NEW – September 5, 2022
The Ukrainian “counteroffensive on Kherson“, which was actively covered in the Ukrainian media in the first two days, has entered the stage of silence. The press service of the Southern Military Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced yesterday that the names of settlements occupied by Ukrainian units will not be reported.
“A failure”
The explanation for this was given in a unique way — so that the Russian army would not launch missile and artillery attacks at them. That is, according to the logic of the Ukrainian side, the actions of the Russian Armed Forces are conducted not according to intelligence reports, but according to official press releases of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In the latest report of the Ukrainian General Staff, there is really no information about the advance of troops in the Kherson direction. Moreover, it is claimed that the offensive actions are conducted by the Russian side.
You can, of course, consider this as part of the information war, but it is decidedly unclear against whom exactly it is being conducted by such methods.
German journalist known for his extremely negative attitude towards Russia Julian Roepke, nicknamed Jihad-Julian, is very pessimistic:
“Was it worth it to do this at such a price”
The Wall Street Journal, which spoke with one of the Ukrainian medics working with the wounded, quoted the source as saying: “When they started bringing in such a large number of wounded, to be honest, I felt sorry for them, and I began to wonder if it was worth it at such a price.”
According to the doctor, he has not seen such a large number of wounded since the beginning of the conflict. In one of its departments, six servicemen are in a coma at the same time. There are also serious injuries received due to improper use of weapons – for example, one of the hospital patients received a head injury due to the incorrect use of a grenade launcher by his colleague.
But if the wounded can still be helped, then it will not be possible to return the participants of the Kherson campaign from the other world.
Mayor of Snigiryovka in the Nikolaev region under Russian control, Yury Barbashov, told RIA Novosti about what, according to his data, is happening on the adjacent side: “All the morgues are packed. Now huge problems are experienced with donor blood, with clean water and with the provision of these wounded who were admitted to Nikolaev.”
Regional day of mourning
The Ukrainian side does not officially confirm the data on irretrievable losses, but indirect information indicates that they are really catastrophic.
The Transcarpathian Regional State Administration announced on September 2 a day of mourning for the fallen servicemen of the 128th separate Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The official wording of the administration says that the unit’s fighters “at the cost of their own lives ensured that the units reached the specified lines during the offensive operation”.
On August 30, at a briefing, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defence, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov, said that “Russian troops defeated the units of the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces transferred to participate in the operation from western Ukraine.” The Ukrainian side actually admitted this, and numerous obituaries for soldiers and officers of this unit appear on social networks. Among the dead are both ordinary Ukrainians and members of radical organisations. For example, Oleg Tyagnibok, head of the right-wing radical “Svoboda” party, announced the death of his party leader Roman Grapenyuk.
From Lugansk to Kherson: the bloody path of the brigade
The 128th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, whose headquarters is based in the village of Mukachevo, was created after the reorganisation of the 128th Mechanised Division, which traced its history from the 128th Guards Turkestan Motorised Rifle Division of the Soviet Army.
The 128th Brigade has been actively used during the conflict in Donbass since 2014. It fought near Lugansk in the summer of 2014, and in early 2015 visited the Debaltsevo “cauldron”, where it suffered heavy losses. Then the brigade was stationed in the area of Gorlovka, where it took part in positional battles. The total losses of the unit killed in that period reached 200 people.
In 2022, the 128th Brigade, considered one of the most combat-ready and motivated units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was used especially actively. The units held the defence in Severodonetsk and Lisichansk, where they suffered serious losses and were withdrawn to the rear.
Billions in exchange for lives
In recent weeks, the brigade was urgently replenished and re-equipped to participate in the counteroffensive. But as a result, the Transcarpathian formation was sent to a real meat grinder by the generals.
The system, however, has already been worked out. After the next mourning period, another replenishment will be brought from the region to the brigade, designed to realise the ambitions of Zelensky and Zaluzhny.
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