Ukraine/Russland/NATO – der Sammler am 24. Juni 2022

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Im andauernden russischen Angriffskrieg gegen die Ukraine haben sich die ukrainischen Truppen nach Wochen blutiger Kämpfe aus der Stadt Severodonezk im Osten des Landes zurückgezogen. Der Sammler am 24. Juni 2022:

• Die ukrainischen Truppen haben die seit Wochen umkämpfte Stadt Severodonezk nach Angaben des (ukrainischen) Gouverneurs am (heutigen) Freitag (KORREKTUR, nicht Samstag) geräumt und sich zurückgezogen:

Aus der New York Times:

After weeks of bloody street-by-street fighting and months of withering Russian bombardment, Ukrainian forces fighting in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk will retreat from the city, the local governor said on Friday.
Serhiy Haidai, the head of the Luhansk region’s military administration, said that it “does not make sense” to hold on to what he described as broken positions in the city any longer.
“The number of people killed will increase every day,” he said. “It was decided that our defenders would retreat to new positions, fortified areas, and from there conduct hostilities and inflict damage on the enemy.”

• Das britische Intel Update:

Ukrainian forces have announced that the pilot of a Russian Su-25 FROGFOOT ground attack aircraft shot down on 17 June was captured shortly afterwards.
The pilot has confessed to being a former Russian air force Major, who had taken employment as a Wagner military contractor and had flown several missions during the conflict.
The use of retired personnel, now working as Wagner contractors, to conduct close air support missions indicates that the Russian air force likely is struggling to support the invasion of Ukraine with sufficient aircrew.
This is likely due to a combination of Russia’s insufficient numbers of suitably trained personnel and its combat losses.
Whilst conducting his missions, the Russian pilot reportedly used commercial GPS devices rather than Russian military navigation equipment.
This likely indicates that Wagner aircraft are older models of the Su-25 and that the Russian air force is not providing Wagner with up-to-date avionics equipment.

• Das Morgenbriefing des ukrainischen Generalstabs:

Operational update regarding the #russian_invasion as of 06:00 on June 24, 2022
The one hundred twenty first (121) day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a russian military invasion continues.
The enemy does not cease offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone in order
– to establish full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions;
– the maintenance of the land corridor between these territories and the temporarily occupied Ukrainian Crimea;
– blocking of sea communications of Ukraine in the north-western part of the Black Sea;
– the maintenance of the occupied areas of the Kherson and part of the Zaporizhzhia areas and attempts of creation of favourable conditions for resumption of offensive in the Mykolayiv area.
The enemy continues to launch missile strikes on critical civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
In the Volyn and Polissya directions without special changes. On the territory of the republic of belarus there is an increase in the system of engineering and fortification equipment of defense positions in the areas bordering Ukraine and the European Union.
In the Siversky direction, the enemy fired on civilian and military infrastructure in the areas of the settlements of Tovstodubove, Bachivsk, Hlukhiv and Manukhivka in the Sumy oblast.
In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy inflicted artillery strikes in the districts of Kharkiv, Staryi Saltiv, Korobochkyne, Pechenihy, Dementiyivka, and Zolochiv. Intensified the activities of sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
In the Slovyansk direction, the enemy fires artillery at civilian infrastructure in the areas of the settlements of Bohorodychne, Krasnopillya, Kurulka, Chervone, Ridne and Chervona Polyana.
In the Siverodonetsk direction, the enemy fired from tanks, mortars, artillery and jet artillery near Lysychansk, Siverodonetsk, Bila Hora, Vovchoyarivka, Spirne and Berestove. It struck air strikes on the settlements of Lysychansk and Borivske. Fighting continues for the city of Siverodonetsk.
The occupiers launched an offensive near the settlement of Myrna Dolyna, and hostilities continue. Our soldiers successfully stopped the enemy’s offensive near Borivske.
In the Bakhmut direction, the enemy fired at artillery positions of our troops near Mykolayivka, Berestove, and Novoluhansk. It is trying to improve the tactical position and take control of the existing routes.
In the Novopavloisk direction, the enemy fired in the areas of the settlements of Antonivka, Vuhledar and Zolota Nyva.
The sabotage and reconnaissance groups involved in the enemy were discovered and defeated by Ukrainian soldiers. The remnants of the enemy’s DRG fled in panic.
The enemy did not conduct active hostilities in the Avdiivka, Kurakhiv and Zaporizhzhia areas. In order to prevent the transfer of reserves to threatening areas, the enemy fired at our troops in the areas of the settlements of Avdiivka, Umanske, Vesele, Novobahmutivka, Huliaipilske, Bilogirya and Staroukrainka.
As part of logistics, the occupiers are trying to demine the waters of the Berdyansk seaport.
In the South Buh direction, the enemy did not take active action. It defends himself and tries to fight against the battery. Inflicted an air strike on the positions of our troops in the area of the settlement of Bila Krynytsia. Our aircraft, in the relevant areas, hit the enemy clusters in response.

