Russo-Ukraine War - 19 December 2022 - Day 299

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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 Russian military proxy group Wagner continues to take a major role in attritional combat around the Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut. In recent months, it has developed offensive tactics to make use of the large number of poorly trained convicts it has recruited.

Individual fighters are likely issued a smart phone or tablet which shows the individual's designated axis of advance and assault objective superimposed on commercial satellite imagery. At platoon level and above, commanders likely remain in cover and give orders over radios, informed by video feeds from small uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Individuals and sections are ordered to proceed on the preplanned route, often with fire-support, but less often alongside armoured vehicles. Wagner operatives who deviate from their assault routes without authorisation are likely being threatened with summary execution.

These brutal tactics aim to conserve Wagner's rare assets of experienced commanders and armoured vehicles, at the expense of the more readily available convict-recruits, which the organisation assesses as expendable.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that During the day, Russian forces launched 1 rocket attack, and also launched about 10 MLRS attacks from rocket salvo systems. Russian forces also used 28 Iranian Shahed-136 attack UAVs, 23 of which were shot down by the Defense Forces of Ukraine. As a result of enemy strikes, civilian infrastructure and the civilian population were damaged.

There were no significant changes in the Volyn and Polissya directions, and no signs of the formation of Russian offensive groups were detected.
In the Slobozhanskyi direction, Russian forces shelled our positions with artillery in the areas of the settlements of Strilecha, Hlyboke, Vovchansk and Dvorichna of the Kharkiv oblast.
On the Kupyansk and Lyman directions, Russian forces fired at the districts of Kotlyarivka, Krokhmalne, and Berestove in the Kharkiv oblast and Stelmakhivka, Makiivka, Ploshchanka, Chervonopopivka, and Dibrova in the Luhansk oblast.
In the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions, Russia continues to conduct assaults, fired from tanks, mortars and rocket artillery at our positions in the areas of twenty-five settlements. Among them are Verkhnokamianske, Berestove, Yakovlivka, Soledar, Hryhorivka, Bakhmutske, Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, Klishchiivka, Andriivka, Kurdyumivka, Avdiivka, Krasnohorivka, Maryinka, and Novomykhailivka of the Donetsk oblast.
On the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions, the Russian occupiers continue to shell the areas of Temyrivka, Chervone, Mali Shcherbaki and Plavna settlements of the Zaporizhzhia oblast and the city of Kherson, where civil infrastructure and civilians were once again affected.

Due to the significant losses of the Russian invaders, the repurposing of hospitals in the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk oblast into military hospitals continues. Thus, the Luhansk Oblast Clinical Hospital, the Luhansk City Multidisciplinary Hospital No. 15 and the Railway Hospital were handed over for use by the Russian occupation forces. The local population is refused service and suggested to turn to other medical institutions.

In the previous days, in the districts of Berdyansk, Tokmak and Polohy of the Zaporizhzhia oblast, an ammunition depot, about 15 units of military equipment of various types were destroyed and more than 150 servicemen of the Russian occupation forces were injured.

During the day, the Ukrainian aviation made 12 strikes on the areas of concentration of personnel and armament and military technics and 5 strikes on the positions of the Russian forces' anti-aircraft missile systems.

Air defense forces shot down two Russian helicopters today. Information about their type is currently being clarified.

Units of missile troops and artillery of the Defense Forces of Ukraine during the current day hit an ammunition depot, 2 control points and 2 areas of concentration of the Russian forces's manpower.

Statements of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The Russian Ministry of Defense in a daily briefing reported that over the past day, the Russian Armed Forces were struck by accumulations of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kupyansk and Limansk directions. In addition, 4 Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were destroyed in the Rozovka region (Lugansk People's Republic, LPR). In total, about 90 enemy personnel were liquidated, as well as an infantry fighting vehicle, 2 armored combat vehicles, 4 vehicles.

Attempts of Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk and South-Donetsk directions were thwarted, 2 enemy DRGs were liquidated in the Nikolsky area (Donetsk People's Republic, DPR). In total, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost about 210 servicemen killed and wounded, 2 tanks, 5 armored vehicles, 6 vehicles.

Operational-tactical aviation, missile forces and artillery hit the points of temporary deployment of territorial defense units, as well as groups of the Yug Special Operations Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the DPR, Kherson and Kherson region. 56 artillery units of Ukrainian troops were hit at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 139 districts.

Air defense systems shot down 8 unmanned aerial vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the LPR, DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. 6 shells of multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) HIMARS and "Uragan" were intercepted in the DPR, LPR and Zaporozhye region. 4 HARM anti-radar missiles were shot down in the airspace of the Belgorod region.

Zaporozhye region

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law according to which administrative liability for violations that are not gross in the field of the use of atomic energy is not applied on the territory of the Zaporozhye region until January 1, 2028. We are talking about violations committed since September 30, 2022.

The creation of a security zone around the Zaporizhzhya NPP will be possible only if the shelling of the plant and the territories adjacent to it by the Armed Forces of Ukraine ceases. This was stated by adviser to the general director of Rosenergoatom Renat Karchaa. According to him, Kyiv still adheres to the position of "nuclear blackmail" in relation to nuclear power plants.

Belgorod region

About 14 thousand residents of Shebekino were left without electricity as a result of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov. The head of the Shebekinsky district, Vladimir Zhdanov, warned that due to a temporary lack of electricity, there may be interruptions in water supply.

Kherson region

The Armed Forces of Ukraine fired cannon artillery at Novaya Kakhovka, representatives of the emergency services of the Kherson region reported. 8 shells were fired on the territory of the city.

DNR

Since the beginning of the day, Donetsk, as well as the settlements of Mayorsk, Aleksandrovka, Golmovsky, Gorlovka, Makeevka, Yasinovataya, Khartsyzsk, and Shirokaya Balka, have been shelled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In Khartsyzsk and Aleksandrovka, 2 civilians were injured as a result of attacks. In Donetsk, a metalwork workshop caught fire, numerous damages to residential buildings were recorded.

Acting head of the DPR Denis Pushilin said in the morning that the center of Maryinka had been cleared from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

During the day, Pushilin held a weekly meeting with representatives of the republican authorities, following which he said that there were no debts to pensioners in the DPR. In addition, the government discussed the pace of payment of compensation for lost or damaged housing, which the acting head of the republic described as insufficient.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a large-scale offensive in the Bakhmut direction. According to experts, the number of Ukrainian troops in this sector of the front exceeds 50,000 people.

LC

From the beginning of the day, Ukrainian troops opened fire on Svatovo and Novoselovka, using HIMARS MLRS and a 155 mm artillery gun.

A representative of the special services of the LPR told reporters about the prevention of a provocation in Severodonetsk. According to him, a local resident, on the instructions of Kyiv, tried to import Christmas decorations into the republic with calls to kill Russians. He intended to hang them on a Christmas tree near one of the educational institutions in the city center.

In Lisichansk, gas supply has been resumed by 98%, water supply has been restored by 20%, Acting Mayor Andrei Skory said.