Ukrainian mercenaries retreat en masse, Ukraine burns down Russian oil depots,... are notable news in the Russia-Ukraine war news on the morning of December 20.
Ukrainian mercenaries retreat after first battle with Russian troops
As the war in Ukraine rages on, American mercenaries from the International Corps have retreated from the Chasov Yar battlefield after fighting with Russian troops. These soldiers shared that after participating in the battle, the reality was far from what they had been promised.
Earlier, the refusal of foreign mercenaries at the Chasov Yar front to fight was reported by the head of the operational headquarters of the Melodiya Intelligence Center of the 88th Volunteer Brigade “Hispaniola”, codenamed Chukchi.
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| Russian soldiers fire at Ukrainian base. Source: AFP |
There are about 200 mercenaries from the “International Corps” in Chasov Yar. Although there is information that foreign mercenaries in Chasov Yar refused to fight, in the past, mercenaries actively participated in the defense of Chasov Yar. It is possible that the refusal to carry out combat missions began after the American mercenaries arrived in the city, but they did not expect such fierce fighting on the battlefield.
Chasov Yar is seen as a gateway to the Ukrainian-controlled areas of the Donetsk region. The town has views of the lower regions to the north, towards the larger cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, and the area to the west towards the Dnipropetrovsk region.
More than half of Ukraine's elite brigade trained abroad deserts
The first Ukrainian combat brigade trained entirely abroad is in “chaos,” the 155th Motorized Infantry Brigade, a prominent journalist said, according to a Ukrainian lawmaker. The unit has lost 1,000 soldiers to desertion, the Kyiv Post reported.
The 155th Brigade is described by Ukrainian media as a “strong, elite fighting force” consisting of 2,000 troops. In terms of weapons, the Brigade is equipped with AMX 10 light tanks, 128 armored fighting vehicles and 18 CAESAR self-propelled guns, one of the most effective artillery types, which saw action during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Colonel Ryumshin, in a short statement posted on the brigade’s Facebook page, said he was grateful to the soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers for their “loyalty and professionalism”, and said it was an honour to train with them. “The unit will soon be on the front line,” he said.
Ryumshin is one of the most experienced combat commanders in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, having served for more than a year in command positions in two combat brigades. Before commanding the 155th Brigade, Ryumshin was the Brigade Commander of the 47th Motorized Rifle Brigade. He was relieved of his command when he failed to hold areas east of Avdiivka earlier this year.
In an article, Ukrainian war correspondent Yuriy Butusov called Ryumshin "one of our best commanders" and said that the 155th Brigade had hundreds of soldiers deserting during training abroad.
“ The Ukrainian command decided to create a ‘trash’ unit, stuffing it with thousands of people, many of them from the streets, by force. Ukraine dressed them in uniform, told them that it was an elite unit; Ukraine put a competent commander in charge, but did not give him time to create a unified unit. As a result, many soldiers were unmotivated and deserted ,” Butusov wrote.
Butusov said that nearly 1,000 soldiers had deserted the brigade, but did not provide evidence. A request for comment by the Kyiv Post to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry had not been answered by the time of publication.
Ukrainian army counterattack failed, Brigade 3 suffered heavy losses
In the direction of Pokrovsk, the Ukrainian army continues to launch counterattacks. The 3rd Special Forces Brigade has become the “fire brigade” of the Ukrainian Army, going to “put out fires” wherever there is a critical situation. Currently, this brigade is “putting out fires” south of Pokrovsk.
However, as Ukraine attempted to consolidate its position, the Russians promptly mobilized their reserves and launched a powerful attack with artillery and air support. Although the Ukrainians attempted to hold their positions, the enemy fire was too strong. Finally, on December 16, the Russians pushed the Ukrainian forces back from their western positions and recaptured Shevchenko.
Later, soldiers of the Ukrainian 3rd Brigade admitted on social media that their counterattack at Shevchenko had failed. At the same time, they also announced that this week would be decisive. If they could not destroy the Russians in the next few days, the situation would become very bad.
At the same time, Strana.ua and reporter Yuri Butusov confirmed the fact of the defeat of the 3rd Brigade. They said that since the Russian army held Shevchenko - a strategic bridgehead, after regrouping and replenishing its forces, the Russian army is likely to launch a retaliatory attack in the coming days.
Former Ukrainian MP Igor Mosiychuk has strongly criticized the Ukrainian Army command, saying that they allowed the 3rd Brigade to carry out reckless attacks without fire support, which led to the loss of more than half of the brigade’s forces. According to him, the 3rd Brigade fell into the “fire pocket” of the Russian troops at Shevchenko, suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat urgently.
As soon as the Russians recaptured the village of Shevchenko, they simultaneously advanced on the village of Dachynske to the east of Shevchenko. After strongly repelling a Ukrainian counterattack north of Dachinske, the Russians took control of the southern part of the village.
If the Russians could completely control this village, there would be a chance to level the front line between Dachinsk and Shevchenko, and the so-called “bulge” would no longer exist. Russia would completely control the area south of Pokrovsk, and the Ukrainians would also lose any chance of counterattacking in the southern area.
Mr. Tarnavskyi participated in the Kherson counteroffensive in 2022 and the Zaporizhzhia counteroffensive in 2023, achieving certain successes. He then became the commander of the Avdiivka front. However, after Avdiivka was captured by Russian troops, he was demoted to the command of the training headquarters. It is now unrealistic to expect that he can save the situation in Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.
According to reports, Russian troops north of the village of Maksymivka suddenly launched a mechanized attack from the north, breaking through the Ukrainian defenses in the field. They advanced 4 km and reached the outskirts of the village of Zelenivka, consolidating their positions.
Ukraine rains down UAVs, Russian oil refinery catches fire at night
According to Kyiv Independent, sharing on Telegram, Mr. Yuri Slyusar, acting governor of Russia’s Rostov region, said that a fire broke out at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery after a major Ukrainian airstrike involving more than 30 UAVs and 3 missiles. He added that firefighters were at the scene, and were trying to extinguish the large fire.
Before the news of the attack on the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery spread, Mr. Slyusar said that Russian air defense systems had shot down seven UAVs that appeared in the area.
Ukraine has not yet commented on the incident.
Ukraine has previously used UAVs to attack the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that the July attack on the Russian plant destroyed 1.5 million tons of oil and oil products worth $540 million. Notably, the plant had been partially shut down after a Ukrainian attack in March.
Source: https://congthuong.vn/chien-su-nga-ukraine-sang-2012-linh-danh-thue-ukraine-rut-lui-o-at-ukraine-thieu-rui-kho-dau-nga-365184.html
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