In a move reminiscent of George Washington’s attack on Trenton New Jersey after crossing the Delaware River on Christmas, 1776, Ukrainian forces launched a limited offensive in the direction of a town in the Luhansk region, recapturing the strategically important city of Kreminna.
Kreminna is a city in the Sievierodonetsk Raion of the Luhansk Oblast that was occupied by Russian Armed Forces in April.
The Russian military has withdrawn its command staff from the town on Christmas Eve and evacuated to the East to the town of Rubizhny. The evacuation suggests the fear of being enveloped as Ukrainian forces tie down Russian troops to their front and then surround them and cut off retreat.
Temperatures in the area were reported to be below freezing, but Ukrainian forces were not deterred by cold.
Crossing the Delaware River, Washington’s forces caught a regiment of Hessian mercenaries sleeping after a night of drunken Christmas celebrations and routed them, killing and wounding more than 100 and leaving 800 more captured or missing.
Russian and Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations along the Svatove-Kreminna line.
“The military command of the Russian occupiers has left Kreminna, which the Ukrainian military is approaching, and the fighting is already going on not far from the city,” said Serhiy Haidai, the regional governor of the area that was annexed by Vladimir Putin after a sham referendum.
“The Russians understand that if they lose Kreminna, their entire line of defense will fall,” said Haidai. “The Russian occupation troops managed to build a very powerful defense in a month, even a little more. They are bringing there a huge amount of reserves and equipment. They are constantly renewing their forces.”
“The Russian occupation troops managed to build a very powerful defense in a month, even a little more. They are bringing there a huge amount of reserves and equipment. They are constantly renewing their forces.”
Over the past day, Ukrainian air forces have struck enemy positions twice, and Ukraine’s missile and artillery units have hit five Russian command posts and one enemy personnel cluster, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which posted the report on Facebook.
Russian invaders have launched a missile strike on the Kharkiv region’s Kupiansk over the past day. Additionally, they opened fire with multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) over 10 times.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Kyiv must accept Moscow’s demands of “demilitarization and denazification” or suffer defeat on the battlefield but unless the Kremlin escalates, the threat seems hollow.
Britain’s defense ministry said Russian soldiers, alongside mercenaries from the Wagner private military group, have been trying to seize the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region since July but found themselves deadlocked in a “meat grinder” and unable to advance after reaching the outskirts of the city.
Bakhmut has been largely ravaged after nearly five months of fighting.
Russian state-funded media broadcast Trump-loving Republicans Sen. Josh Hawley, Rep. Lauren Boebert, Rep. Matt Gaetz, and Fox News host Tucker Carlson making statements opposing additional U.S. military aid for Ukraine.
Ukrainian strikes on military targets far in the Russian rear continue to be points of severe, intermittent pain for the Russian invaders as Putin appears concerned over the lack of support for his war in Ukraine among elites.
There are indications the Kremlin boss may be plotting the nationalization of the property of people in Russia who act solely in their self-interest or do not fully support the war.
Putin made similar statements last week, noting that some businessmen who drain Russia’s money aboard are a “danger” to Russia.
Those statements are consistent with the Russian State Duma’s preparations to introduce a bill to increase tax rates for Russians who had left the country after the start of the “special military operation,” likely as a form of punishment for evading the war effort.
Russian sources began reporting explosions near the Engels Airbase in Saratov Oblast on the night of December 25 and the morning of December 26.
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said that their air defense shot down a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) while it was approaching the Engels airfield at low altitude but the wreckage of the flying killer robot claimed the lives of three Russian servicemen.
The incident prompted some critics to complain that the air defense and electronic warfare systems allowed the UAV to penetrate deep inside Russian territory and voiced their concern over the inability of authorities to protect critical infrastructure.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the United Nations should expel the Russian Federation,
“Russia has not been a peace-loving state for a long time, and therefore it does not meet the main criterion of the UN. It cynically abuses its right of veto in the Security Council. It blocks decisions that oppose its aggressive policy. Therefore, Ukraine legitimately raises the question of excluding Russia not only from the Security Council, but also from the UN,”
The General Assembly of the United Nations overwhelmingly voted to kick Russia off the UN Human Rights Council on April 07, 2022 in what President Joe Biden called “a meaningful step by the international community further demonstrating how Putin’s war has made Russia an international pariah.”
You must log in to post a comment.