[NY Post] Ukraine’s weapons procurement agency, which is tasked with reforming a department long plagued by corruption, is battling another scandal as the Defense Ministry tries to fire its director.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that Defense Procurement Agency director Maryna Bezrukova’s contract would not be renewed, citing "unsatisfactory" results, "leakage" of information and "political games."
"There has been much talk about procuring weapons for the army, but the outcomes have been unsatisfactory," Umerov said in a Facebook post Friday.
"We are changing the system to ensure results are delivered on the front lines, not just in the news."
But Bezrukova said she’s not going to "surrender."
"I will stand in my position until the end," she told the Kyiv Independent.
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Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 21.19 It is currently impossible to determine the real number of people killed in Mariupol, but according to information, the Russians killed about 20,000 people in the city. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with Italian journalist Cecilia Salli.
According to the head of state, the Russians have taken thousands of people captive. Ukraine has managed to return 4,000, but thousands of people remain in Russian captivity.
20.25 American leader Donald Trump can end Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine faster than anyone else, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
19:55 Passport control has been introduced on the Crimean Bridge. Everyone leaving for the temporarily occupied peninsula is being checked.
17:47 Since the beginning of the day, the total number of combat clashes along the entire front line has increased to 123. In the Pokrovsk direction, the enemy attacked the positions of the Ukrainian military 32 times.
17.30 Russian drones attacked Kharkov for the fourth time. The facade of a multi-storey building was damaged, several cars were damaged.
16.55 As a result of a UAV strike carried out by Russian military on the Kholodnogorsk district of Kharkiv, three people were injured. Two women and one man received medical assistance on the spot.
16.22 SBU special forces played the Squid Game with the occupiers. The video of the liquidation of Russian soldiers was published by the SBU press service.
"The operators of the strike drones of the Special Operations Center A of the SBU have established simple rules: whoever gets into the sights of their drone loses. Thus, 468 occupiers "dropped out" of this game in a week," the description under the video says.
14.46 US military aid to Ukraine has not been stopped. And it is too early to comment on the US State Department's decision on other aid. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky at a briefing in Kyiv.
14.24 Russian aggressors have carried out three drone strikes on Kharkiv. There are known casualties. The city may experience power and water shortages, warned Mayor Igor Terekhov.
13.33 MegaFon, one of Russia's largest mobile and Internet operators, has been subjected to a powerful cyberattack by cyber specialists from the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Ukrinform reported , citing sources. Residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and many central regions of the Russian Federation complained of interruptions in mobile communications, the Internet, and the poor performance of many mobile services and applications.
13.05 In the Kiev region, as a result of an attack by Russian drones, a 5-year-old child was injured and hospitalized. In two districts of the region, damage was recorded to three multi-story buildings, including 18 apartments. Also, 13 cars were damaged.
12:41 Russian invaders have fired artillery at the city of Nikopol. Two civilians were wounded, the Dnipropetrovsk OVA reported. Several multi-story buildings, a private house, and a car were damaged in the city. The area is still being surveyed.
12:12 The US State Department's orders to suspend foreign aid do not apply to military support for Ukraine. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. The two main programs - PDA and USAI, through which weapons are produced and supplied to Ukraine, continue to function without changes.
10.25 A fire after a drone attack has been extinguished in Cherkasy, but power outages continue. An operational headquarters has been set up in the region. And in Cherkasy, points of invincibility are in effect.
10.02 On Saturday night, Russian aggressors launched two Kh-59/69 guided missiles and 61 drones of different types at Ukraine. Most of the targets were destroyed, the rest were affected by electronic warfare, the Ukrainian Air Force reported . The downed enemy UAVs caused damage in the Kyiv, Cherkasy and Khmelnytsky regions.
09.05 Russian aggressors attempted to launch a missile attack on the port of Yuzhny in the Odessa region, but Ukrainian sailors intercepted the enemy Kh-59 missile. It was launched by a fifth-generation Su-57 aircraft, the Ukrainian Navy reported.
08.46 Over the past 24 hours, 211 combat clashes occurred on the front. Russian troops attacked most of all in the Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk directions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in the morning report.
