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The Russian military carried out 28 group strikes against vital targets in Ukraine over the past week, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a briefing on May 17.
”From 11 to 17 May 2024, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out 28 group strikes by high-precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs], which hit command posts, military airfield infrastructure facilities, air defense equipment, fuel bases of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as well as a production and storage workshop for uncrewed surface vehicles and strike UAVs,” the ministry said.
It added that the strikes also targeted deployment areas of nationalist groups and foreign mercenaries fighting for Kiev forces.
Also in the briefing, the ministry provided details on recent Russian actions in different directions within the special military operation zone in Ukraine.
The ministry said that the Sever Group of Forces liberated 12 settlements in the Kharkov region over the past week: Borisovka, Bugrovatka, Gatishche, Glubokoye, Krasnoye, Lukyantsy, Morokhovets, Ogurtsovo, Oleynikovo, Pletenyevka, Pyulnaya, Strelechya and continue advancing to the depth of the Ukrainian defenses.
The group also carried out strikes against five brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), four territorial defense brigades and the 15th Ukrainian border detachment near Vesyoloye, Volchansk, Dergachi, Neskuchnoye, Krasnoye and Liptsy in Kharkov, according to the ministry, which also said that 21 counter-attacks launched by Kiev forces were repelled close to Glubokoye, Tikhoye and Staritsa in the region.
“The AFU losses amounted to up to 1,175 Ukrainian troops, 10 tanks, 14 armored fighting vehicles, 45 motor vehicles, 13 MLRS combat vehicles, including six Czech-made Vampire MLRS [multiple launch rocket systems], 26 field artillery guns as well as five Buk and Strela-10 SAM [surface-to-air missile] combat vehicles,” it added.
Meanwhile, the Zapad Group of Forces took over the past week more advantageous lines and inflicted damage on 18 brigades close to Artyomovka, Makeyevka -in the Lugansk region-, Kislovka, Sinkovka -in Kharkov-, Yampolovka, Krasny Liman and Torskoye -in the Donetsk region-, according to the ministry.
It also said that the group repelled 37 counter-attacks by eight AFU brigades as well as two National Guard brigades close to Chervonaya Dibrova, Novoyegorovka, Stelmakhovka, Nevskoye -in Lugansk-, Berestovoye, Kislovka and Olshana -in Kharkov-.
“The AFU losses amounted to up to 960 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, nine armored fighting vehicles, 24 motor vehicles, four Grad and Verba MLRS combat vehicles, 25 field artillery guns, of which five are United States-made. In addition, two ammunition depots were destroyed,” the ministry said.
The ministry also reported that the Yug Group of Forces advanced into the depth of Ukrainian defenses over the past week.
The group launched strikes at six assault, ten mechanized and seven territorial defense brigades close to Andreyevka, Antonovka, Georgiyevka, Grigorovka, Kleshcheyevka, Kurdyumovka, Paraskoviyevka and Novomikhailovka -in Donetsk-, according to the ministry, which also reported that nine counter-attacks were repelled near Belogorovka -in Lugansk-, Razdolovka, Krasnoye, Spornoye and Chasov Yar -in Donetsk-.
“The enemy lost up to 3,725 Ukrainian troops, eight tanks, including five German-made Leopard-2A1 tanks, 13 armored fighting vehicles, 55 motor vehicles, one Grad MLRS, 47 field artillery guns, to include 22 foreign-made ones,” the ministry said, adding that “three Nota and Bukovel-AD electronic warfare stations, two U.S.-made AN/TPQ-36 counter-battery warfare stations and 16 field ammunition depots were [also] destroyed.”
Also over the past week, the Tsentr Group of Forces liberated the settlement of Keramik in Donetsk, improved the situation along the front and defeated 14 brigades of the AFU and national guard brigades near Novoaleksandrovka, Yevgenovka, Karlovka and Rozovka in the same region, according to the ministry.
