Russo-Ukraine War - 12 December 2022 - Day 292

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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 8 December 2022, Russian presidential spokesman Dimitry Peskov rearticulated the main goals of the 'special military operation'. He said that one of Russia's main objectives was the 'protection' of residents of the Donbas and south-eastern Ukraine but claimed there was still much work to be done regarding 'liberation' of those territories.

Peskov's comments suggest that Russia's current minimum political objectives of the war remain unchanged. Russia is likely still aiming to extend control over all of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts. Russian military planners likely still aim to prioritise advancing deeper into Donetsk Oblast.

However, Russia's strategy is currently unlikely to achieve its objectives: it is highly unlikely that the Russian military is currently able to generate an effective striking force capable of retaking these areas. Russian ground forces are unlikely to make operationally significant advances within the next several months.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Russia is concentrating its efforts on conducting offensive actions in the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Zaporizhzhia directions. In other directions, Russia is trying to restrain the actions of units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

During the day, Russian occupiers launched 6 rocket attacks, 4 of which hit the civilian infrastructure of the city of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk oblast, as well as shelled the city of Kherson with multiple rocket launchers.

In the Volyn, Polissya, Siversk and Slobozhanskyi directions, the situation remains without significant changes, no signs of the formation of Russian offensive groups have been detected. Certain units of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation continue to be located in the border areas with Ukraine. During the day, Russian forces carried out mortar and artillery shelling in the areas of Seredyna-Buda and Ryasne settlements of the Sumy oblast, as well as Strilecha, Starytsa, Ohirtseve, Hatyshche, Volohivka, Okhrimivka, Chuhunivka, Ambarne, Dvorichna and Kamianka of the Kharkiv oblast.
In the direction of Kupyansk, the areas of the settlements of Kyslivka, Kotlyarivka, Tabaivka, Berestove in Kharkiv oblast and Stelmakhivka in Luhansk oblast came under fire.
Terny, Yampolivka and Torske districts of Donetsk oblast were hit by fire in the Lyman direction.
In the Bakhmut direction, Russian forces fired tanks, mortars, barrel and rocket artillery in the areas of almost twenty settlements. In particular, these are Verkhnokamianske, Spirne, Bilohorivka, Vesele, Soledar, Bakhmutske, Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar and Druzhba in Donetsk oblast.
Zalizne, New York, Berdychi, Avdiyivka, Opytne, Vodyane, Nevelske, Krasnohorivka, and Maryinka of the Donetsk oblast came under fire in the Avdiivka district.
In the Novopavlivka direction, the areas of Vuhledar, Bohoyavlenka, Novoukrainka and Prechystivka of the Donetsk oblast were shelled.
In the Zaporizhzhia direction, Russian forces inflicted fire damage on Vremivka in Donetsk oblast and Zelene Pole, Novopil, Novodarivka, Malynivka, Hulyaipole, Dorozhnyanka, Hulyaipilske, Charivne, Bilohiria, Mala Tokmachka and Orikhiv in the Zaporizhia oblast.
In the Kherson direction, Russian forces shelled settlements in the Kherson region and the city of Kherson with barrel and rocket artillery, there were casualties among the civilian population, and civilian infrastructure was damaged.

Russian occupiers continue to loot civil infrastructure objects in the temporarily captured territory of the Kherson region. Thus, as of December 11 of the current year, the equipment of local agricultural enterprises was removed from the settlement of Rubanivka.

In Mizhvodny and Chornomorsky, which are in Crimea, the Russian occupying power intensified administrative and police and counter-intelligence measures.

Russia continues to suffer losses. There are more than 100 Russian servicemen with injuries of varying degrees of severity in the local hospital of Kreminnaya, Luhansk oblast.

With the aim of replenishing the losses in manpower and re-staffing the units of the 1st Army Corps, women are called up for mobilization. 28 women have already been drafted and sent for training by the Kalinin District Military Commissariat of the city of Donetsk.

During the current 24 hours, the Air Force of the Ukrainian Defense Forces made 4 strikes on areas where the Russian personnel, weapons and military equipment are concentrated. Ukrainian rocket launchers and gunners hit 2 control points and 4 areas of concentration of personnel of the Russian occupiers.