08.21 Five civilians have been rescued from a house damaged by an attack by enemy drones in the Kiev region. This was reported by the State Emergency Service . It was indicated that due to the attack by enemy drones in the city of Vyshneve near Kiev, balconies of a residential building from the 5th to the 9th floors were destroyed.
07.58 Over the past 24 hours, the Russian army lost 1,650 soldiers killed and wounded at the front. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the morning report . Ukrainian troops destroyed about 200 units of Russian equipment, including seven tanks and almost 40 armored vehicles.
07.22 Cherkasy region and the city of Cherkasy were attacked by Russian drones on Saturday night. There is a partial power outage in the regional center, said the head of the Cherkasy OVA Igor Taburets. All necessary services are working on site.
04.22 In the Kiev region, as a result of an enemy attack in one of the settlements of the region, a 9-story residential building was damaged. The balconies of the 4th-8th floors were destroyed. Information about victims was not received. Also in another area, as a result of falling debris from a shot down target, a production facility caught fire on an area of 600 sq. m. The fire was extinguished.
00.20 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued new instructions to pause spending on most existing foreign aid grants for 90 days. Politico, citing a current State Department official and two former Biden administration officials, wrote that the 90-day pause would likely halt aid to key allies such as Ukraine, Jordan, and Taiwan. However, a Voice of America journalist, citing Pentagon sources, denied Politico's information about a pause in aid to Ukraine. According to him, the order does not apply to military support.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The defense forces are holding the lines and taking the necessary measures to prevent a breakthrough of the defense.
Since the beginning of the day, the total number of combat clashes along the entire front line has increased to 123. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Saturday, January 25.
Seven assault actions by Russian invaders took place near Petrovpavlovka, Peschanoye, Glushkovka and Lozovaya in the Kupyansk direction, one combat clash is still ongoing.
In the Liman direction, the enemy is attacking in the areas of the settlements of Tverdokhlebovo, Novosergeevka, Sheykovka, Novaya Kruglyakovka, Druzhelyubovka, Grekovka, Pervomayskoye, Kopanki and in the directions of Novolyubovka, Makeyevka, Zelenaya Dolina and Torskoye. In total, since the beginning of the day, there have already been 25 combat clashes in this direction, nine of which are still ongoing.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the Defense Forces repelled 27 enemy attempts to advance forward near Orekhovo-Vasilovka, Novomarkovy, Chasovoy Yar, Stupochki, Predtechinoye and Belaya Gora; 13 combat clashes continue.
In the Toretsk direction, the Russians attacked our troops' positions in the Toretsk district eight times. Four of the clashes are still ongoing.
In the Pokrovsky direction, the enemy attacked positions in the areas of the settlements of Vodyanoye Vtoroy, Elizavetovka, Mirolyubovka, Luch, Zelenoe, Udachnoye, Novoaleksandrovka, Kotlino, Bogdanovka, Andreyevka, Shevchenko, Dachnoye, Ulakly and Konstantinopolskoye 32 times; nine combat clashes are still ongoing.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, the defenders repelled eight attacks in the areas of the settlements of Novosyolka, Novodarovka, Konstantinopol and Bolshaya Novosyolka.
Since the beginning of the day, the occupiers have not carried out any offensive actions in the Orekhov, Gulyai-Polye, Pridneprovsk, Kharkov, and Seversk directions.
Fifteen combat clashes took place today in the Kursk direction, seven combat clashes are still ongoing. In addition, the enemy carried out 17 air strikes, dropped 33 UABs and carried out 266 artillery attacks, including six from MLRS.
Let us recall that over the past 24 hours, the Russian army lost 1,650 soldiers killed and wounded at the front. Since the start of the full-scale war, Russia's losses have reached approximately 828,470 people.
My headline.
[KavkazUzel] A ceremonial wedding of a 13-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy from a Roma family took place in Astrakhan. Representatives of the region's security forces said that the ceremony was symbolic, but Telegram users still criticized the event.
