contributing to a disunited command which continues to hamper Russia’s operations.

• Das Morgenbriefing des ukrainischen Generalstabs:

The operational update regarding the #russian_invasion on 06.00 on May 18, 2022.
The eighty-fourth day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a russian military invasion continues.
russian enemy is firing along the entire line of contact and in the depths of the defence of Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk operational area and in the Slovyansk direction, taking measures to strengthen the offensive group.
In other areas, russian enemy’s main focus is on maintaining previously occupied frontiers, conducting reconnaissance, engineering equipment positions, replenished stocks, and trying to improve its tactical position.
russian invaders continue to launch missile strikes on military and civilian targets throughout Ukraine.
In the Volyn, Polissya and Seversky directions, units of the Armed Forces of the republic of belarus are carrying out tasks to strengthen the Ukrainian-belarusian border in the Brest and Gomel regions. The threat of missile and air strikes on the objects of our State from the territory of belarus remains.
To demonstrate the presence and restraint of units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine, the enemy continues to maintain units of the Armed Forces of the russian federation in the border areas of Bryansk and Kursk regions. In some areas, russian enemy strengthens the system of air defence and engineering equipment positions.
russian enemy continues to shell artillery positions of Ukrainian troops and civilian infrastructure in the border settlements of Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts.
In the Kharkiv direction, russian enemy focused on maintaining its positions and preventing the further advance of our troops. russian aggressor is carrying out artillery shelling of the settlements of Tsyrkuny, Ruski Tyshky, Cherkasy Tyshky and Pytomnyk.
In the Slovyansk direction, russian enemy is attacking the village of Dovhenke. To support the offensive in a certain area deployed jet and artillery units.
In order to provide logistical support and replenish the units that suffered casualties, russian aggressor moved weapons and military equipment from the territory of the russian federation.
In the Donetsk direction, russian enemy continues to attack in the Lyman, Severodonetsk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Kurakhiv directions.
In the Lyman direction, russian enemy launched an offensive in order to establish full control over the settlement of Drobysheve and blockade the Lyman from the north.
In the Bakhmut and Severodonetsk directions, russian aggressor concentrated up to fifteen helicopters in the Luhansk region to support the offensive.
In Mariupol, russian enemy is focusing its efforts on blocking our units near the Azovstal plant. Continues to inflict artillery and air strikes.
In the Novopavlovsk and Zaporizhzhia directions, russian enemy reinforces groups of troops to conduct an offensive in the direction of Polohy – Orikhiv.
In the South Bug direction, russian enemy focuses its main efforts on maintaining the occupied frontiers, conducting reconnaissance, and engineering equipment of positions, firing on units of our troops.
russian occupiers deployed on fire positions to ten batteries of jet and to eight – barrel artillery in the Mykolayiv direction for fire defeat of Ukrainian army.
In the Kryvyi Rih direction, russian troops conducted demonstrations to bind Ukrainian troops, improve engineering equipment and replenish supplies.
In the Bessarabian direction, the situation in the transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova remains tense and has not changed significantly.
Ships of the Black Sea Fleet in the Black and Azov Seas continue to perform tasks to isolate the area of hostilities, reconnaissance and fire support in the coastal direction.
In the previous day, the air defense units of the Land Forces hit ten UAVs of operational and tactical level, anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force destroyed one UAV and four cruise missiles.
Twelve enemy attacks were repulsed in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions over the past 24 hours, three tanks, three artillery systems, six units of armoured combat vehicles and seven enemy vehicles were destroyed.

• Das Morgenbriefing des russischen Verteidigungsministeriums:

In Mariupol, militants of Azov nationalist unit and Ukrainian servicemen blocked at the Azovstal plant continue to surrender.
Over the past 24 hours, 694 militants have laid down arms and surrendered, including 29 wounded.
A total of 959 militants have surrendered since 16 May, including 80 wounded, of whom 51 need hospital treatment have been admitted to Novoazovsk hospital in the Donetsk People’s Republic.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine.
Over a day, high-precision air-based missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces have hit 2 command posts, including the territorial defence headquarters near Soledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as 31 areas of concentration of Ukrainian manpower and military equipment, including locations of foreign mercenary units from European countries in Nikolaev and Krasnogorovka.
In addition, 2 Ukrainian Su-24 aircraft have been destroyed at a military airfield near Dnepropetrovsk, 1 division of Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems near Nikolaev, as well as 4 ammunition depots for missile and artillery weapons and ammunition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Ugledar, Pokrovskoe, Soledar and Bakhmut, Donetsk People’s Republic.
Operational-tactical and army aviation have hit 3 command posts, 41 areas of concentration of AFU manpower and military equipment, as well as 1 ammunition depot near Ugledar, Donetsk People’s Republic.
The attacks have resulted in the elimination of more than 270 nationalists and up to 54 armoured and motor vehicles.
Missile troops and artillery have hit 76 command posts, 421 areas of manpower and military equipment concentration, as well as 147 artillery and mortar units at firing positions, including 1 Ukrainian battery of US-made 155mm M777 howitzers near Pogornoe.
1 pontoon crossing point equipped by Ukrainian Armed Forces to cross the Severskyi Donets River has been destroyed near Protopopovka, Kharkov Region.
Russian air defence means have shot down 1 Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft over Tripolie, Donetsk people’s republic.
In addition, 1 Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 has been shot down near Kamennaya Yaruga, Kharkov Region.
15 Ukrainian UAVs have been shot down near Semenovka, Velikie Prokhody, Balakleya, Malye Prokhody, Velikaya Kamyshevakha in Kharkov Region, Rudnichnyi, Grabskoe, Staromikhailovka, Volnoe in Donetsk People’s Republic, Belyaevka, Chernobaevka in Kherson Region.
8 Ukrainian Smerch multiple-launch rockets have been also intercepted near Kamenka and Malaya Kamyshevakha, Kharkov Region.
In total, 172 Ukrainian aircraft and 125 helicopters, 927 unmanned aerial vehicles, 311 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,139 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 389 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,548 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,997 units of special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation.

• Finnland und Schweden haben, wie angekündigt, ihre Mitgliedsanträge bei der NATO eingereicht.

• Die von einigen Nationen – darunter Deutschland – zugesagte schnelle Aufnahme von Finnland und Schweden in die NATO dürfte allerdings so nicht funktionieren, weil die Türkei bremst. Von der New York Times:

Turkey has blocked an initial effort by NATO to move ahead quickly with the applications of Finland and Sweden, which were handed over Wednesday morning, according to a senior diplomat.
Turkey presented NATO ambassadors with a list of grievances mostly concerning allegations about Kurdish terrorists and prevented an early procedural vote to proceed with the applications.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has complained about the issue and has said it makes him doubtful about Sweden and Finland as members. Turkey’s hold on the applications is not thought to be final, but rather an effort to get its concerns addressed seriously by member states.

Ergänzung: Reuters hat das Verhalten der Türkei beim Treffen der Außenminister in Berlin detaillierter aufgeschrieben:

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was „in crisis mode“, a NATO diplomat told Reuters of the evening meeting in Berlin. (…)
Cavusoglu not only set conditions for Turkey accepting the membership bids but raised his voice at Sweden’s Ann Linde in what three NATO diplomats said was an „embarrassing“ break in protocol.

 

• Aus dem täglichen Pentagon-Briefing: Notizen von Caitlin Doornbos von Stars&Stripes:

Senior U.S. defense official believe „that there’ll be another presidential drawdown package coming soon.“ There’s currently about $100 million in drawdown authority left from the March supplemental funding bill to send Ukraine military aid.
About 79 of the 90 howitzers the U.S. sent to Ukraine are currently in use by the Ukrainians against the Russians.
About 200 of the 300 Switchblade drones the U.S. is sending Ukraine are in the country. All of the radars promised are also now in Ukrainian hands.
Defense official says the Ukrainians are telling the U.S. that the 79 U.S. M77 howitzers they’re using against Russia are helpful as a „long-range indirect-fire capability.“
Russians are „still fighting it out with Ukrainians between Mykolaiv and Kherson.“
„[Russia has] not made much progress towards Mykolaiv … the progress we’ve seen is in the line of access from Kherson more towards the Black Sea, not necessarily in the direction of Mykolaiv.“
„We’re seeing [Ukraine] continue to push the Russians further away from Kyiv to the north and northeast & directly to the east, as well. But .. you can’t draw a line with a ruler and say, well, it’s all 3 to 4 kilometers from the border. It varies on the terrain.“
Some Russians have been pushed as close as „three to four kilometers“ toward the border, while some are as far away as 10 to even 15 [km] in some places. So it’s not uniform.“
„We’ve had no indications that the Russians have actually hit any storage of shipments coming from Western nations and we haven’t seen anything last 24 hours that even indicates that they were trying to do to disrupt the shipments“ of Western military aid.
„We know they’ve hit rail hubs, they’ve hit electrical power stations, they’ve targeted what they believe to be storage facilities. We think they are certainly trying to disrupt that flow, but we have no indications that they’ve been successful with that and the flow continues.“
„In the last, what is it now, 84 days, [Russia has] used submarines to launch cruise missiles into Ukraine. We haven’t seen that in the last few days .. They did launch a couple of cruise missiles from submarines into Odessa [last week], but we haven’t seen it in about a week.“
U.S. needs to replenish its stocks of Javelins and some of the unmanned aerial systems its sent Ukraine in recent military aid packages, the official said.