• Das Briefing des russischen Verteidigungsministeriums:

Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine (June 24, 2022)
Successful offensive of Russian units towards Lugansk within 5 days has resulted in the liberation of Loskutovka, Podlesnoye, Mirnaya Dolina, Shchebkaryer, Vrubovka, Nyrkovo, Nikiolayevka, Novoivanovka, Ustinovka and Ray-Aleksandrovka.
Group of Ukrainian units has been completely isolated near Gorskoye and Zolotoye.
This pocket has encircled 4 battalions: 3rd Mechanised Battalion of 24th Mechanised Brigade, 15th Mountain Assault Battalion of 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, 42nd Mechanised Infantry Battalion of 57th Mechanised Infantry Brigade, 70th Battalion of 101st Territorial Defence Brigade, as well as an artillery group of 57th Mechanised Infantry Brigade, a group of Nazis from Right Sector organisation and a detachment of foreign mercenaries.
In total, the Gorskoye pocket has isolated up to 2,000 people: about 1,800 servicemen, 120 Nazis from Right Sector, up to 80 foreign mercenaries, as well as over 40 armoured combat vehicles and about 80 guns and mortars.
41 servicemen abandoned their resistance and surrendered voluntarily just over the past 24 hours.
According to the prisoners, the encircled Ukrainian units are exhausted. The units are currently manned by less than 40%. Higher Ukrainian command has lost control over these units. Armament, munitions, fuel and other logistic supply is completely stopped.
Russian troops are straitening the Gorskoye encirclement by launching uninterrupted attacks at the enemy. Half of Zolotoye had been taken under control over yesterday.
The enemy suffers considerable losses in other directions, too.
High-precision attacks of Russian Aerospace Forces at three bases of foreign mercenaries in Nikolayev, Golitsyno (Nikolayev region) and Oleshki (Kharkov region) have resulted in the elimination of more than 200 ’soldiers of fortune‘ and up to 100 Ukrainian nationalists.
Desertion and refusals to be involved in operations are becoming widespread in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Over 30 Ukrainian servicemen from one of the battalions of 25th Airborne Brigade have abandoned their positions and personal weapons near Aleksandropol (Donetsk People’s Republic).
To replenish the losses in manpower, Ukrainian command are forced to form separate rifle battalions formed by untrained, mobilised citizens in each region towards Donetsk and Lugansk.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine.
Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery have neutralised AFU manpower and military equipment at 367 areas. 5 depots of munitions, missiles, artillery armament and logistic supplies near Privolye (Lugansk People’s Republic) and Nikolayev, as well as artillery and mortar units in 62 areas, including an artillery battery of M-777 howitzers near Oleshki (Kharkov region).
Bastion coastal missile system has launched an attack at the firing position of S-300 air defence missile system near Odessa. The target has been eliminated.
Attacks launched by aviation, missile troops and artillery have resulted in the elimination of more than 620 nationalists, 19 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, as well as 17 special vehicles.
Russian air defence means have destroyed 2 Su-25 airplanes near Dolgenkoye (Kharkov region) and Vysokopolye (Nikolayev region).
5 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down near Popasnaya and Kapitanovo (Lugansk People’s Republic), Verbovka, Donetskoye (Kharkov region), as well as 5 Tochka-U tactical missiles near Stakhanov, Lugansk and Izyum.
In total, 213 airplanes and 132 helicopters, 1,334 unmanned aerial vehicles, 350 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,769 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 659 combat vehicles equipped with multiple rocket-launching systems, 3,002 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 3,835 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