Footage of a wedding in one of the restaurants in Astrakhan has been circulated online. The event was organized by the local Roma community, the newlyweds are children aged eight and thirteen. In the footage, published, in particular, on the Telegram channel "Astrakhan News Today", it is clear that the children are somewhat confused, especially the boy, who seems not to understand what is happening at all.
The event was operated by a well-known wedding operator in Astrakhan, who often films gypsy weddings. It turned out that the wedding in question took place in the summer of 2024, but the event was only made public now. The children were allegedly married right in the restaurant, since registering their marriage is contrary to Russian law, Astrakhan Today reports.
The information about the wedding that appeared on January 23 was responded to by the chairperson of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood and Childhood Nina Ostanina. She stated that it is necessary to raise the issue of raising children in Roma communities, RIA Novosti writes.
"It seems to me that it is enough to be timid in front of national traditions, which, unfortunately, for some reason are becoming higher than our laws," the publication quotes her as saying.
Ostanina noted that the tradition of creating families from young children is harmful for three reasons - children are deprived of their childhood, cannot get an education, and such weddings do not comply with the laws of the Russian Federation. "We punish parents in non-Gypsy families if they do not raise their children properly. Why do we experience any problems here?" she wonders.
The deputy, however, noted that no one had broken the law in this case, but it was necessary to punish the parents who were depriving the younger generation of the opportunity to receive an education and enjoy childhood. "Where is the children's rights commissioner who should immediately respond to this situation?" she asked.
A representative of the Russian Interior Ministry for the Astrakhan Region stated on January 24 that the wedding ritual between the children was symbolic. According to him, "as a result of the investigation into the circumstances of the wedding ritual between the minors in Astrakhan, it was established that it was symbolic and was not an official marriage registration," Lenta.ru writes.
The agency representative clarified that the children live separately from their parents and will officially formalize their relationship only after reaching the age established by law.
Social media users, however, criticized both the event itself and the police response to it. "For the 'symbolic' wedding of minors, give their parents a symbolic sentence," suggested Dmitry Barsukov, a user of the Astrakhan and AO News Telegram channel.
"Is there any way to control them?" Alexey asks.
"The law must be one and for everyone, without exceptions. Otherwise, it is not a law and the country is not a country," Aleksei Ya is sure.
"And they don't go to school. And they don't serve in the army. And they don't pay taxes. And they give birth at 16. And others are punished for this," White Astra noted.
"I hope our governor will congratulate the young people, wish them more children and a long, happy life. Demography is on the march," Georgy Vasin jokes in the "Astrakhan News Today" chat.
The author of the blog "BERG...man Tbilisi" commented on the underage wedding on the "Caucasian Knot".
"It's not about the Astrakhan region, and it's unlikely that Nina Ostanina only learned today that people of the Gypsy nationality live in Russia and elsewhere - by their own laws, and often a significant part of them don't care about the rules. Because the government either "takes a bribe" or is so indifferent to the Gypsies that they have long since given up on them," he wrote on January 24 in the publication "Children's Wedding" in Astrakhan. - "And what about the Gypsies, for whom the law does not apply?"
Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" wrote that in August 2024, Ilovlya resident Mikhail Zazulin published a video message to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin on social media. In the message, he spoke about a two-month conflict between his large family and their neighbors, a Roma family. According to Zazulin, the conflict culminated in an attack by members of the Roma family and their friends on his home.
On August 14, the heads of the Roma families of Ilovlya, after a meeting with the authorities and security forces, apologized to the residents of the village and promised to keep an eye on the youth. On October 10, an attack on police officers was recorded in Ilovlya, security forces reported, and later they announced the arrest of two suspects. The Ilovlinsky District Court remanded the third suspect in the attack on security forces in Ilovlya, who went into hiding after the incident, until December 10.
The Russian Ministry of Defense failed to provide its usual summary for its Special Military Operation, leaving news-front.su to take up the slack.
[News-Front] According to the Russian Defense Ministry, on January 25 of this year, during the Special Military Operation, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) lost up to 1,420 people. The Russian Armed Forces damaged the infrastructure of military airfields, warehouses for storing unmanned aerial vehicles and places where they are prepared for combat use, as well as concentrations of enemy manpower and equipment in 132 districts.
