Daily Report from the Ukraine Field for 2023-02-22

News, Telegram, and Twitter Articles

Feb 22, 2023

This is an ongoing collection of News, public Telegram, and public Twitter reporting from the field. They can be graphic. Due to the laws in Ukraine prohibiting internal reporting, the majority of these will be Russian…

3 years ago · 7 likes · A Skeptic

❗️🇷🇺🇺🇦🎞 Chronicle of the special military operation: events of February 21, 2023

The Armed Forces of Ukraine once again shelled the border villages of Popovo-Lezhachi and Vesyoloye in the Kursk region.

As a result of the strikes, the settlements were partially de-energized, and several houses were damaged.

▪️Heavy fighting is going on near the gas compressor station in the area of Spornoye , which has become a key point of defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in this area in recent months.

Offensive operations are hampered by a wide network of enemy trenches and underground communications.

▪️To the north of Bakhmut, the "Wagnerites" entrenched themselves on the outskirts of Yagodny , occupying a section of the highway leading to Berkhovka .

The capture of the village will complicate the position of the Ukrainian garrison in the northern part of the city.

▪️In Bakhmut itself, Russian forces are advancing from the Meat Processing Plant towards the Artyomovsk Metal Processing Plant.

The assault is complicated by underground communications and dense industrial buildings.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine again inflicted indiscriminate strikes on the civilian infrastructure of Donetsk and nearby cities.

More than five houses were damaged in the capital of the DPR. In Volnovakha , several residential buildings were damaged, and one man was injured.

▪️In Marinka, Russian troops continue to slowly push the enemy to the west: fighting is taking place on the southern outskirts near the tire repair plant.

The Ukrainian command does not intend to give up positions without a fight and, despite heavy losses, is transferring new reserves.

▪️Under Ugledar, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were able to push back the Russian marines from their positions west of the village of Nikolskoye.

The enemy is transferring reserves, including the HIMARS MLRS, hoping to continue offensive operations in the direction of Pavlovka.

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There has been much mention of supposed GLSDB (Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb) munitions supposedly having been delivered to and deployed by Ukraine in chat as of late.

A few observations on such.

First, no evidence has been provided for this whatsoever as of yet. It certainly may be the case that these munitions are now in service with the UF and are being used, but the only arguments thus far claiming this have been “long range strikes”, attributed to such munitions being deployed.

The effective firing range of a GLSDB munition is approx 150km as per a subsidiary of Montagu PE.

The firing range of a Smerch MLRS system on the other hand up to 200 klicks.

It should be noted that both ATACMS and GLSDB of systems are effectively rigging an MLRS with a long range projectile system.

The standard HIMSARS projectile is 277mm in diameter. The ATACMS munition however is 610mm in diameter, while the GLSDB is 240mm.

In other words, these are not interchangeable munitions as they simply do not fit into the same universal HIMSRS bore.

It is possible, though I’m doubtful, but nonetheless uncertain that the GLSDB munition can perhaps be fired from a HIMARS system via a sabot system, but I have been unable to find information for such.

So it therefore becomes not a question of the west delivering ATACMS and GLSDB munitions to Ukraine so much as it does delivering actual launch system units.

That said, such systems defeat the entire point of an MLRS battery. MLRS is rocket artillery intended to saturate a target point with area fire.

Missiles like the ATACMS on the other hand simply convert MLRS into a mobile launch platform for a guided missile intended onto a point target.

The Tochka-U has an effective range of 120km, meanwhile the venerable and obsolete SCUD missile variants have ranges of between 180km to 600km and even 700km for the SCUD-D

The Tochka and SCUD system are both mobile TELAR systems, as is the MLRS HIMAR

So the obvious question nags at me - why are so many chat members raising the issue of GLSDB munitions and ATACMS munitions HIMARS systems when a much older SCUD outranges them, or even a Ukranian Tochka—U nearly matches the range?

Why even employ these systems when they are trying to bridge the gap between MLRS and ballistic missiles?

Ukraine had some 50 SCUD units in 2012 - the were destroyed. Only for the US and allies to supply a HIMARS system equivalent with a 150-300 klick range projectile instead?

