Russo-Ukraine War - 10 December 2022 - Day 290

Su	M	Tu	W	Th	F	Sa
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	30

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]

---

The UK Ministry of Defence reported that Iran has become one of Russia's top military backers since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Iran's support to the Russian military is likely to grow in the coming months: Russia is attempting to obtain more weapons, including hundreds of ballistic missiles. In return Russia is highly likely offering Iran an unprecedented level of military and technical support that is transforming their defence relationship.

Russia has highly likely expended a large proportion of its stock of its own SS-26 Iskander short range ballistic missiles, which carry a 500kg warhead up to 500km. If Russia succeeds in bringing a large number of Iranian ballistic missiles into service, it will likely use them to continue and expand its campaign of strikes against Ukraine's critical national infrastructure.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day, Russian forces carried out 15 airstrikes, and also carried out more than 15 MLRS attacks. At night, Russian forces attacked the energy infrastructure facilities in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions with allegedly Iranian attack UAV "Shakhed-136". 10 out of 15 UAVs were intercepted.

The threat of Russian forces launching missile strikes on the objects of the energy system and critical infrastructure throughout the territory of Ukraine remains in the future. The Republic of Belarus continues to support the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, provides infrastructure for the training of Russian units.

In the Volyn and Polissya directions, the situation has not changed significantly, and no signs of the formation of Russian offensive groups have been detected.
In the Slobozhanskyi direction, Russian forces fired mortars and barrel artillery at the areas of Zelene, Starytsa, Ohirtseve, Varvarivka, Chuhunivka, Dvorichna and Ridkodub settlements of the Kharkiv oblast.
In the Kupyansk and Lyman directions, the areas of Kislivka, Tabaivka, Pishchane, Krokhmalne, Berestove, Kharkiv oblast were hit by fire; Terny in Donetsk oblast and Ploshchanka, Dibrova, Makiivka, Nevske and Stelmakhivka in Luhansk oblast.
In the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions, Russia continues to make attempts to break through the defense of Ukrainian troops. It fired at the positions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces from tanks, mortars, barrel and rocket artillery in the areas of more than twenty settlements. Among them are Verkhnyokamianske, Spirne, Vesele, Bilohorivka, Soledar, Bakhmutske, Bakhmut, Opytne, Bila Hora, Kurdyumivka, Zalizne and Avdiivka of the Donetsk oblast.
In the direction of Novopavlivsk, Russia is defending and shelling Ukrainian positions with tanks, mortars, barrel and rocket artillery near the settlements of Velika Novosilka, Neskuchne, Prechystivka and Vuhledar in Donetsk oblast.
In the direction of Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces shelled more than 15 settlements. In particular, Zelene Pole and Vremivka in the Donetsk oblast and Hulyaipole, Dorozhnyanka, Zaliznychne and Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia.
In the Kherson direction, Russian forces carried out artillery shelling of a number of settlements in the Kherson region, which are near the contact line. The city of Kherson and its surroundings suffered yet another fire damage.
In order to counteract numerous cases of desertion in units of the russian occupation forces in the territories of Luhansk region, SMS messages are being sent to subscribers of the Lugacom mobile network with a warning about criminal liability for leaving the places of service and permanent deployment points of military units.

The defeat of the concentration area of the occupiers in the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhia region has been confirmed. Thus, up to 150 invaders were injured, 50 of them were taken to the hospital in the city of Melitopol. Information about liquidated ones is being clarified.

At the checkpoints around t he city of Berdyansk, counter-subversive measures have been strengthened, the number of servicemen of the Russian occupation forces has increased, and checks of civilians have begun to be carried out more thoroughly. People without local registration are not allowed into the city.

In the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region, in the city of Horlivka, since December 8 of this year, the occupation administration offers representatives of small and medium-sized businesses to switch to remote work mode, due to the increased risk of shelling allegedly from the Ukrainian Defense Forces. To intimidate local residents, the russian occupiers fired four 152-mm artillery rounds into the city center.

During the current day, units of the missile forces and artillery of the Defense Forces of Ukraine hit 7 control points, 6 personnel concentration areas, an artillery concentration area, and a Russian ammunition depot.

Russian special services continue to work actively on the territory of the regions that have recently joined the Russian Federation. According to RIA Novosti with reference to one of the representatives of law enforcement agencies, traces of the Crimean Hundred extremist group, which is part of the Right Sector ✱ (banned in the Russian Federation), were found in Melitopol.

According to his statement, law enforcement officers identified a resident of the city who served in Ukrainian formations. Leaflets and stickers were found in his house, including those with symbols characteristic of nationalists, training materials on reconnaissance and sabotage activities, the Ukrainian flag and uniform, as well as cartridges for a Kalashnikov machine gun. The source of the publication explained that traces of the "Crimean Hundred" had not previously been observed in Melitopol.

Meanwhile, the Russian army continued to strike at enemy positions. Data on the results of this work were previously published by the Ministry of Defense.

The situation in the Donbass

Ukrainian troops do not stop shelling the peaceful cities of Donbass. In the afternoon, the enemy launched a series of attacks, the targets of which were Donetsk, Panteleimonovka, Chestnut, Troitskoye, Yasinovataya, Red Partizan, Aleksandrovka, Makeevka and Gorlovka.

Several videos from the most hot spots of the front have appeared on the Web. In particular, military analyst Boris Rozhin published on his Telegram channel a video filmed by soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in Vuhledar. The expert noted characteristic damage on the upper floors of buildings, which usually house snipers, crews of anti-tank missile systems, observers and artillery spotters. At the same time, even after direct hits, the "skyscrapers" can be reused for military purposes, which creates additional difficulties when storming the city.

Rozhin also posted a channel post "Operation Z: Russian Spring military commissars", which demonstrates the strike of the Russian Armed Forces on a group of Ukrainian military from a multiple launch rocket system. The video was reportedly filmed in the Marinka area.