As of January 25 of this year, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 1,420 personnel, 7 combat armored vehicles, 3 US-made M113 armored personnel carriers, 18 vehicles, 17 field artillery guns and an electronic warfare station. Air defense systems shot down 3 US-made HIMARS multiple launch rockets and 44 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles.
Formations of 5 mechanized, motorized infantry, airborne assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a national guard brigade and a territorial defense brigade were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Belogorivka, Dachnoye, Orekhovo-Vasilevka, Konstantinovka, Zelenovka, Chasov Konstantinopol, Razliv, Velyka Novosyolka, Chasov Yar of the Donetsk People's Republic and Temirovka of the Zaporizhia region.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of three coastal defense brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Tokarevka, Antonovka, Yantarnoye and Sadovoye in the Kherson region.
Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces groups damaged the infrastructure of military airfields, warehouses for storing unmanned aerial vehicles and places where they are prepared for combat use, as well as concentrations of enemy manpower and equipment in 132 districts.
Let us recall that from January 18 to 24, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation struck critically important gas and energy infrastructure facilities that ensure the operation of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.
During the offensive actions, the Sever Group of Forces' units inflicted fire damage on formations of one tank brigade, one heavy mechanised brigade, four mechanised brigades, two air assault brigades, one naval infantry brigade, and three territorial defence brigades of the AFU close to Viktorovka, Zaoleshenka, Kositsa, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Mirny, Nikolayevka, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolsky, Novaya Sorochina, Sverdlikovo, Sudzha, and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, artillery inflicted losses on enemy manpower and hardware close to Guyevo, Dmitryukov, Zazulevka, Kazachya Loknya, Kruglenkoye, Loknya, Melovoy, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Oleshnya, Sverdlikovo, Staraya Sorochina, Yuzhny as well as Basovka, Belovody, Zhuravka, Miropolye, and Yunakovka in Sumy region.
In the course of the day, the AFU losses were more than 360 troops, one tank, nine armoured fighting vehicles, 27 motor vehicles, one self-propelled artillery system, two mortars, one electronic warfare station as well as six UAV command posts and one ammunition depot. Five AFU servicemen surrendered.
Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 54,820 troops, 319 tanks, 237 infantry fighting vehicles, 183 armoured personnel carriers, 1,622 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,629 motor vehicles, 389 artillery guns, 44 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 16 anti-aircraft missile launchers, eight transport-loading vehicles, 100 EW stations, 14 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 32 units of engineering and other materiel, including 13 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, nine armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle.
The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 20:15 In the Liman direction, in the last two weeks, Russian troops have managed to expand the bridgehead on the right bank of the Zherebets River in the Makeyevka area, occupying a forest belt on the approaches to the dominant height 185.3 and driving the enemy out of the fortified area to the north, –map.
In Terny, fighting is taking place on the southern outskirts, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces are using armored vehicles to shell Russian positions. Russian troops continue to attack in the direction of Kolodezi from Ivanovka on the right bank of the Zherebets
In this area, the Russian Armed Forces have recently managed to advance several kilometers in a westerly direction, repelling at least four attacks by Ukrainian forces in the direction of Ivanovka.
19:25 Captured serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told, how he surrendered to Russian attack aircraft after his first combat sortie
Prisoner of war of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Shcherba avoided military service for a long time, hid in his dacha or went to other regions to visit relatives, but he still could not avoid forced conscription. After a month of training, he was sent to the front lines.
18:21 Cache with foreign weapons discovered at the former positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Avdeevka.
As a result of joint operational and combat activities of the FSB Directorate of the Russian Federation for the DPR and the military counterintelligence agencies of the Central Military District, a cache of foreign weapons prepared by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during their retreat for further use in sabotage and terrorist purposes was discovered near the city of Avdeevka liberated from the Ukrainian Nazis.
18:20 A machine gun of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was burned in the Vovchansk direction, –video.
