Meanwhile fighting continues in donbas, over the past 24 hours the ukrainian
military recorded six ceasefire
violations by the russian occupation
forces. Including two where the invaders
employed weapons proscribed by the minsk
agreements on donda's settlement.
Ukrainian position in donbas once again
comes under heavy attacks. The joint
forces operation reported that near the
settlement of fiction, region the enemy fired 82 millimeter
mortars. in the direction of novotoshkis the
occupiers opened fire using grenade
launchers and small arms. Toward Paupazna
russian mercenaries engaged our
positions with grenade launchers of
various systems and large caliber
machine guns, the report said.
Towards pip den the occupiers fired 82
millimeter mortars and anti-tank grenade
launchers. Not far from Novo Alexandrevka
the enemy employed anti-tank grenade
launchers and large caliber machine guns, the reports added.
Ukrainian forces reported no casualties
over the past day, it is noted that
ukrainian defenders opened fire using
arms that are not banned under the minsk
accords and eventually force the enemy
to cease attacks. As of seven o'clock kiev time on
december 13th ukraine reported no new
ceasefire violations by the russian
occupation forces. The servicemen with the joint forces are
monitoring the situation and continue to
fulfill their tasks to repel and deter
russia's armed aggression, the report
concludes.
Russia reportedly has deployed more
heavy weapons to donbass. Across the occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk, 235 units of
military equipment manned by russia's
armed formations have been deployed. Special monitoring mission to ukraine
have recorded 235 units of military
hardware manned by the russian armed
formations in the temporarily occupied
territory deployed in violation of the
minsk agreements, the joint forces
operation press service said in
statement.
It said that a number of military
hardware units deployed in violation of
the withdrawal lines and located outside
the designated armed storage areas. This is about BM-21 Grad MLR Systems, south 2s1 self-propelled artillery
howitzers, mortars, guns as well as T-64
and T-72 main battle tanks. In addition
four armored personnel carriers were
spotted in the city of luhans moving in
convoy.
The recorded violations on the part of
russia's armed formations indicate that
they are undergoing active combat
training to set up the conditions for
further escalation of tensions on the
line of contact.
Also this is about the
attempts to conceal their criminal
activity from international observers, the press service of the joint forces
operation emphasizes. Currently joint forces retain control of
the situation in the JFP Zone. The report
says adding that they adhere to the
minsk agreements, opening fire only when
the actions by the russian occupation
forces pose a threat to the lives and
health of ukrainian troops and civilians.
Earlier this week, forbes reported that
russia has staged around 1,200 tanks for
a possible invasion of ukraine. At the same time ukraine says russia has
sent tanks, artillery and snipers to the
front in rebel-held areas. But it is the
russian forces beyond the ukrainian
border that are of most concern
and western intelligence services
believe they number up to 100,000.
Russia has staged around 1,200 tanks for
a possible invasion of ukraine, that's
roughly 300 more tanks than the
ukrainian army has in its entire active
force which is not to say an invasion would be
easy for the russian army.
After all russians would be attacking, the ukrainians would be defending, different doctrines and dynamics apply
making a one-to-one comparison of armor
holdings problematic
to assess russia's prospects for a clean
sweep across say ukraine's eastern
donbas region and by the same token
ukraine's chances of holding its already
fractured territory consider how the two
armies would fight. Both the russian and ukrainian armies
follow tried and true soviet doctrine. Both armies conduct active defense
that is even on the defense the fight
attacks and counter-attacks in order to
keep the enemy off balance.
The main requirements for the defense
are that it is stable and active, Lester Growl and Charles Bartles noted
in the russian way of war in terms of stability the defense should
be able to withstand any type of enemy
assault including attacks by mass tanks. Both armies also place artillery at the
center of their offensive operations. In soviet doctrine infantry and tanks
exist to help artillery get into
position and to isolate enemy forces so
the guns can destroy them.
For ukraine's armored battalions
defending key terrain between russia's
tanks and ukraine cities this means two
things. Frontline battalions must have means of
obscuring their positions Growl and Bartle's road. In other words
they must dig in.
Literally
it's not for no reason that the
ukrainians in the seven years since
russia invaded Crimea and Donbass have
dug hundreds of miles of trenches and
countless bunkers for infantry and
dugouts for vehicles. But active defense requires that the
tanks be ready on short notice to motor
out of their dugouts and mass with
nearby armor for a destabilizing counter
attack against the invaders. short counter attacks augment the
defense of the security zone growl and
bartle's road.
At the same time the ukrainian army must
thwart the russian army's efforts to
isolate the ukrainian forces so that
russian artillery can destroy them. That
means keeping tank battalions in reserve
for larger maneuver counter attacks
aimed at preventing the invaders from
exploiting gaps between dugan units and
cutting their lines of communications
ahead of the decisive artillery barrages.
The maneuver force has means to prevent
attacks in the threatened area in order
to prevent an enemy breakthrough on the
axis of the main attack, eliminating the
threat of being flanked and exploiting
an enemy flank or boundary. According to Growl and Bartles, considering what the russians must do to
win a full-scale war in ukraine and what
the ukrainians must do to prevent the
russians from winning it's not at all
clear that 1,200 deployed tanks is
enough for the russians and that 900
active tanks is inadequate for the
ukrainians