In addition, the ministry said that the group repelled 59 counter-attacks by Kiev forces close to Arkhangelskoye, Semyonovka, Ocheretino, Solovyevo, Novgorodskoye, Umanskoye, Netaylovo and Berdychi in Donetsk.
“The AFU losses in this direction amounted to up to 2,475 Ukrainian troops, four tanks, including one U.S.-made Abrams, 20 armored fighting vehicles, 27 motor vehicles and one Croatian-made RAK-SA-12 MLRS combat vehicle,” the ministry said. “In addition, 23 field artillery guns, including five Paladin self-propelled guns and three U.S.-made M777 howitzers, were hit during counter-battery warfare.”
The ministry also said that the Vostok Group of Forces improved the tactical situation over the past week and defeated three brigades of the AFU and three territorial defense brigades near Ugledar, Velikaya Novoselka, Vodyanoye, Vladimirovka -in Donetsk-, Chervonoye and Dorozhyanka -in the Zaporozhye region-.
Two counter-attacks by the AFU 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade and the 21st National Guard Brigade were also repelled by the group near Staromayorskoye and Urozhaynoye in Donetsk, according to the ministry.
“The AFU losses amounted to up to 965 Ukrainian troops, one tank, nine armored fighting vehicles, 28 motor vehicles, one Grad MLRS vehicle and two Strela-10 SAM combat vehicles, the ministry said. “In counter-battery warfare, 20 field artillery guns were hit, to include four Polish-made Krab self-propelled guns and four U.S.-made M777 howitzers.”
During the same period, the Dnepr Group of Forces liberated Rabotino in Zaporozhye as a result of intensive actions, according to the ministry.
The group also hit two brigades of the AFU, the 35th Marine Brigade, three territorial defense brigades and three national guard brigades close to Orekhov, Verbovoye, Nesteryanka, Malaya Tokmachka -in Zaporozhye-, Nikopol, Kapulovka -in the Dnepropetrovsk region-, Zolotaya Balka and Ivanovka -in the Kherson region-.
“The AFU losses amounted to up to 265 Ukrainian troops, two armored fighting vehicles, 15 motor vehicles, one Czech-made Vampire MLRS launcher, 35 field artillery guns, including 14 U.S.-made M777 howitzers as well as one Buk SAM self-propelled artillery system,” the ministry said.
In addition, the group’s Missile Troops and Artillery and UAVs neutralized four Mi-24 helicopters at a helipad as well as 40 uncrewed surface ships at a storage depot over the past week, according to the ministry.
A U.S.-made Patriot air defense system, ammunition and fuel depots as well as aerial vehicles in five military airfields were also hit.
Furthermore, the ministry said that Russian air defenses shot down over the past week six MiG-29 and one Su-27 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, 31 U.S.-made ATACAMS and Tochka-U operational-tactical missiles, 31 French-made Hammer guided air bombs, 15 U.S.-made HARM anti-radiation missiles, 199 HIMARS, Vampire, Grad and Olkha projectiles as well as 329 UAVs.
In the last 24 hours alone, 123 Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs have been shot down over the territory of Crimea and the Black Sea coast of Krasnodarsky Krai.
The Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet also destroyed 25 Ukrainian uncrewed surface vehicles in the Black Sea waters over the past day.
Separately, 63 Ukrainian troops have surrendered on the line of contact, 48 of them in the area of responsibility of the Sever Group of Forces, according to the ministry.
“In total, 601 airplanes, 274 helicopters, 24,234 unmanned aerial vehicles, 522 anti-aircraft missile systems, 16,058 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 1,303 MLRS combat vehicles, 9,635 field artillery and mortar guns and 21,763 special military vehicles have been neutralized since the beginning of the special military operation,” the ministry concluded.
All in all, Kiev forces suffered heavy losses as a result of Russian strikes and operations over the past week. The strongest blow was the offensive in Kharkov.
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