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Ukraine Invasion Day 570: continued offensive operations in the Melitopol direction [1]
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Date: 2023-09-15
Speaking to journalists in Sochi, Vladimir Putin stressed that he is ready to start negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine, but this was rejected by Ukraine. This reports the German news platform n-tv.de.
Tass quoted the Russian president as saying: “I have already said it: we have never rejected negotiations. So please, if the other side wants it, let them say it directly. I speak, but we hear nothing from the other side.”
Ukrainian forces liberated Andriivka in the Bakhmut area on September 14 and continued offensive operations near Bakhmut and in western Zaporizhia Oblast on September 15. The Ukrainian General Staff and other Ukrainian officials reported that Ukrainian forces liberated Andriivka on September 14 and achieved unspecified partial success near Klishchiivka (7km southwest of Bakhmut) on September 15.[1] The Ukrainian 3rd Separate Assault Brigade reported that its personnel liberated Andriivka and “completely destroyed“ the Russian 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (3rd Army Corps) after encircling the settlement.[2] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations in western Zaporizhia Oblast and are inflicting significant losses on Russian manpower and equipment near Verbove (18km southeast of Orikhiv).[3]
Satellite images appear to show the dismantling of a Wagner militia base south-east of the Belarus capital, Minsk. The images of activity in recent weeks showed tents being taken down at the Tsel military base in Mogilev region, and may indicate the winding down of the Russian mercenary company’s presence in the country after a brief mutiny inside Russia.
Russia said it is expelling two US diplomats accused of working with a Russian national who is accused of collaborating with a foreign state . The US said the move was unprovoked and wholly without merit. Separately, Slovakia has expelled a diplomat based in Russia’s embassy, the Slovak foreign ministry said on its website on Thursday. The ministry said: “The reason is his activities, which were in direct violation of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.”
Britain’s most senior military officer, Sir Tony Radakin, said that Ukraine “continues to hold the initiative, it is pushing Russia back ” in a short assessment of the current state of the fighting.
Putin and Kim Jong-un gifted each other rifles when they met in far eastern Russia , the Kremlin said on Thursday, and confirmed the isolated Russian leader would visit North Korea though no further details have been revealed. The Russian president, who has sought to strengthen alliances with other hardline leaders, met Kim on Wednesday amid speculation they would agree on an arms deal to bolster Russia’s war in Ukraine.
NATO has confirmed to the media that its secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg , will travel to New York next week to attend the UN general assembly.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to meet Joe Biden in Washington next week . His visit comes as Congress is debating providing as much as $21bn in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion. Zelenskiy is expected to be in the US to attend the United Nations general assembly.
Senior diplomats and defence officials of South Korea and the US agreed on Friday that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is a serious violation of UN sanctions and urged Moscow to show responsibility as a security council permanent member.
A Belgian government official said on Friday it expects the G7 to announce an indirect ban on Russian diamonds in the next two-to-three weeks.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence appears convinced of Ukrainian claims to have inflicted significant damage on the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol , suggesting that satellite images show the destroyed landing ship Minsk and the “catostrophically damaged” submarine Rostov.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday that the Russian navy has received two new ships this year, and is to receive another 12 by the end of 2023. The figure is significantly lower than the 30 new ships that in July the president claimed would be arriving. Shoigu was visiting the Russian Pacific fleet to check on the repair and modernisation of its nuclear submarines at the Zvezda plant in the town of Bolshoi Kamen.
Putin has told journalists that he is open to negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, but Ukraine does not want them.
The Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko told Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday that the country has recently supplied 60,000 tons of diesel and 60,000 tons of petrol to Russia, and is ready to further increase shipments
Air force Col Yuriy Ihnat said in televised comments in Ukraine that an overnight Russian drone attack on the region of Khmelnytskyi was an attempt to target warplanes used this week to attack Russian-occupied Crimea. Ukraine’s air force said Russia had fired 17 drones at the central Khmelnytskyi region that is home to the Starokostiantyniv airbase. Debris damaged 12 homes and shattered windows in a school, but no one was hurt, regional official Serhiy Tiurin said.
The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces has reported that it has seized the village of Andriivka in the partially-occupied Donetsk region . In a statement on Facebook, the general staff said of the battle around Bakhmut: “In the Bakhmut direction, the enemy does not abandon the attempt to break through the defence of the armed forces of Ukraine in the Bohdanivka area. In their turn, the defence forces of Ukraine during the offensive actions had partial success in the area of Klishchiivka. During the assault operations they had success and mastered Andriivka, causing the enemy significant losses in manpower and equipment.”
Russian Subordinate Main Effort #1 – Luhansk Oblast (Russian objective: Capture the remainder of Luhansk Oblast and push westward into eastern Kharkiv Oblast and northern Donetsk Oblast)
Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line and advanced on September 15. Geolocated footage published on September 15 indicates that Russian forces advanced west of Raihorodka (12km west of Svatove).[26] A Russian news aggregator claimed on September 14 that Russian forces advanced near Novoyehorivka (15km southwest of Svatove).[27] The Ukrainian General Staff and Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces spokesperson Ilya Yevlash reported that Russian forces did not conduct offensive operations in the Kupyansk or Lyman direction on September 14 and 15.[30] Yevlash stated that elements of the Russian 25th Combined Arms Army (CAA) (reportedly under the Eastern Military District) are operating in the Kupyansk direction.[31] ISW has previously assessed that the newly formed 25th CAA is likely low quality or understrength.[32] A Russian source claimed on September 14 that elements of the Russian 123rd Motorized Rifle Brigade (2nd Luhansk People’s Republic Army Corps) are operating near Siversk (18km southwest of Kreminna).[33]
Russian Subordinate Main Effort #2 – Donetsk Oblast (Russian objective: Capture the entirety of Donetsk Oblast, the claimed territory of Russia’s proxies in Donbas)
Ukrainian forces liberated Andriivka (10km southwest of Bakhmut) and made further gains in the Bakhmut area on September 15. The Ukrainian General Staff and other Ukrainian officials reported that Ukrainian forces liberated Andriivka on September 14 and achieved unspecified partial success near Klishchiivka (7km southwest of Bakhmut) on September 15.[35] The Ukrainian 3rd Separate Assault Brigade reported that its personnel liberated Andriivka and “completely destroyed” the Russian 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (3rd Army Corps) after encircling the settlement.[36] Elements of the 72nd Brigade previously suffered heavy losses during localized Ukrainian counterattacks in the Bakhmut area in May 2023 and are likely thoroughly degraded.[37] The Ukrainian 3rd Assault Brigade stated that the liberation of Andriivka presents opportunities for a breakthrough on Bakhmut’s southern flank and that fighting is ongoing in the area.[38] Many Russian sources either denied that Ukrainian forces liberated the settlement or argued that the complete destruction of the settlement during fighting makes the Ukranian control over the settlement tactically insignificant.[39]
Russian Supporting Effort – Southern Axis (Russian objective: Maintain frontline positions and secure rear areas against Ukrainian strikes)
Ukrainian forces continued assaults in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area on September 15 but did not make any claimed or confirmed advances. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continued to conduct assaults in the Shakhtarske direction in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area.[50] Russian sources, including the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD), claimed that Ukranian forces conducted unsuccessful attacks near Pryyutne (15km southwest of Velyka Novosilka), Staromayorske (9km south of Velyka Novosilka), Urozhaine (9km south of Velyka Novosilka), Novomayorske (18km southeast of Velyka Novosilka), and Novodonetske (12km southeast of Velyka Novosilka).[51] Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces have decreased the intensity of their attacks near Novomayorske.[52]
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