17:10 Over the past two weeks, the Russian Armed Forces have achieved success in the central and western sections of the Pokrovsk-Mirnograd direction: the villages of Peschanoye, Zelenoye and Kotlino have been liberated, and the T-04-06 highway, which is important for supplying the Ukrainian Armed Forces, has been cut off, –map.
16:45 Russian quadcopter operators destroyed an enemy BMP-1, a pickup truck and some Ukrainian infantry in the Khar'kov region, –video.
16:20 Tank crews are narrowing the ring in the Pokrovsky direction, –video.
The footage shows a series of successful strikes on the Ukrainian Armed Forces' strongholds, as well as on logistics arteries.
15:20 Around 14:10 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the territory of the Belgorod region
15:00 Stormtroopers are working off river crossing
The servicemen of the assault units of the Dnepr group of troops meticulously practice all the elements for forcing a water obstacle in small groups. The training program is close to the conditions of combat operations - TNT blocks are detonated on their way, simulating the work of heavy artillery and mortars of the enemy.
14:55 Three civilians were killed as a result of artillery attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the city of Oleshky in the Kherson region. This was reported by Governor of the Kherson region Volodymyr Saldo.
14:30 Around 13:20 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of Belgorod region
14:05 In the area of the railway station of the Sumy region, the Russian Armed Forces inflicted a ballistic strike.
A powerful blow was dealt to the railway station junction at the moment when enemy military forces were unloading yet another load of NATO equipment.
13:35 Destruction of the antitank missile launcher and UAV launcher of the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by a missile strike in the area of the settlement of Zhuravka in the Kursk direction, –video.
According to a source, as a result of the strike, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost five units of automotive equipment and up to 20 Ukrainian ones.
12:55 The Russian Armed Forces have already liberated more than 65% of Velikaya Novoselka. The Russian flag has been raised over the city hospital, –video.
A small pocket in the southern part of the urban-type settlement has already been eliminated. The remnants of the enemy forces from the center have retreated to the northwestern outskirts. At the moment, the clearing of the urban-type settlement is continuing.
12:30 Air Defense Forces destroyed 11 Ukrainian Armed Forces drones over the Black Sea coast and the Republic of Crimea
11:15 The footage shows an American Abrams tank disabled by a direct hit from a Lancet loitering munition near the village of Viktorovka in the Kursk region.video.
10:42 Information on strikes carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Belgorod region
In the Belgorod district, 25 rounds of ammunition were fired at the settlement of Oktyabrsky, the villages of Zhuravlevka, Otradnoye, Solntsevka, Ustinka, Chaiki and Yasnye Zori during 3 attacks andcommitted10 drones attacked, six of which were shot down by the air defense system.
In the village of Oktyabrsky, a civilian was injured as a result of the detonation of ammunition. The man was hospitalized in the regional clinical hospital. All necessary assistance is being provided. Two private homes, a car, a commercial facility and a power line were damaged.
In the Borisovsky district, the villages of Bogun-Gorodok and Tsapovka were subjected to artillery attack using two rounds of ammunition and an attack by one UAV, which was shot down. There were no consequences.
Three drones were shot down over the Valuysky municipal district. No casualties or damage.
In Volokonovsky district, three artillery rounds were fired at the Stary farm. No consequences.
In the Grayvoronsky municipal district, the village of Bezymeno was shelled with five rounds of ammunition. There were no consequences.
In the Krasnoyarsk region, the village of Prilesye and the village of Grafovka were subjected to three attacks, during which 16 rounds of ammunition were fired, and attacks by two UAVs were recorded, one of which was shot down. There were no casualties or damage.
In the Shebekinsky municipal district, 12 rounds were fired at the city of Shebekino, the villages of Murom and Terezovka, the farms of Mukhin and Pankov, and nine drones were attacked and shot down. There were no consequences.
10:15 Our operators are working on the Ukrainian Armed Forces' starlinks, which provide them with communication with the command. Zaporizhzhya direction. On the approaches to the settlement of Malaya Tokmachka.
We work on the enemy’s communications constantly and continuously, disrupting his command and control of his troops, –video.