Ukraine also fielded Smerch systems with a maximum firing range of between 120km to 200km depending on the payload.

Yet we hear little to no news about strikes with such systems, only “HIMARS” and increasingly now with GLSDB munitions.

Why? Presumably because these long range capable systems such as Smerch and Tochka’s have already been destroyed.

The question arises of course that if Russia was capable of destroying such systems before, why would a 150km maximum ranged unit pose any threat now?

Russia has a constant capacity to launch heavier payload munitions from standoff range up to between 200 and 660km with the Kalbir, potentially up to even 4,500 klicks with a particular variant, or 3,000km with the H-101, which is nearly twice the distance across Ukraine from East to West.

Yet Ukraine is not launching cruise nor ballistic missiles into Russia at a daily basis despite having forces and territorial control of a region very much at the border itself.

Ukraine is also not launching offensive operations with HIMARS systems, only (almost randomly) striking Russian held territories in what appear to be terroristic acts

The reasons ought to be clear: Ukraine has no long range capacity with which to engage in military operations. What equivalents they once had have been long since destroyed, and now they depend on HIMARS with hopes of ATACMS and GLSDB variants in order to continue launching salvos at civilian targets to justify their need for them, while in military terms, accomplishing nothing

Dmitry Medvedev :If Russia stops the special military operation without winning, there will be no Russia, it will be torn apart. If the U.S. stops supplying weapons to the Kiev regime, the war is over.

Dmitry Medvedev's comment on Putin's and Biden's speeches :

1. Yesterday we had an address by the President of Russia to the Federal Assembly, in which, among other things, he announced the suspension of our participation in START III. A long overdue decision, the inevitability of which I noted last year. A decision prompted by the war the United States and other NATO countries have declared on our country. A decision that will have a huge resonance in the world in general and in the United States in particular. The reasoning of the American establishment so far has been this: we will shit all over you, we will supply huge volumes of weapons to the Kiev regime, we will work to defeat Russia, we will limit and destroy you, but strategic security is a separate issue. It is not related to the overall context of the U.S.-Russia relationship. It is almost a sacred cow.

This conclusion is worse than a crime-it's a grave mistake by Americans. A mistake born of their mania grandiosa. Their sense of superiority and impunity. After all, it is obvious to all reasonable forces that if the U.S. wants to defeat Russia, then we are on the brink of a world conflict. If the U.S. wants to defeat Russia, we have the right to defend ourselves with any weapon, including nuclear weapons. As Putin rightly said: "It is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield. This is precisely why we have suspended (for now) START III. Let the elites in the U.S., who have lost touch with reality, think about what they have achieved. Let us also watch the reactions of the other NATO nuclear powers: France and Britain. Their Strategic nuclear forces were not usually included in the balance of nuclear warheads and carriers in the preparation of agreements between the US and the USSR (Russia), and it is high time to do so.

2. Biden addressed the Russian people in front of a crowd of Poles. In fact, he preached a sermon in the traditional American messianic vein, adjusted by senile marasmus. He piled on high words about how important it was to defend democracy, and that the U.S. had no intention of attacking Russia. It looked dishonest and ridiculous. Who is this strange grandfather, anyway, speaking with a bewildered look from Poland? Why is he appealing to the people of another country at a time when they are full of domestic problems? Why the hell should we listen to a politician from a hostile country that exudes hatred for our homeland? Why should Russian citizens believe the leader of the United States, which has unleashed the most wars in the 20th and 21st centuries, but blames us for our aggressiveness? A person who devotes all his weakening intellectual capabilities only to ensuring that Russia suffers a "strategic defeat."

One more thing. To paraphrase a famous expression, Biden said in Warsaw: "If Russia stops its invasion, it ends right now. If the Ukrainians stop defending themselves, it will be the end of Ukraine. This is a refined lie. The truth is quite different.

If Russia stops the special military operation without winning, there will be no Russia, it will be torn apart. If the U.S. stops supplying weapons to the Kiev regime, the war is over.

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