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Russo-Ukraine War - 26 February 2023 - Day 368

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 imagery shows concentrated Russian vehicle losses in the Vuhledar sector of Donetsk Oblast. These vehicles were likely elements of Russia's 155th Naval Infantry (NI) Brigade which has been at the forefront of recent costly offensives. NI is seen as an elite infantry force within the Russian military.

Unlike the similarly prestigious airborne infantry (VDV), NI has not deployed as a single large formation in Ukraine. Instead, individual units have been attached to Ground Forces-dominated Groups of Forces. As such, NI has been tasked with some of the toughest tactical missions in the war and has suffered extremely high casualties.

The supposedly enhanced capability of NI brigades has now almost certainly been significantly degraded because it has been backfilled with inexperienced mobilised personnel. This lack of experience is almost certainly exacerbating Russian officers' tendency to micromanage, which in turn reduces operational agility. There is a realistic possibility that degraded NI units will again be committed to new assaults near Vuhledar.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day, Russian forces carried out 11x air strikes and launched 17x MLRS attacks, that inter alia targeted civilian infrastructure of the city of Kherson and other settlements along the line of contact in Donetsk oblast. The attacks caused casualties among civilian population and damage to local residential buildings.

The threat of Russian missile attacks remains high across Ukraine.

Volyn', Polissya, Sivershchyna and Slobozhansshchyna axes: no significant changes.
At the same time, during the day, Russian forces conducted mortar and artillery shelling of the vicinities of Katerynivka (Chernihiv oblast); Stukalyvka, Hyrine, Pavlivka (Sumy oblast); Veterynarne, Strilecha, Starytsia, Vovchans'ki Khutory, Chernyak, Loshakovo, Krasne Pershe, Stroivka, Novomlynsk, Dvorichna, Zapadne, and Kup'yans'k (Kharkiv oblast). Russian forces used an unmanned aerial vehicle with a combat munition.In the Popivka area of the Sumy oblast,
Kup'yans'k and Lyman axes: Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in the vicinities of Masyutivka, Nevs'ke, Serebryans'k Forestry, Bilohorivka, Tors'ke, Rozdolivka, and Fedorivka. Russian artillery shelled the vicinities of more than 18x settlements, including, Hryanykivka, Kislivka, Kotlyarivka, Tabaivka, and Berestovka (Kharkiv oblast); Nevs'ke, Chervonopivka, Kreminna, Dibrova, and Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast). Air strikes took place in the vicinities of Zhitlivka, Bilohorivka, Vesele, and Rozdolivka.
Bakhmut axis: Russia continues to attack the positions of our troops, has carried out several unsuccessful attacks near the settlements of Vasyukivka, Zaliznyanske, Dubovo-Vasylivka, Bakhmut, Bohdanivka, Ivanovske and Stupochki of the Donetsk Oblast. Areas of more than 15 settlements, including: Vasyukivka, Zaliznianske, Bakhmut, Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, Kurdyumivka, Ozaryanivka, Bila Gora, Oleksandro-Shultine and New York of the Donetsk Oblast, were shelled. Made an air strike near Bakhmut.
Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk axes: Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensives in the vicinities of Kamianka, Avdiivka, Vodyane, Nevels'ke, Krasnohorivka, Mar'yinka, and Vuhledar settlements. Residential areas of Novobakhmutivka, Avdiivka, Tonen'ke, Vodyane, Pervomais'ke, Netaylove, Mar'yinka, Heorhiyivka, Bohoyavlenka, Vuhledar, and Velyka Novosilka (Donetsk oblast). Russian occupiers make active use of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft in the vicinities of Kam'yanka, Avdiivka, and Mar'yinka.
Zaporizhzhia axis: more than 20x settlements suffered Russian attacks, including Vremivka, Neskuchne, Zelene Pole, and Novopil' (Donetsk oblast); Chervone, Hulyaipole, Zaliznychne, Biloghir'ya, Mala Tokmachka, and Kam'yans'ke (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Russian forces conducted an air strike in the vicinities of Novopol' and Chervone.
Kherson axis: Mykhailivka, Havrylivka, Vesele, Matrosivka, Ivanivka, Mykils'ke, Molodizhne, Inzhenerne, Antonivka, Kherson and Dniprovs'ke (Kherson oblast) were struck by artillery fire.

Russia continues to suffer significant losses. For example, in the Horlivka district of the Donetsk oblast, on February 23, an on-site examination was conducted without official registration on the bodies of about 200 dead mercenaries of the so-called "Wagner" PMC. The Russian occupiers were destroyed in the period from February 20 to 22 on the Bakhmut axis. After the examination, the bodies of the Russian invaders were taken by trucks to the Novoshakhtinsk direction of the russian federation.

At the same time, in the period from February 22 to 24, up to 30x bodies of dead Russian servicemen, who were called up for mobilization from the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk oblast and the Russian Federation, were delivered to the local morgue of the city hospital.

During the day, Ukrainian Air Force conducted 4x air strikes on the concentrations of Russian troops and military equipment.

Statements of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The Russian Ministry of Defense during a daily briefing reported that over the past day, enemy units and places of accumulation of enemy equipment in the Kupyansky, Limansky, Donetsk, South-Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson directions were hit. As a result, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost about 435 servicemen and a large amount of equipment. In the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), a UAF ammunition depot and a US-made AN/TPQ-37 counter-battery radar were destroyed.

Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile forces and artillery defeated 103 artillery units, manpower and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 167 districts per day. In the DPR, a communication center and a repair and restoration base for weapons and equipment of the enemy were destroyed.

A Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down by means of air defense in the Kharkiv region. 7 unmanned aerial vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroyed in the Kherson region and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR).

Zaporozhye region

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the administration of the Zaporozhye region, announced the transfer of forces by Kiev to the borders of Transnistria. According to him, with a high degree of probability, we can talk about Ukraine's plans to launch an offensive against the republic.

In the evening it became known that Ukrainian troops fired 9 shells at Vasilyevka. The head of the local administration, Natalya Romanichenko, said that there were no victims as a result of the attacks.

DNR

During the day, Ukrainian troops shelled Donetsk from artillery pieces of 152 and 155 mm calibers, as well as multiple launch rocket systems. As a result of the attacks, a civilian was injured, and another woman was injured as a result of an explosion on a mine "Petal". In addition, in the Kirovsky district of Donetsk, a Ukrainian drone dropped ammunition, 2 civilians were injured. There was also damage to residential buildings.

The Commissioner for Human Rights in the DPR, Daria Morozova, said that she had sent appeals to international institutions in connection with the strike of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on February 23 on a team of doctors who arrived to provide ambulance to the victims in Donetsk. The Ombudswoman called the attack by the Ukrainian security forces a flagrant violation of international law, recalling that medical workers are protected by the Geneva Convention.

Ukrainian troops are deploying Western-supplied Leopard tanks to Chasov Yar. This was announced by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, noting that so far the Wagner PMC in the Bakhmut direction had no fights with the crews of these vehicles.

LC

Retired Lieutenant Colonel of the People's Militia of the LPR Andrey Marochko said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have a shortage of equipment for the evacuation of the wounded. The enemy is converting civilian vehicles for these purposes, which have low cross-country ability and do not meet sanitary requirements, which leads to additional losses of Ukrainian troops.