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Ukraine Invasion Day 393: "basically a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons" [1]
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Date: 2023-03-22
When I asked him specifically if he regretted using the phrase “territorial dispute,” DeSantis replied, “Well, I think it’s been mischaracterized. Obviously, Russia invaded (last year) — that was wrong. They invaded Crimea and took that in 2014 — That was wrong.
His assertion, in a statement to Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, that it is not in America’s “vital national interests” to become “further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia” was strongly criticized by numerous senior Republicans — including Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Marco Rubio.
The crackdown on social media comes as Russia also moves against activists, rights groups and news media outlets that express or report on antiwar sentiment, part of what critics say is a chilling effort to eliminate viewpoints that diverge from the Kremlin’s propaganda. President Vladimir V. Putin took the opportunity to burnish the state’s messaging this week as he appeared with China’s top leader , Xi Jinping, in Moscow.
In the Ryazan region south of Moscow, for instance, investigators opened a criminal case against a man who posted a joke about the Russian retreat from Kherson , in southern Ukraine. A student who ran an antiwar channel on the messaging app Telegram was denounced by the rector of his university for posts that criticized the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine as well as alleged Russian atrocities in Bucha and Mariupol . This month, he was sentenced to eight and a half years in a penal colony.
The tempo of Russian operations around Bakhmut appears to be slowing amid Western reporting that Russian forces may be attempting to launch offensives in other directions. Russian forces made additional marginal advances in southern Bakhmut, and Ukrainian forces conducted counterattacks on the southwestern and northwestern outskirts of the city on March 21 and 22.[16] The Ukrainian General Staff reported on March 22 that Russian forces’ offensive potential in the Bakhmut area is declining, and Ukrainian officials have previously reported fewer combat clashes in the city itself in recent days.[17] US National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby stated on March 21 that Russian and Ukrainian forces are continuing to prioritize operations around Bakhmut and that Russian forces might try to conduct another offensive, possibly in many different directions.[18] The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense (UK MoD) assessed that Russian forces may be losing momentum in the Bakhmut area because the Russian MoD is relocating units to other directions.[19] Russian forces are currently increasing the tempo of their offensive operations around Avdiivka aiming to encircle the settlement, and it is possible that Russian forces are doing so at the expense of their operations around Bakhmut and the stalled offensive around Vuhledar.
Russian personnel of the 136th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade (58th Combined Arms Army, Southern Military District) previously stated that they were deploying to the Vuhledar area to conduct assaults, but a Russian milblogger claimed on March 21 that elements of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade are operating in the Avdiivka direction.[20] This apparent deployment change—if it is not a result of Russian misreporting—possibly indicates that Russian forces prioritized the intensification of operations around Avdiivka over restarting the offensive on Vuhledar. Ukrainian Tavriisk Defense Forces Spokesperson Colonel Oleksiy Dmytrashkivyskyi stated on March 19 that Russian forces started increasing assaults in the Avdiivka area to set conditions for restarting offensive operations on Vuhledar, further suggesting that current Russian offensive operations around Avdiivka are preventing the potential resumption of offensive activities near Vuhledar.[21] Russian forces appear to be drawing more combat power to the Avdiivka area which may allow them to increase their rate of advance, although there were no confirmed Russian advances in the area on March 22. ISW continues to assess that Russian advances may prompt Ukrainian forces to withdraw from Bakhmut and/or Avdiivka although neither appears likely at this time. Russian forces may choose to launch or intensify offensive operations in new directions, but these operations would likely produce few tangible results as the overall Russian spring offensive continues to near culmination. ISW has still not observed evidence of the commitment of the Russian 2nd Motorized Rifle Division of the 1st Guards Tank Army (Western Military District) despite reports that it had reconstituted in Belarus and deployed to Luhansk. The Russians may commit this unit to one or more offensives already underway or to a new offensive undertaking. The commitment of this division’s two or three motorized rifle regiments is unlikely to achieve operationally decisive effects, however, given the failure of larger formations to do so.
www.understandingwar.org/...
Russian forces are launching assault operations west of Donetsk City but have not resumed offensives near Vuhledar as of this publication. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces unsuccessfully attacked Marinka and Pobieda, 22km and 25km southwest of Donetsk City, respectively.[47] Russian milbloggers amplified footage on March 21 claiming to show the DNR “Kaskad” unit fighting in the Vuhledar area and claimed that Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs employees comprise a significant portion of the unit.[48]
www.understandingwar.org/...
