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OVER 100 MERCENARIES AND PRO-KYIV TROOPS ELIMINATED IN RUSSIAN STRIKE ON BASE IN ZHYTOMYR REGION. HYPERSONIC WEAPONS IN ACTION ONCE AGAIN
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The press service of the DPR military released a POV video of the battle tank work near the town of Mariinka in the sector east of Donetsk city. At least two battle tanks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were eliminated in this battle. Earlier, on March 19, pro-DPR sources reported that DPR troops already entered this important stronghold of Kyiv’s forces and engaged them in clashes inside it. The potential fall of Mariinka will allow DPR forces to kick off the operation to push back Kyiv troops from the sector east of Donetsk thus preventing them from further strikes on civilian infrastructure there.
On March 20, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that a high-precision air-launched missiles hit the training center for special operations forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, where foreign mercenaries were based. The strike on the base near the settlement of Ovruch, Zhytomyr Region, eliminated more than 100 members of pro-Kyiv forces.
Meanwhile, in the region of Donbass, forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic took control of the settlement of Stepnoye and continued pursuing the retreating units of the 53rd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Up to 25 Ukrainian personnel, two tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles and five cross-country vehicles were destroyed.
In the direction of Novoselivka 2, DPR units advanced crossed the Kamenka-Verkhnetoretskoye road and engaged the 1st Paratrooper Battalion of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
As of March 20, a large part of the settlement of Verkhnetoretskoye is under control of DPR forces. Clashes there are ongoing with the 2nd battalion of the same Ukrainian brigade. Up to 40 members of Kyiv’s forces, five armored personnel carriers and four off-road vehicles were destroyed in this direction.
Local sources also reported that Russian troops repelled an attack by pro-Kyiv forces near the town of Balakliya in the Izum area of Kharkiv Region. The town itself is in the hands of Russian-led forces. Nonetheless, pro-Kyiv units are still active around Izum.
Photos from Balakliya:
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According to the Russian Defense Ministry, in the evening of March 19 and in the morning of March 20, fresh strikes on military infrastructure facilities in Ukraine were carried out.
From the waters of the Black Sea, sea-based cruise missiles “Kalibr” hit the Nezhin repair plant and destroyed workshops for the repair of Ukrainian armored vehicles damaged in hostilities.
Another strike involved sea-based cruise missiles “Kalibr” (from the Caspian Sea) and hypersonic aeroballistic missiles “Kinzhal” (from the airspace over the territory of Crimea) destroyed a large base for storing fuel and lubricants of the Ukrainian armed forces near the village of Konstantinovka, Mykolaiv Region. This base was used for supplies of fuel for Ukrainian armored vehicles in the combat areas in southern Ukraine.
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The Russian side reported that during the night operational-tactical and army aviation hit 62 military facilities of Ukraine. This included three command posts, one installation of multiple launch rocket systems, two depots of rocket and artillery weapons and one fuel depot, as well as 52 places where military equipment was gathered.
Russian air defense shot down in the air: one Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force near the village of Kokhannoye, six Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, including one Bayraktar TB-2 near Shibennoye, and one Ukrainian tactical ballistic missile Tochka-U in the Chistovodovka area north of Izyum settlement. Artillery fire destroyed six Ukrainian mobile electronic warfare systems “Bukovel”.
According to Russia, since the beginning of the military operation, Russian forces have destroyed 207 unmanned aerial vehicles, 1,467 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 148 multiple rocket launchers, 573 field artillery and mortars, and 1,262 units of special military vehicles.
Criteria for foreign fighters in Ukraine named
Foreign volunteers arriving to fight in Ukraine are being turned away for lack of experience, a foreign legion spokesperson said
Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine take part in military training on March 11, 2022 © AFP / Sergei Supinsky
Foreigners who want to volunteer on the front lines in Ukraine should not show up in the country if they have not had previous training and real “live combat experience,” the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine (ILDU) has warned.
Speaking to Canadian news channel CTV News on Saturday, ILDU spokesperson Damien Magrou said the foreign legion, set up to attract volunteers from around the world, would only accept fighters who already “know their way around a battlefield.”
“Right now we’re looking for people exclusively with live combat experience,” Magrou said. “We’ve had, unfortunately, quite a lot of people coming through to Ukraine and being turned away because they don’t have this experience.”
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Magrou said the ILDU had already attracted fighters from 50 countries around the world, including “quite a lot of Canadians of Ukrainian descent.”
The only training on offer is “top-up training” aimed at getting volunteers up to speed on using Ukrainian equipment, he said, adding that any volunteers who show up without the necessary experience would be better off volunteering for humanitarian groups instead.
Kiev estimates that around 20,000 foreigners have joined the ILDU since Russia launched its military offensive in late February. However, there have been reports that mercenaries are fleeing to neighboring Poland in large numbers. Russia has said that it has struck at least two military training facilities in Ukraine where mercenaries were being hosted.
New video.
Live in Kharkiv (Lviv Handmade Chocolate)
Gonzalo Lira
So I walked through the center of Kharkov. The only video I dared take was at the Lviv chocolate shop. I was much more afraid of the Ukrainian police and SBU than I was of Russian bombs. Whenever I saw a car with its license plate taped over (and I saw many such cars, including a Mercedes G...t.me
So I walked through the center of Kharkov.
The only video I dared take was at the Lviv chocolate shop. I was much more afraid of the Ukrainian police and SBU than I was of Russian bombs. Whenever I saw a car with its license plate taped over (and I saw many such cars, including a Mercedes G wagon), I got very nervous. Any parked van made me cross the street. Any group of people made me nervous. Cheap old cars or lone individuals walking made me feel relaxed and confident. The same with elderly people, whether alone or in pairs or groups. But healthy men in a pair or larger group made me exceedingly nervous. I only saw a couple such groups, but one of the groups I saw—three men, one of them big and beefy with a thick beard—was clearly a group of government goons. As I passed them, I saw that they were armed. They had just stopped to have a cigarette. They ignored me.
The city is completely empty. I would estimate that barely 10% or less of its inhabitants are still in town.
I livestreamed the chocolate shop, but I hadn’t noticed that it was unlisted. That’s the default setting. And so when I went live, nobody saw it. I only realized it much later, so I made it public. I have no idea why the sound cut out after 10 seconds.
I saw a lot of things, and I am taking notes. I need to talk to a military expert who has been in combat, because I saw a lot of things that didn’t seem logical. For instance, the destruction of the chocolate shop itself. I looked around and the other buildings were not damaged, and there was no clear line of sight to some other place where an explosion might have happened and the blast wave hit the chocolate shop. At Freedom Square, where the government building was hit, surrounding buildings had their windows shattered if they were in the line of sight of the original explosion, while other buildings that were not, that were just around the corner, did not suffer any damage.
So clearly I have to talk to a military man who has been in combat, or at least a demolitions expert. Because I’ve got a lot of questions.
GL
Nope.
www.ibtimes.co.uk