Statements of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The Russian Ministry of Defense in a daily briefing reported that up to 70 Ukrainian servicemen, 3 armored combat vehicles and 5 vehicles were destroyed during the day in the Kupyansky and Limansky directions.

In the Donetsk direction, Russian units continued offensive operations. In addition, an attempt by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to counterattack the positions of the RF Armed Forces in the direction of Pesok (Donetsk People's Republic, DPR) was thwarted. The losses of the Ukrainian side amounted to 30 military personnel, 2 infantry fighting vehicles and 3 pickup trucks.

Operational-tactical aviation, missile forces and artillery hit 83 artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, manpower and military equipment in 156 districts. In the Zaporizhia region, an ammunition depot of the territorial defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was destroyed.

During the counter-battery fight in the Kharkiv region, a combat vehicle of a multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) "Smerch" was hit, in the DPR - a combat vehicle of the MLRS "Grad".

2 MiG-29 aircraft and 2 Mi-8 helicopters of the Ukrainian Air Force in the DPR were destroyed by means of air defense (air defense). 6 unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed in the Donetsk region, as well as in the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) and Kharkiv region. 2 Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missiles and 2 HIMARS MLRS shells were intercepted in the Kherson region.

Zaporozhye region

Director of the Zaporizhzhya NPP Yuriy Chernichuk in an interview with the Rossiya-24 channel did not confirm the information about the presence of Grad multiple launch rocket systems on the territory of the facility. Earlier, such messages were spread by the Ukrainian company Energoatom. In addition, Chernichuk said that the station's management is interested in interacting with the staff of the International Atomic Energy Agency and holds meetings with representatives of the organization twice a day.

The Melitopol foundry, which was stopped by the owner in February, resumed work. The first melting of metal was carried out at the enterprise, which was transferred to the balance of the administration of the Zaporozhye region.

Kherson region

Unknown people blew up the car of the deputy head of the administration of the Kherson region Viktor Bulyuk. The Ministry of Health of the region reported that the driver of the car died as a result of the detonation of a directional mine, Bulyuk himself is in the hospital with moderate injuries.

A freelance adviser to the acting governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Malkevich, said that Ukrainian security forces had killed at least 20 civilians in the Berislav region.

"There is information that among those shot there are members of precinct election commissions who worked on the referendum, who for some reason did not want to leave. Of course, this is an execution, this is revenge for their civic position, "he said.

According to Malkevich, Kyiv can use the bodies of those killed to organize staged provocations aimed at discrediting the Russian army.

About 120 residents of the Kherson region received Russian passports on December 12, State Duma deputy Igor Kastyukevich said.

DPR

During the day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine opened fire on Donetsk, as well as the settlements of Gorlovka, Mayorsk, Makeevka, Yasinovataya, Chestnut, Mineralnoye, Yakovlevka, Verkhnetoretskoye. In Donetsk, as a result of attacks, 3 civilians were killed, a fire broke out at a solid waste landfill, and damage was done to the outpatient clinic building. In Oleksandrivka, a local resident was injured, damage to residential buildings was recorded. In Gorlovka, a school and housing construction were hit.

Acting head of the DPR Denis Pushilin presented Russian passports to 9 schoolchildren of the republic who are 14 years old. He noted that, despite their young age, the guys have experienced a lot and are aware of the price that they received the documents of Russian citizens.

Allied forces are advancing in Maryinka, Pushilin said, adding that Russian units control 70% of the town. Fights are being fought in a residential area.

LC

During the day, Ukrainian formations opened fire on the settlements of Svatovo and Kremennaya. In Svatovo, a residential building was destroyed, and a medium-pressure gas pipeline was damaged. House building was destroyed in Kremennaya, another house was damaged.

The Commissioner for Human Rights in the LPR, Victoria Serdyukova, said that traces of torture were found on the bodies of servicemen of the people's republic received as part of the exchange procedure with Ukraine. According to the Ombudsman, experts recorded the presence of burns, fractures, gunshot wounds and other injuries.

Ex-ambassador of the LPR in Moscow Rodion Miroshnik commented on the sanctions of Kyiv against the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). According to him, such actions of the Ukrainian authorities show that the local civil society is almost completely suppressed.