• Das Abendbriefing des ukrainischen Generalstabs:

Operational update regarding the #russian_invasion as of 18:00 on June 24, 2022
The one hundred twenty-first (121) day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a russian military invasion continues.
In the waters of the Black and Azov Seas, the enemy holds four naval-based cruise missile carriers.
No significant changes in the situation were noted in the Volyn, Polissya and Siversky areas. On the Siversky direction the enemy carried out artillery attacks in the area of the settlement of Boyaro-Lezhachi of the Sumy oblast.
In the Slobozhansky direction, the enemy is trying to create conditions for the offensive in the directions Izyum – Barvinkove and Izyum – Slovyansk.
In the Kharkiv direction, a group of enemy troops is conducting a defense to prevent the advance of units of the Defense Forces towards the state border to the north and northeast of the city of Kharkiv. At the same time, the enemy is trying to carry out assault operations in order to improve the tactical position of its units. The russian aggressor fired artillery at the settlements of Ruska Lozova, Staryi Saltiv, Chuguiv, Pechenigy and Bayrak.
In the Slovyansk direction, the enemy focuses its efforts on conducting an offensive in the direction of Dovhenke – Dolyna. Our soldiers successfully repulsed the assault of the enemy in the directions of Sulyhivka – Vernopillya and Dibrivne – Kurulka. The occupiers carried out remote mining of the area near the settlement of Dolyna.
In the Siverodonetsk direction, the occupiers carried out artillery shelling in the areas of the settlements of Lysychansk, Siverodonetsk, Loskutivka and Spirne. Inflicted an air strike in the area of Lysychansk. They carried out assault operations in the industrial zone of Siverodonetsk.
Ukrainian defenders successfully repulsed the assault near the southern outskirts of Lysychansk. The enemy, with the support of artillery, launched an assault in the direction of Vovchoyarivka, the fighting continues.
In the Bakhmut direction, the occupiers fired artillery at the areas of the settlements of Bilohorivka, Yakovlivka and Mayorske. Inflicted air strikes near Yakovlivka, Mykolayivka and Pokrovske.
The enemy captured the settlement of Mykolayivka. The enemy’s reconnaissance attempt in the direction of Myronivka-Vyhlehirska TPP failed. The occupiers, with losses, withdrew.
russian invaders launched a missile strike from Tu-22M3 aircraft in the city of Konstantynivka.
In the Kramatorsk, Avdiivka, Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia directions, the enemy exerts systematic fire along the line of contact in order to restrain the actions of our troops and prevent their transfer to other directions.
It struck air strikes in the areas of Pavlivka and Vuhledar. Carried out artillery shelling near the village of Siversk. The Ukrainian soldiers have once again repulsed the assault in the Marinka area. The enemy retreated.
In the South Buh direction, the enemy is concentrating its main efforts on maintaining the previously occupied frontiers. As a result of successful offensive actions of our units, part of the enemy forces left the prepared defensive positions and fled to the area of the settlement of Olhine, Beryslav district, Kherson oblast.

