Russo-Ukraine War - 14 December 2022 - Day 294

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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 06 December 2022, Igor Girkin, a well-known Russian nationalist and former military intelligence officer, claimed he had spent two months embedded with a Donetsk People's Republic battalion on the front line. He said his recent experiences had revealed a 'crisis of strategic planning' in Russia's Ukraine operation.

Since his deployment, Girkin has also derided the Russian military's current emphasis upon constructing extensive, positional defensive works, questioning their utility in modern warfare. His comments highlight the fraught debate about the conduct of the war which continues within Russia's security community.

Rumours circulating on social media within the last 48 hours suggesting that Russian Chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov could have been fired cannot be verified. However, factional tensions likely extend to the top of Russia's military hierarchy.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Russia is concentrating its efforts on conducting offensive actions in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions. It is trying to improve the tactical position in the Kupyansk and Lyman areas.

During the current day, Russian forces carried out 23 air strikes and 7 MLRS missile strikes on the civilian infrastructure of the cities of Kurakhove and Kostyantynivka, Donetsk oblast. Also, the occupiers fired more than 10 MLRS rockets, in particular at the city of Kherson.

Russian forces struck iranian strike UAVs "Shakhed-136/131" from the direction of the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov against critical infrastructure facilities in the Kyiv region. All 13 UAVs of the Russian occupiers were shot down.

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.
On the Siverskyi and Slobozhanskyi directions, Russian forces shelled the areas of the settlements of Leonivka, Buchka and Hai of the Chernihiv oblast; Seredyna-Buda and Kucherivka in Sumy oblast and Hlyboke, Starytsa, Novomlynsk and Dvorichna in Kharkiv oblast. The attack drone was deployed near Kindrativka, Sumy oblast.
The positions of Ukrainian troops in the districts of Kislivka and Kotlyarivka of the Kharkiv oblast and Novoselivka and Stelmakhivka in the Luhansk oblast were hit by shelling from tanks, mortars, barrel and jet artillery in the Kupyansk direction.
In the Lyman direction, the areas of Ploshchanka, Nevsky, Chervonopopivka in the Luhansk oblast and Dibrova and Hryhorivka in the Donetsk oblast were affected by Russian forces' fire.
In the direction of Bakhmut, Russian forces shelled, in particular, the areas of Andriivka, Blahodatne, Pidhorodne, Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Bila Hora, Kurdyumivka, Diliivka, Mayorsk and New York of the Donetsk oblast. Made an airstrike near Stupochka.
In the Avdiivka direction, shelling from tanks, mortars, barrel and rocket artillery on the positions of Ukrainian troops near Nevelske, Krasnohorivka, Maryinka and Novomykhailivka in Donetsk oblast was recorded.
On the Novopavlivka direction, Ukrainian positions near Vuhledar, Novoukrainka, Prechystivka, Velyka Novosilka, and Neskuchne of the Donetsk region were hit by fire.
In the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions, the Russian occupiers continue to shell the civilian infrastructure of settlements along the right bank of the Dnipro River. Areas of 28 settlements were affected by fire. Among them are Vremivka and Novosilka of the Donetsk oblast; Hulyaipilske, Novodanylivka, Mali Shcherbaky and Kamianske - Zaporizhzhia; Tyahynka, Kherson, Tokarivka, Molodizhne and Berehove in the Kherson oblast.

Fire damage was confirmed on December 12 of the current year in the area where the Russian invaders were concentrated near Verbove, Zaporizhzhia oblast. Up to 10 units of weapons and military equipment of various types were destroyed, losses among Russian servicemen are being clarified.

Russia continues to use the network of civilian health care facilities in the temporarily occupied territory to treat wounded servicemen of the occupying forces and mercenaries of private military campaigns. So, in the city of Luhansk, on the territory of the city's skin and venereological dispensary, wounded representatives of the "wagner" PMC are being treated.

During the current 24 hours, the Ukrainian aviation made 7 strikes on the areas of concentration of personnel, weapons and military equipment and 3 strikes on Russian positions of aircraft missile systems.

At the same time, units of missile troops and artillery of the Defense Forces of Ukraine hit 2 control points and 8 areas of concentration of Russian personnel.

Today, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the liquidation of several important facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (APU). In particular, near Kramatorsk, Russian troops hit the command post of the Liman operational-tactical group of troops.

In the same area, an ammunition depot belonging to the 81st Airmobile Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was destroyed. It reportedly stored up to 2,000 rounds of the Grad multiple launch rocket system and over 3,000 artillery ammunition.

Another warehouse was covered with fire in Kamianske, Zaporozhye region. At the same time, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional administration, said in an interview with RIA Novosti that Russian servicemen prevented an attack by motorized infantry of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the northeastern sector of the front line. Artillery strikes destroyed 3 armored vehicles, 3 SUVs and about 50 militants. He also said that the warehouse of the Armed Forces of Ukraine recently hit in the region contained, among other things, missiles for the American MLRS HIMARS.

The situation in the Donbass

The RF Armed Forces also carried out strikes in a number of other regions of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. So, in the vicinity of Yampolovka and Kalinin, it was possible to eliminate two radar stations for counter-battery warfare manufactured by the USA AN / TPQ-37.

One of the Russian fighters operating between Svatovo and Kremennaya told a RIA Novosti correspondent about his unit repulsing several attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the help of Terminator tank support vehicles. Artillery and heavy flamethrower systems "Solntsepek" are also actively used against Ukrainian troops. Adjustment of the fire was carried out using drones, which made it possible to effectively hit enemy armored vehicles and infantry.

Officer of the People's Militia of the Lugansk People's Republic Andriy Marochko said in a TV interview that enemy soldiers deliberately disable their tanks in order to avoid obeying orders from the command. In particular, such cases were recently noted near Bakhmut, where Russian volunteers operate. Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine drain fuel and lubricants or spoil the tracks.