Russian Subordinate Main Effort #2—Donetsk Oblast (Russian objective: Capture the entirety of Donetsk Oblast, the claimed territory of Russia’s proxies in Donbas)
Russian forces continued to conduct offensive operations in Bakhmut and its environs on March 22. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces repelled Russian assaults in southern and northern Bakhmut; within 14km northwest of Bakhmut in Bohdanivka, Hryvorivka, and Orikhovo-Vasylivka; and within 21km southwest of Bakhmut in Predtechyne, Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, and Mayorsk.[31] Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that Russian forces continue attempting to advance to the Bakhmut city center from the outskirts.[32] Russian sources claimed that Russian forces cleared most of the industrial territory in Bakhmut—likely referring to the AZOM industrial complex in northern Bakhmut.[33] A Russian source also claimed that the Wagner Group continued to advance near Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bohdanivka, and southern Bakhmut in the areas of the Mariupol cemetery and Korsunskoho Street.[34] Geolocated footage published on March 21 showed that Wagner forces made marginal advances in southern Bakhmut.[35] A Kremlin-affiliated milblogger claimed that Wagner mercenaries resumed offensive operations in the direction of Predtechyne in a claimed attempt to advance to Kostyantynivka (about 21km west of Bakhmut) and continued to attack Ivanivske.[36] A Russian source also claimed that the elements of the 132nd Motorized Rifle Brigade (formerly the Donetsk People’s Republic’s [DNR] 3rd Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 1st Army Corps) are operating near Mayorsk.[37]
Ukrainian forces are conducting tactical counterattacks on Bakhmut’s northwestern and southwestern outskirts. The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) stated that Ukrainian forces initiated a counterattack west of Bakhmut to relieve pressure on the T0504 (H-32) highway to Bakhmut.[38] Geolocated footage published on March 21 showed Ukrainian counterattacks south of Ivanivske and southeast of Bohdanivka.[39] A Russian source also claimed that Ukrainian forces attempted to counterattack near the T0504 highway.[40]
www.understandingwar.org/...
x At least 32 civilians were injured as a result of a Russian missile attack on the city of Zaporizhzhya on the afternoon of March 22.
https://t.co/FEBmQhmtGs — The New Voice of Ukraine (@NewVoiceUkraine) March 23, 2023
Russian forces conducted a limited drone and missile strike campaign in Ukraine overnight on March 21-22, indicating that Russian forces continue struggling with precision missile shortages. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces conducted 21 drone strikes targeting residential and infrastructure areas in Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhia, and Odesa oblasts, and Ukrainian forces shot down 16 of the drones.[1] Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces struck two residential high-rise buildings in Zaporizhzhia City, killing at least one civilian and injuring 33.[2] Russian forces conducted more intensive and wider-ranging strikes during the fall 2022 air and missile campaign, suggesting that Russian forces may now be rationing their use of high-precision munitions for these strike campaigns or may simply lack the necessary munitions to sustain strike campaigns at their earlier pace and intensity. Head of the Ukrainian Joint Coordination Press Center of the Southern Forces Nataliya Humenyuk stated that the Russian missile strike threat remains high but that Russian forces would likely only conduct a limited campaign.[3]
www.understandingwar.org/...
Russian forces reportedly intercepted Ukrainian drones near occupied Sevastopol, Crimea. Geolocated footage filmed on March 22 shows likely Russian direct fire against an unidentified object—likely a maritime drone—in the water near Sevastopol Bay followed by an explosion in the water.[51] Other footage posted on March 22 purportedly shows aerial drones also attacking Sevastopol.[52] Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu claimed on March 22 that two sailors destroyed three Ukrainian drones aimed at Russian military facilities in occupied Sevastopol.[53] Odesa Oblast Military Administration Spokesperson Serhiy Bratchuk reported anti-aircraft defense and anti-maritime drone activity over Sevastopol and that Russian authorities halted all maritime traffic near Sevastopol.[54] A Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian maritime drones attempted to strike coastal bays in Sevastopol and that Russian forces repelled a Ukrainian surface drone north of Sevastopol.[55] Zaporizhia Occupation Administration Council Member Vladimir Rogov claimed that Russian forces also repelled Ukrainian aerial drones with air defenses and small arms.[56]
www.understandingwar.org/...
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/3/22/2159595/-Ukraine-Invasion-Day-393-basically-a-gas-station-with-a-bunch-of-nuclear-weapons
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