(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Ukraine Invasion Day 659: US polls at 45/34% in favor of aid [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-12-13

Russian and Ukrainian sources continue to report on the impacts of challenging weather conditions on offensive and reconnaissance operations throughout the front, even as reported freezing and snowy winter conditions in eastern Ukraine offer the prospect of better conditions for maneuver. Ukrainian Southern Operational Command Spokesperson Captain First Rank Nataliya Humenyuk stated on December 13 that poor weather conditions are complicating Russian and Ukrainian combat operations in the east (left) bank of Kherson Oblast.[11] Humenyuk stated that fog and other weather conditions prompted by temperature fluctuations are making it difficult to conduct offensive operations and use drones and artillery.[12] Ukrainian Luhansk Oblast Military Administration Head Artem Lysohor stated that poor weather conditions are affecting Russian air strikes and drone operations in the Kupyansk-Lyman direction.[13] ... Russian sources claimed that Russian forces are taking advantage of the challenging weather conditions to conduct ground operations while Ukrainian reconnaissance drones cannot operate.[17] Russian forces have likely committed to offensive operations in multiple sectors of the front during a period of the most challenging weather of the fall-winter season in an effort to seize and retain the initiative prior to the Russian presidential elections in March 2024 and to achieve informational effects in the United States and the West while Ukrainian forces establish and consolidate defensive positions to conserve manpower and resources for future offensive efforts.[18]

The Russians Think the GOP Just Won Them the War in Ukraine ‘WELL DONE, REPUBLICANS!’ Russian state TV celebrates the GOP move to block funding and predicts that Trump will do even better and cut off both Ukraine & Israel. My latest for @thedailybeast : https://t.co/1i7Jcyj90e

⚡️ WAR IN #UKRAINE - DEC 13, 2023 ■ Strikes down between days, both below 7-day average ■ Increase in combat engagements & settlements under artillery fire ■ Sizable tank losses but troop & equipment losses stay below average ■ Oryx: Totals up by 72 🇷🇺 4 🇺🇦, accumulated… pic.twitter.com/tEFx0kbqMs

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 continued offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on December 13 and recently made a confirmed advance. Geolocated footage published on December 12 indicates that Russian forces marginally advanced southeast of Spirne (25km south of Kreminna).[53] Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces advanced east of Ivanivka (20km southeast of Kupyansk) and advanced one kilometer near the outskirts of Zahoruykivka (a disincorporated settlement 16km east of Kupyansk).[54] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces repelled at least 14 Russian attacks in the Kupyansk direction near Synkivka (9km east of Kupyansk) and Ivanivka and east of Petropavlivka (7km east of Kupyansk); and at least two Russian attacks in the Lyman direction near Makiivka (23km northwest of Kreminna) and the Serebryanke forest area (10km southwest of Kreminna) and east of Terny (17km west of Kreminna).[55] Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets stated that Ukrainian forces also repelled Russian attacks near Pishchane (25km northwest of Svatove), Stepova Novoselivka (18km southeast of Kupyansk), and Pershotravneve (24km east of Kupyansk).[56] Mashovets stated that elements of the Russian 25th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (6th Combined Arms Army [CAA], Western Military District [WMD]) and 138th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (6th CAA, WMD) unsuccessfully attacked in the direction of Petropavlivka and elements of the 27th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade (1st Guards Tank Army, WMD) unsuccessfully attacked near Berestove (30km south of Kreminna).[57] Ukrainian Kharkiv Oblast Head Oleh Synehubov stated that Russian forces have not achieved success in the Kupyansk direction for several months.[58] The Russian MoD claimed that Russian forces repelled eight Ukrainian attacks near Synkivka, Ivanivka, Lake Lyman (just northwest of Synkivka), and Yahidne (22km southeast of Kupyansk) and several Ukrainian attacks near Zarichne (17km west of Kreminna) and Dibrova (7km southwest of Kreminna).[59]

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 conducted limited ground attacks north of Bakhmut on December 13 and recently advanced. Geolocated footage published on December 12 indicates that Russian forces advanced north of Sakko I Vantsetti (15km north of Bakhmut).[60] Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets stated that elements of the Russian 123rd Motorized Rifle Brigade (2nd Luhansk People's Republic Army Corps) and 137th Airborne (VDV) Regiment (106th VDV Division) are operating north of Yakovlivka (17km northeast of Bakhmut) and marginally advanced near Bilohorivka (22km northeast of Bakhmut).[61]

Russian forces continued offensive operations near Bakhmut on December 13 and made a confirmed advance. Geolocated footage published on December 12 indicates that Russian forces advanced north of Klishchiivka (7km southwest of Bakhmut).[62] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces repelled at least five Russian attacks near Bohdanivka (6km northwest of Bakhmut), Ivanivske (6km west of Bakhmut), Klishchiivka, and Andriivka (10km southwest of Bakhmut).[63] ... Oleksiy Tarasenko, an officer in a Ukrainian brigade operating near Bakhmut, stated that Russian forces are making some progress in the directions of Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, and Andriivka because the Russian military deployed “selected trained fighters” to these areas three weeks ago but that the Russian military more recently began deploying poorly equipped mobilized personnel to these areas slowing Russian progress.[67]

Russian forces continued offensive operations near Avdiivka on December 13 and recently made a confirmed advance. Geolocated footage published on December 13 shows that Russian forces marginally advanced southeast of Stepove (3km northwest of Avdiivka).[70] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces repelled at least 51 Russian attacks east of Novokalynove (13km northeast of Avdiivka) and Novobakhmutivka (9km northwest of Avdiivka); near Stepove, Avdiivka, Pervomaiske (10km southwest of Avdiivka) and Nevelske (14km southwest of Avdiivka); and south of Tonenke (5km west of Avdiivka) and Sieverne (6km west of Avdiivka).[71]

The return of the Kremlin’s notion of a “partitioned Ukraine” is likely an organized effort to mislead the international community into rejecting key components of Ukraine’s sovereignty: its territorial integrity as defined in 1991 and its right to self-determination. ISW assessed that the Kremlin used similar information operations in late 2021 and early 2022 to create conditions for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine while misleading the West into the search for a diplomatic de-escalation.[7] Russia is still pursuing its maximalist objective of controlling all of Ukraine and is using these information operations to deter further military aid to Ukraine and to stall for time needed to rebuild its defense industrial complex (DIB) and reconstitute its military.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/13/2211527/-Ukraine-Invasion-Day-659-US-polls-at-45-34-in-favor-of-aid?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.