|
Post by Admin on Dec 25, 2023 20:15:58 GMT
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu reported to President Putin that Russia has completely captured Marinka, a battleground in eastern Ukraine. The event is being broadcast on national television.
Defense Minister Shoigu met with President Putin on the 25th and reported that Russia had completely taken control of Mariinka, a fiercely fought area west of Donetsk, the capital city of eastern Ukraine. Putin congratulated the site, calling it a strategically important base, and the event was broadcast on state television.
This type of report is the first since Russia announced last spring that it had taken control of Mariupol in the southeast, and appears to be aimed at conveying to both Japan and abroad that Russia is stepping up its offensive in the run-up to the presidential election next March.
On this day, Mr. Putin attended a summit meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union, which is made up of former Soviet Union countries, held in his hometown of St. Petersburg, and stated that a free trade agreement had been concluded between the member countries and Iran, and that it was a ``big deal''. It is meaningful,” he emphasized.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Dec 26, 2023 12:30:01 GMT
On the 25th, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Putin that the Ukrainian military's defense base Marinka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast has been "completely liberated." The announcement was made by the Russian President's Office, and the exchange between the two men was broadcast on state television. It appears that Putin is aiming for a fifth term in the presidential election next March, and is aiming to appeal to the Russian people as a "victory".
This is believed to be the first time that Russian forces have captured a major Ukrainian military base since they captured Bakhmut, a strategic stronghold in the region, in May of this year. On the 25th, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military denied this on state television, saying, ``The fighting continues. Our troops are in Marinka,'' but it appears that Russian troops have taken control of most of the area.
Meanwhile, on the 26th, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force announced on social media that Russia attacked Feodosia in southern Crimea, which Russia unilaterally annexed, with a cruise missile and destroyed a large landing ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
According to the Russian version of the BBC, on the 25th, the Ukrainian government submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine that would lower the minimum age for military mobilization from 27 to 25. The plan is to toughen penalties for evading military service or mobilization. The aim is to replace the troops depleted due to the prolonged battle with the Russian army. The Ukrainian military has proposed to the government the mobilization of up to 500,000 additional troops.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Dec 26, 2023 18:34:50 GMT
On the 25th, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin that Russian troops had captured Marinka, a strategic stronghold in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian government denies taking control.
Defense Minister Shoigu reported that a raiding force had captured a "heavily fortified" area on the outskirts of Donetsk, the capital of the Russian-controlled Donetsk region.
But Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun said "the battle for Marinka" continues.
Marinka, considered the gateway to Donetsk, is almost completely destroyed.
Separately, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea's regional administration, Sergei Aksyonov, reported an "enemy attack" and a fire at the Crimean port of Feodosia in the early hours of the 26th. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
■Shoigu says Mariinka will be “completely liberated”
"Today, the southern group's assault detachment has completely liberated the village of Marinka, five kilometers southwest of Donetsk," Shoigu said in a televised meeting with Putin on the morning of the 25th. Furthermore, he stated:
“For nine years now, the Ukrainian military has been creating strongly fortified zones connected by underground passages. Each street has fortifications that are fairly well protected from all kinds of attack, including air attacks and artillery attacks. There are structures, long-range firing points, and complex underground communication systems."
"Thanks to the decisive actions of our soldiers, cracks have opened in the fortified area."
President Putin hailed the reported occupation as a "success." It said Ukrainian forces, which had been regularly shelling from Mariinka, had moved further away from Donetsk.
It also said that Russian forces had an "opportunity to move into a wider operational area" in Donetsk Oblast.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Dec 26, 2023 18:37:41 GMT
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, believes that there is nothing controversial about the fact that Ukrainian soldiers have stepped back to the outskirts of the town of Marinka, which the Russians have been devastating street by street and house by house for almost two years. Source: Zaluzhnyi during a briefing on 26 December, when asked if the Russians had indeed captured Marinka Quote from Zaluzhnyi: "The situation is exactly the same as it was in [the war-torn town of] Bakhmut – street by street, block by block, and our soldiers were being targeted – and the result is what it is. This is a war, so the fact that we have now retreated to the outskirts of Marinka and set up positions behind Marinka in some areas is nothing that can cause any public outcry. Sadly, this is what war is like." Details: The military official stressed that every inch of Ukrainian land is vital, but "the lives of our soldiers are even more important to us". Zaluzhnyi stated that Ukrainian forces held Marinka for almost two years as the Russians annihilated it "street by street, then house by house". The commander-in-chief added that Ukrainian troops are still in the northern part of the city as of today, 26 December 2023. Background: Russian propaganda earlier said Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had informed President Vladimir Putin that Marinka had been captured. Shoigu and Putin believe that the capture of Marinka will allow Russian forces to push the Armed Forces of Ukraine away from Russian-occupied Donetsk. Putin is insisting that the Russians will now gain an opportunity "to enter a wider operational space". Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesman for the Joint Press Centre of the Tavriia Defence Forces, refuted the Russian propaganda claim that Russian forces have captured the city of Marinka. "Fighting for Marinka continues. Our military personnel currently remain within Marinka’s administrative borders. But the city has been razed to the ground. But it’s wrong to say that Marinka has been completely captured," Shtupun stated.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Dec 26, 2023 21:02:36 GMT
General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s military, said Tuesday that the town of Marinka in the Donetsk region “is no more,” according to the Ukrainian news outlet Hromadske.
When asked about Russia’s earlier claim that it has seized Marinka, Zaluzhnyi said that Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from the town. In some areas, he said, Ukrainian troops have entrenched themselves on its outskirts or slightly further out.
According to the Ukrainian general, the Russian army may “concentrate its forces and do in two or three months what they did to Bakhmut.”
“We’ll defend only as much as we have strength for. But if it becomes clear that it’s better to save people, then we’ll win it back,” he continued.
After Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told Vladimir Putin on Monday that Russia was in control of Marinka, a Ukrainian military spokesman said that the town is “completely destroyed” and that saying it’s been captured by the Russian army is “inaccurate” as fighting there is ongoing.
|
|