10:06 Frontline report for the morning of 25.01.2025, –cards.
Zaporizhzhya Front. No significant changes in LBS. Active use of kamikaze drones by the enemy is noted. Long-range weapons are in operation on both sides, battles in the direction continued to be mainly positional.
Donetsk Front. The Russian Armed Forces continue to storm Velyka Novosyolka. It is too early to talk about the complete liberation of the village, but footage has appeared of the arming of a flag on one of the buildings in the central part of the urban-type settlement.
Chasov Yar direction. Assault operations in Chasov Yar continue. There are advances of Russian troops from the southern side of the city.
Kursk Region. Russian troops continue to put pressure on the enemy's defense in several areas, but advances are made with great difficulty. The enemy continues to transfer reserves to the Kursk Region and conduct counterattacks in order to regain lost positions. Including using armored vehicles.
9:05 Superkam reconnaissance UAV crews of the motorized rifle brigade of the combined arms army of the West group of forces monitor the enemy and adjust the fire of artillery and tank units.
This time, the servicemen discovered camouflaged military equipment and temporary deployment points of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The artillery destroyed the identified targets with precise strikes,video.
8:40 The Shaman detachment attacks the enemy near the town of Orekhov on the Zaporizhzhya front, –video.
The fighting continues in the Orekhovo direction. Drone operators of the Shaman unit of the 1455th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Russian Army pass through electronic warfare and reach the enemy everywhere.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces thought that their electronic warfare systems could not be penetrated, but our soldiers’ attacks burn their military equipment and also leave them without communication equipment and drone control.
8:10 Kursk region. Old Sorochina. Advance of the Russian army.
The Russian army advances along the flanks from Stara Sorochina over the past 24 hours. Our rapid attacks on BMD-4M and BTR-82 take the enemy by surprise.
We beat the enemy's sabotage and reconnaissance groups with the help of Molniya drones.
We work in conditions of active enemy electronic warfare.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Kirill Velesov
[REGNUM] Students' Day, or Tatyana's Day, is a widely celebrated holiday in Russia with a long history.
On January 25, we congratulate both those young people who have accepted the challenge of the times, standing up to defend the Motherland, and those who give their free time to work in the rear to increase the combat readiness of the army, performing tasks in the special military operation zone.
"WE NEED TO GET TO OURS"
General mobilization was declared in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics on February 19, 2022, after the situation on the line of combat contact between the units of the DPR and LPR people's militias and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) escalated. Then the Ukrainian military intensified shelling, bringing in additional personnel and military equipment. Donbas men aged 18 to 65 stood up to defend the sovereignty of the republics.
Since February 26, 19-year-old Mikhail Tretyakov, a third-year undergraduate student in the economics department of Donetsk State University (DSU), has also joined the ranks of the Cascade unit of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the DPR.
In one military collective of the unit there were both mobilized soldiers, among them four students, and already experienced fighters. The "old men" treated the new recruits with understanding, even helped to get equipment. However, it also did not go without friendly jokes addressed to the young fighters, traditional in the soldier environment.
The conscripts received virtually no combat training due to the need for immediate assistance to the troops operating in the Mariupol direction. The young fighters were shown the basics of handling weapons in just two days, and on March 1 they went into battle.
The unit in which Mikhail served was supposed to fight saboteurs in the liberated territory. But the liberation of Mariupol had already begun, so he was soon transferred to the 1st assault company, which participated in urban battles on the left bank of the Kalmius River.
On the afternoon of March 28, 2022, Mikhail looked death in the eye but managed to survive.
"We were in the ravine in less favorable conditions, since the enemy position on the opposite slope was higher. They saw us well, but we, especially when it was sunset and the sun was shining in our direction, did not see them at all. At that moment, the sniper and machine gunner began working, and the main part of our group went for ammunition. The door of the house where we were located faced the enemy, who opened fire as soon as they noticed movement," Mikhail told IA Regnum.
