Don's Weekly, 14 October 2024: Part 3

by Donald Hill

(…continued from Part 2…)

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Bohoiavlenka

Russia advanced in three locations 1500 to 2000 meters. The 58th Brigade is responsible for the defenses in front of Prechystivka and the Zolota Nyva sector. In the last six weeks they’ve been pushed out of an area that is 12 km wide and 4 km deep. MilitaryLand shows that the 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade was brought to this area and that 1st Assault Battalion, aka the DaVinci Wolves, were inserted into the front lines by Vuhledar. The 72nd Brigade was pulled back but their drone units are most likely still supporting the front line.

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Zaporizhzhia

Russian troops entered Kamianske and claimed to have taken it. Ukraine says the 3rd Special Operations Regiment repelled their attack with large Russian losses.

Across the Dnipro river from Enerhodar, Russian drones attack Ukrainian positions.

When the Kakhovka dam was destroyed, the reservoir was drained. A little over a week ago, Russia bombarded a section of Kaminanske and then advanced across the open ground to occupy a section of the town. It was difficult to supply and reinforce the Russian forces across the open ground and Ukraine drove them out after a few days.

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Kherson

Russian drone teams continue to hunt civilians in what they call a “human safari”. From July to the end of September, drone attacks against civilians have averaged 100 per day. There have been 547 civilian casualties and nearly have were victims of drone attacks. In the five weeks from September 1st to October 8th, there have been 140 drone victims and ten of them were fatal. The Russians declared any moving vehicle a legitimate target, but they have targeted cyclists, pedestrians and older women sitting on a bench, as well. As winter approaches, the trees will lose their leaves and it will be harder to evade the drones. In this case, the cyclist survives a near miss.

More Russian drone attacks against Ukrainian positions.

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Crimea

Oil tanks in Feodosia were hit and spread to adjacent tanks over the course of four days. After the fourth day, the fire was extinguished. 9-10 of the tanks were destroyed and 4-6 were damaged, depending on the report.

A look at Feodosia’s oil depot after the attack.

Atesh partisans monitor Russian movements and say that the Russians are now distributing fuel at different locations for military vehicles. They are moving these locations every 10-12 hours to avoid being attacked.

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Unknown Locations

A Russian radar is destroyed.

An Archer artillery unit from Sweden was severely damaged.

There’s a 1% dud rate on most munitions.

There are reports that North Korean troops are training in Ukraine and could be deployed on the front line by the end of the year.

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Russia

A Russian report says an Su-34 was shot down by an F-16 50 km from the front while dropping a UMPK bomb. They also claim that the crew was killed.

That said, this claim was denied by such Russian instances like ‘Fighterbomber’: indeed, this has denied a second Su-34 loss.

Subsequently, the claim was tracked down to the Telegram channel ‘VDV for Truth’ - which is an Ukrainian channel that poses as a Russian one, and makes up Russian fails.

The airbase at Yesk was hit again by multiple drones and set off secondary explosions. A storage site for 400 Shahed drones was reported to be the target.

Khaskaya airbase was hit. Ukraine said it attacked an ammo depot at the airbase where 57 Russian aircraft are stationed.

An ammo dump in Kacharev, Bryansk was hit. The damage seems limited to two buildings and a burnt field six kilometers away.

Western countries no longer buy Russian coal, China imposed duties on it while developing their own mines, and demand for coal from countries like India and Turkey are down 50%. Half of the coal Russia mines was exported so production is being reduced due to lower demand. 52% of Russian coal companies are unprofitable.

If you are being investigated for a crime in Russia, you do not have to wait for a conviction before signing a contract to go to Ukraine. You can sign a contract at any point of the proceedings and the legal process will stop. This may result in 20,000 defendants being sent to the front.

Russia continues the deportation of immigrants despite being short on laborers.

Kadyrov of Chechnya has accused politicians from Dagestan and Ingushetia of plotting to kill him and has threatened a blood feud if they fail to prove their innocence. A blood feud avenges a grave insult by killing the offending party or their relatives. Gangs of Chechins and Ingush fought over control of Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, and two Ingush security guards were killed.

Also in Ingushetia, three of four Russian policemen that were ambushed in their car died.

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(….to be continued…)