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Russo-Ukraine War - 23 October 2022 - Day 242

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A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

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The UK Ministry of Defence reported that, on 19 October, Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed online that his engineering team were constructing an extensive fortified 'Wagner Line' of defences in Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast, and posted a map showing the planned extent of the project. Imagery showed a section of newly constructed anti-tank defences and trench systems southeast of Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast. If the plans are as extensive as Prigozhin claims, the works likely aim to integrate the Siversky Donetsk river into the defensive zone, partially following the 2015 Line of Control. The project suggests Russia is making a significant effort to prepare defences in depth behind the current front line, likely to deter any rapid Ukrainian counter offensives.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Russia is trying to keep the temporarily captured territories, improve the tactical position, concentrates efforts on restraining the actions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in certain areas. At the same time, it conducts offensive operations in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions.

To maintain the war in Ukraine, the Russian Federation continues to equip units at the expense of mobilized persons and removes military equipment from storage.

Units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine repelled the attacks of the occupiers in the areas of Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Novomykhailivka, Maryinka, Nevelske, Pervomayske and Avdiivka settlements of the Donetsk oblast. Russia is shelling the positions of Ukrainian troops along the contact line and conducting aerial reconnaissance. During the day, Russian forces again carried out missile and air strikes on the infrastructure and residences of the civilian population, violating the norms of International Humanitarian Law, the laws and customs of warfare.

In total, during the day, the occupiers launched 2 rocket and 25 air strikes, carried out about 30 MLRS attacks. Civil infrastructure facilities in Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Novotavrycheske of the Zaporizhzhia oblast were hit by enemy attacks.

The situation in the Volyn and Polissya directions has not changed significantly. The threat of missile and air strikes against Ukrainian critical infrastructure facilities from the territory of the Republic of Belarus remains. In particular, with the use of iranian-made strike UAVs.

Russian forces shelled in other directions:

in the Kupyansk and Lymansk directions - from mortars, barrel and rocket artillery, in the areas of Yampolivka, Kamianka and Bilogorivka settlements;
in the Bakhmut direction - from tanks, mortars, barrel and jet artillery, in the areas of Bakhmutske, Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Ozaryanivka, Opytne, Soledar and Yakovlivka settlements of the Donetsk oblast;
in the Avdiivka and Zaporizhzhia directions - from tanks and artillery of various types, in the areas of Avdiivka, Pervomaiske, Nevelske, Vodyane, Novomykhailivka, Maryinka, Prechistivka, Novopil, Novosilka and Zaliznychne settlements.

In the South Buh direction, Russian forces shelled the military and civilian infrastructure of the settlements, which are not far from the contact line. Nikopol and Ilyinka of the Dnipropetrovsk oblast were hit by rocket and barrel artillery fire.

The Russian military command has problems with the material support of mobilized citizens. Thus, in the Kherson oblast, demobilized russian servicemen are poorly equipped, most of them lack military shoes and other elements of uniforms and equipment. It is known that the mobilized personnel of the Russian occupation forces are sent to war to review the operational situation. The command does not pay attention to the level of their training. In this way, the Russian military leadership is trying to hold the front line. Due to the weak organization of interaction, there are rare cases of so-called "friendly fire" between enemy units.

According to detailed information, the destruction of Russian personnel and equipment was confirmed on October 22 of the current year. In the area of ​​the city of Enerhodar, as a result of fire damage, 4 D-30 howitzers, 3 trucks with ammunition, up to 50 enemy servicemen, and about 40 more were wounded. On one of the directions, 2 units of Russia's "Hurricane" anti-aircraft missile system along with combat calculations were hit.

Aviation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces made 6 strikes during the day. It has been confirmed that 6 areas of concentration of Russian weapons and military equipment have been destroyed. Earlier today, air defense units shot down twelve "Shahed-136" UAVs. Missile troops and artillery hit the command post, five areas of concentration of Russian manpower, weapons and military equipment, ammunition warehouse and anti-aircraft missile system.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the afternoon reported on the reflection of the next attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in several sectors of the front. Neo-Nazis again attempted an offensive in the Kupyansky, Krasno-Limansky, South-Donetsk and Nikolaev-Krivoy Rog directions. With the support of artillery and aviation, the Allies inflicted serious losses on the enemy and forced them to retreat to their original positions. In total, 220 Ukrainian servicemen, 3 tanks, 27 armored fighting vehicles and 11 vehicles were destroyed.

Aviation, rocket troops and artillery hit the command post of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of ​​Novotavrichesky, Zaporozhye region. Also, the targets of the strikes were the positions of artillery units and the places of concentration of the enemy in the Kherson, Kharkov and Donetsk regions. In addition, in the indicated regions and the city of Nikolaev, five ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroyed, and in the Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkassy regions, an oil storage facility with diesel fuel for nationalist military equipment and a depot with aviation fuel for the Ukrainian air forces.

During the day, air defense forces shot down 15 drones in several regions. Six shells of the American HIMARS multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) and one HARM anti-radar missile were also intercepted.

The special services of Ukraine continue to organize terrorist attacks in the liberated regions, trying to intimidate the local population. In Kherson, an improvised explosive device tied to a street pole went off, killing one and injuring three people. This was reported to RIA Novosti by the deputy head of the military-civilian administration of the region Kirill Stremousov.

The situation in Donbass

Another incident occurred in the Vodiane area near Donetsk. Russian journalist Semyon Pegov suffered a leg injury when he was blown up by a Petal anti-personnel mine, which the Armed Forces of Ukraine remotely installed on the territory of peaceful settlements. According to a number of sources, now the life of Pegov, who underwent surgery, is not in danger. He received an open fracture of two fingers of the right foot and lacerations of the plantar part.

In addition, two women were injured during another shelling of Donbass by Ukrainian troops. In the afternoon, the militants targeted Yasinovataya, Golmovsky, Zaitsevo and Makeevka in the DPR, as well as Pokrovskoye in the Luhansk People's Republic, on which the Ukrainian Armed Forces fired one shell from HIMARS.