• Das Abendbriefing des ukrainischen Generalstabs:

The operational update regarding the #russian_invasion on 18.00 on May 18, 2022.
The eighty-fourth day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a russian military invasion continues.
russian enemy continues its offensive in the Eastern Operational Zone. It inflates fire along the entire line of contact and in the depths of the defence of our troops in the Donetsk operational area and in the Slovyansk direction, takes measures to strengthen the offensive group.
In the Volyn and Polissya areas, certain units of the Armed Forces of the republic of belarus continue to carry out tasks to cover the Ukrainian-belarusian border. The second stage of the combat readiness check is underway in the Armed Forces of the republic of belarus until May 21. Issues of forcing water barriers and checking the next forces and means of air defence are being worked out. The threat of missile and bomb strikes from the territory of the Republic of belarus remains.
In the Siversky direction, russian enemy units fired artillery and mortars at the settlements of Yanzhulivka and Progres, Chernihiv and Sumy oblast, respectively.
russian enemy continues to equip additional firing positions and defensive structures in the border areas of Bryansk and Kursk regions. russian enemy conducted air reconnaissance with the use of UAVs in order to identify units of Ukrainian troops, artillery positions and deployment routes.
According to available information, units of the Armed Forces of the russian federation, stationed in the border areas of the Kursk region, are replenishing supplies of logistics and ammunition.
In the Slobozhansky direction, in the border areas of the Belgorod and Voronezh regions, russian occupiers continue to keep units of the 32nd Air Defence Division of the 6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army of the Armed Forces of the russian federation ready for use.
In the Kharkiv direction, russian enemy’s main efforts were focused on maintaining the occupied frontiers and firing on units of our troops. russian enemy tried to counterattack in order to restore the lost positions.
As a result of the offensive of Ukrainian troops, the settlement of Dementievka was liberated. russian enemy is advancing in the area of ​​the settlement of Ternov, fighting continues.
In the Slovyansk direction, russian occupiers, with the support of artillery, fought in the Dovgenke area, had no success, and suffered losses. russian enemy increased the intensity of air reconnaissance with the use of UAVs.
In the Donetsk direction, russian enemy fired on the positions of units of Ukrainian troops along the line of contact from the entire spectrum of weapons, including aircraft.
In the Lyman direction, russian occupiers are trying to gain a foothold on the previously occupied borders. The enemy used aircraft to strike at civilian targets in the areas of Toshkivka, Zolote, Avdiivka, Volodymyrivka and Vodiane.
In the Severodonetsk direction, russian enemy carried out assault operations in the area of ​​the settlement of Nizhne, without success.
In the Bakhmut direction, russian enemy is conducting offensive operations, trying to improve the tactical situation. It carried out assault operations in the area of ​​the settlement of Katerynivka, has no success.
In the Avdiivka direction, russian enemy conducted offensive operations in the area of ​​the settlement of Novoselivka, suffered losses, and retreated. The assaults of the russian occupiers near the settlements of Novobakhmutivka and Vesele were unsuccessful.
In the Kurakhiv direction, russian enemy launched an offensive in the area of ​​the settlement of Pobeda, without success.
russian occupiers did not carry out active hostilities in the Novopavlovsk and Zaporizhzhia areas, and carried out artillery and mortar shelling of infrastructure facilities and residential buildings in the areas of the settlements of Novoandriyivka, Kamyanske, Orikhiv, Olhivske and Poltavka.
In the South Buh direction, the enemy fired on the settlements of Lupareve, Posad-Pokrovske, Vysunsk, Osokorivka and Novovorontsovka. russian enemy continued the measures of engineering equipment positions. In order to adjust the artillery fire, it used the Orlan-10 UAV.
No significant changes have been recorded in the Bessarabian direction.
According to available information, spontaneous protests of members of the families of persons who were forcibly mobilized into the ranks of the russian occupation forces took place on May 16-17 in the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk region. Protests were recorded in Luhansk and Rovenky. The main requirement is to return the mobilized home.