A neighboring group came to the rescue, opening fire on the enemy, who was in concrete shelters, practically blindly. Thanks to this, Mikhail and his senior comrade were able to get out to their own. They were escaping from the fire, being literally in the palm of the enemy's hand.
"We had to walk through shelled yards. The whistle of bullets, everything falling nearby. It's hard to convey what emotions there were. There was only one thing in my head: I had to reach our people. Consider it your second birthday today, said a comrade. Then our two groups united and took a more advantageous position on the house above. We became a screen to prevent the enemy from counterattacking our units on the flank and rear. We held this position for a week," he shares his memories.
Subsequently, Mikhail was concussed and awarded the medal "For the Liberation of Mariupol". In the summer of 2022, after treatment in the hospital, he was demobilized from military service. Now Mikhail Tretyakov continues his studies at two faculties of DonSU: economics and law.
THE MOST HUMANE PROFESSION
First-year student of the Belgorod Medical Institute Danila Borisov took an academic leave after the start of the SVO and arrived in the combat zone at the end of 2022. He served as a medical instructor of the 1st rifle battalion of the 9th separate assault brigade, which fought near Avdiivka.
Even basic medical knowledge can save a person's life, Danila told IA Regnum. Desmurgy and bandaging skills were very well trained by college teachers.
In his practice, he most often had to deal with mine-explosive injuries and shrapnel wounds. "About 60% are shrapnel wounds, 20% are bullet wounds, the rest are contusions," the source told the publication.
Danila Borisov spent more than a year in the SVO zone. Now the future therapist is a second-year student at his institute.
KURSK VOLUNTEERS
In August 2024, units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces invaded the territory of the Kursk region, managing to capture the border area and several settlements. Alexander Fetisov, a student of the Faculty of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication of South-West State University, a cadet of the regional military training center, has been working at the site of the United Humanitarian Warehouse of the "People's Front" since the first days of the invasion.
During a shift, cadets make about 70 trench or dugout candles from tin cans and cardboard. One of the units to which YUZGU transfers this product is fighting in the Glushkov direction in the Kursk region.
A law student and head of the student volunteer movement "Indigo YUZGU" Zulfina Aliyeva organized a point for weaving camouflage nets at her university. According to her, the nets are woven not only by students and teachers, but also by caring people who want to help the army.
"This is work that requires patience. Everything depends on the weaving technique. We show beginners the simplest method of weaving with a zigzag. There is nothing complicated about it. About ten people can weave a 3x6 meter net in two days. Sometimes we manage to do it in a day," the interlocutor of IA Regnum shared.
UNIVERSITIES FOR THE FRONT
There are currently over 8 million students studying in Russian universities and colleges. In the spring of 2023, the “Universities for the Front!” campaign was launched in Russia on the initiative of the university community, supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
More than 500 educational institutions across the country took part in it. During this time, the fighters on the front lines in the special operation zone received over a thousand tons of various goods collected by Russian students. Including personal hygiene products, food, cars and even special equipment - snow and swamp vehicles.
In some universities, pilot production facilities have emerged where teachers, students and graduates manufacture sapper “cats”, potbelly stoves, antennas and drones, which have become a symbol of modern warfare.
Many universities regularly send cargo directly to the front. And a logistics hub has been created at the National Research University MPEI, through which centralized supplies are sent to the troops. A considerable part of them is sent to the heroic "winged infantry" - soldiers and officers of the airborne troops.
More food for the rest of the population back home.
[NY Post] Approximately 4,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded while fighting Ukrainian troops in Russia, with minimal battlefield gains to show for it and ongoing battles with language and cultural barriers, according to the UK Ministry of Defense.
The losses, which include those missing and captured, account for about a third of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s 11,000-member deployment to Russia’s Kursk region, which began in October, and confirm estimates made by Ukrainian officials.
About 1,000 of them were killed in action.
Some of the North Korean soldiers have reportedly chosen suicide over surrender in the face of brutal “human wave” attacks out of fear that their captures would be treated as treason back home.
Yet, North Korea is likely “accelerating preparations” to send even more troops to Russia, South Korea’s military said Friday.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/26/2025 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Commies
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