• Nachgetragen: Aus der vom Pentagon veröffentlichten Übersicht über die US-Militärhilfe für die Ukraine (aus der sich u.a. ergibt, dass die Zahl der zunächst vier zugesagten HIMARS-Mehrfachraketenwerfer verdoppelt wurde):

United States security assistance committed to Ukraine includes:

Over 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems;
Over 6,500 Javelin anti-armor systems;
Over 20,000 other anti-armor systems;
Over 700 Switchblade Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems;
126 155mm Howitzers and 260,000 155mm artillery rounds;
36,000 105mm artillery rounds;
126 Tactical Vehicles to tow 155mm Howitzers;
19 Tactical Vehicles to recover equipment;
Eight High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and ammunition;
20 Mi-17 helicopters;
Hundreds of Armored High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles;
200 M113 Armored Personnel Carriers;
Over 10,000 grenade launchers and small arms;
Over 59,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition;
75,000 sets of body armor and helmets;
121 Phoenix Ghost Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems;
Laser-guided rocket systems;
Puma Unmanned Aerial Systems;
Unmanned Coastal Defense Vessels;
22 counter-artillery radars;
Four counter-mortar radars;
Four air surveillance radars;
Two harpoon coastal defense systems;
18 coastal and riverine patrol boats;
M18A1 Claymore anti-personnel munitions;
C-4 explosives and demolition equipment for obstacle clearing;
Tactical secure communications systems;
Thousands of night vision devices, thermal imagery systems, optics, and laser rangefinders;
Commercial satellite imagery services;
Explosive ordnance disposal protective gear;
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear protective equipment;
Medical supplies to include first aid kits;
Electronic jamming equipment;
Field equipment and spare parts;
Funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.

Nachtrag, weil interessante Details: Aus dem Pentagon-Briefing vom 24. Juni:

So first, because it’s kind of out there in the news today, I wanted to just give you my quick take on what we’re seeing on the battlefield, and then secondly, a few highlights on security assistance.

So I just want to put into context what we’re seeing in Severodonetsk in terms of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ managed retrograde from that location. And the context that I want to share is just, when you look at the sweep of the past four months, obviously we’ve seen Russia having to, you know, completely recalibrate its plans, because its initial plans were overly ambitious and mismanaged, going from their multi-axis attempt that was defeated by the Ukrainians to now, a focus on Eastern Ukraine. And really, the Russians are just eking out inch by inch of territory here.

So in moving the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Severodonetsk back, what they are doing is putting themselves in a position where they can better defend themselves. And I think it’s important to reflect on the cost that Russia has paid for this very small, very incremental gain.

Now you know, shifting to the security assistance piece, this is where we’re really focused on giving the Ukrainians what they need when they need it. Earlier in the fight, obviously, it was a very different terrain. It was a very different battle, and we were focused on providing them in particular with short-range air defense like the Stingers, and anti-armor capability like the Javelin, and they put those capabilities to excellent use. But now this is an artillery duel, and we are ensuring that the Ukrainians have the capabilities they need to fight back and defend their territory, and now with the HIMARS System, to be able to do that at a safer standoff distance.

So just a quick recap on specifically the capabilities that we’re focused on right now. We’ve provided to date 126 155mm howitzers and 260,000 155mm rounds. The thing that was significant about our decision to provide these capabilities was these are not just needed in the fight; they’re also NATO-standard systems. So unlike the first phase of the fight, where we were providing the Ukrainians with capabilities they already knew how to use, now we have in place training programs to be able to train them on new systems they had never used, the M777 artillery system, and now we have training for use, and also for maintenance and sustainment. So with the HIMARS, you just saw yesterday our announcement of four additional HIMARS Systems. We have training programs in place so that they will be able to use this new NATO-standard system.
The other capabilities, just to make sure that you have this, that we announced yesterday in a package of $450 million in presidential drawdown include 36,000 rounds of 105mm ammunition, 18 tactical vehicles to tow 155mm artillery, 1,200 grenade launchers — these are the MK-19, and these are able to be mounted on armored vehicles — 2,000 heavy machine guns, again, able to be mounted on armored vehicles or boats. And in fact, we are providing 18 coastal and riverine patrol boats, and I can get into slightly more detail on that if anyone is interested. And obviously, with each of these packages we provide a lot of spare parts. We want to make sure they can keep these systems up and running. But you know, these particular capabilities just announced yesterday, again, come on top of, you know, a series of announcements, to include the billion-dollar announcement from last week. (…)
So I can tell you that the first batch of four HIMARS are in Ukraine. I can’t comment on specifically where but they are in Ukraine. So the Ukrainian armed forces have the opportunity to put the HIMARS into the fight. They are serviced by a trained crew that completed training both in terms of operating but also in terms of maintenance and sustainment.
And right now we have another platoon in training to be able to use that second batch of HIMARS that we just announced yesterday. So I don’t have a precise date for you on the second batch in terms of when it will arrive. But we’re talking a short timeframe. By mid-July you will have all of this capability in Ukraine. (…)
In terms of where we go from here, yes, the Russian stocks, the Soviet type equipment stocks are dwindling. That doesn’t mean we’ve reached rock bottom. There are still sources of ammunition. There are sources of equipment. There are still countries all around the world who we’re talking to who want to be able to make their own transition to NATO type equipment and are very much willing to provide their equipment.
They are looking for that backfill in many cases. So what we are looking at is not just how we source the Soviet type equipment and not just how we source NATO equipment to transition it to Ukraine. But we’re also looking at how we’re ramping up production lines of U.S. and NATO equipment so that we can backfill other countries and ourselves so it’s a multi pronged effort. (…)
So the patrol boats, let me give you a little bit more detail here. So it is a total of 18 but they are slightly different vessels. Two of them are small unit riverine craft, 35 feet. Six of them are maritime combat craft, 40 foot patrol boats. And then 10 of them are medium force protection patrol boats, these are 34 foot Sea Ark Dauntless class patrol boats. So slightly different variety within the overall 18 boat package.
And so I use the word riverine in there, these are largely to protect the river ways and to enable Ukraine to maintain its control of the river ways. They can also be used in, you know, close-in coastal areas, but the river piece was the initial impetus I believe for this — for this particular request. (…)
So on your first question about HIMARS, I think it’s really important to think about HIMARS differently from how you would think about, say, the howitzers, the M777s that we’ve provided previously. The HIMARS enable standoff distance, but they also with the munitions that we’re providing offer incredible precision. So this isn’t about, you know, volume. It’s about, you know, precise targeting.
So in addition to the fact that we wanted to, you know, introduce this system in a very thoughtful and very deliberate way with appropriate training, with an appropriate ability to have a feedback loop on how well the system is being introduced, there’s also the fact that it’s just a different kind of system.
And then the piece that I mentioned earlier is also really important. It’s not just the U.S. We also have — so you can’t just look at the eight so far from the U.S. You have to also look at what the U.K. and Germany are doing so far. And there are other countries that are on the cusp of considering additional MLRS systems. So it’s a larger effort than the U.S. piece. (…)
So in terms of the situation in Severodonetsk, the way that I view it is the Ukrainian Armed Forces are performing a professional, tactical retrograde in order to consolidate their forces in positions that they can better defend themselves. And I see this as occurring on the heels of their ability to continue to pin down Russian forces over a very long period of time in a very small geographic area. So that’s how I would describe the current situation there.
If I understood your second question correctly, I want to distinguish between the two capabilities that we’ve touched on and maybe that will answer your question.
These coastal and riverine patrol boats are essentially, you know, very useful in patrolling the rivers of Ukraine. In terms of defending the Black Sea coast, including the Port of Odessa, this is where we see coastal defense capabilities as being vital. And here is where the fact that you’ve seen donations from allies of the harpoon system and now you have the United States also leaning in to provide the harpoon system, this will be helpful in enabling the Ukrainians to defend, you know, Odessa, and other positions along the Black Sea coast. (…)
So right now the HIMARS that we’re providing Ukraine, with the guided multiple launch rocket system munitions, the GMLRS as we call them, they enable the Ukrainians to have roughly a 70 kilometer range. That’s like twice what they have with the Howitzers that we’re providing them.
So from an examination of the battlefield, when you look at the actual distances that the Ukrainians would need to position their systems and the actual positions of the Russians that they are fighting in Donbas, they don’t need more than that range. That range will give them significant capability and significant advantage.