Ukraine War: Russian Breakthrough in Donbass

DISCLOSURE: Sourced from Russian government funded media

Russia continues its offensive operations in Ukraine amid the expected inability to reach any real diplomatic solution of the conflict with the Kyiv leadership. The Ukrainian side is just sabotaging talks on key matters of the conflict.

As of March 11, the joint forces of Russia and the people’s republics of Donbass achieved a strategic breakthrough by taking control of the town of Volnovakha. This key logistical hub was one of two strongest fortified points of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the region of Donbass.

The second one – Mariupol – is currently fully surrounded and Russian and DPR units work to eliminate pro-Kyiv units there. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the recent advance in this urban area from eastern, northern and western directions was up to 800m.

At the same time, units of the Russian Armed Forces reached the Petrovskoe-Evgenovka-Oktyabrskoe line after the 17km advance.

Strikes of Russian combat UAVs on positions of Ukrainian nationalist battalions:

In the morning of March 11, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a new strike with high-precision long-range weapons on Ukraine’s military infrastructure. The Russian side announced that military airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankovsk were put out of action.

During the past 24 hours, Russian forces reportedly shot down three Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters, eight unmanned aerial vehicles, including five Bayraktar TB-2s. A total 107 objects of the Ukrainian armed forces were hit. This includes: six command and control centers and communication centers, 14 ammunition and fuel depots, 11 places of gathering of military equipment.

The Russian Defense Ministry says that since the start of the operation its forces have put out of action 3213 objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine. So far, Russian forces have destroyed 98 aircraft, 118 unmanned aerial vehicles, 1,041 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 113 multiple launch rocket systems, 389 field artillery guns and mortars, 843 units of special military vehicles.

Russian troops are in Bucha, Kyiv Region:

Ukrainian troops block the evacuation of civilians from Chernihiv city:

Chernihiv
Russian drone filming as servicemen of Ukrainian forces block the evacuation column of civilians in order to use them as a human shield pic.twitter.com/zrcCDOIOig

— R&U Videos (@r_u_vid) March 11, 2022

On March 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin supported the proposal to supply forces of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics with ‘trophy weapons’, including small arms, anti-tank weapons and battle tanks. This decision indicates that DPR and LPR units that experience the shortage of military supplies will receive additional support from Russia, including the delivery of weapons captured from Kyiv’s forces.

On top of this, the Russian President supported the idea of the involvement of volunteers in the ongoing conflict.

“If you see that there are people who want on a voluntary basis, especially not for money, to come and help people living in the Donbass – well, you need to meet them halfway and help them to move to the war zone,” Putin said at a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council.

Meanwhile, the President noted that “Western sponsors” do not hide the gathering of mercenaries to participate in the conflict – “they do it openly, disregarding all norms of the international law.”

During the meeting, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu noted that the DPR and LPR received more than 16,000 requests from volunteers, including those from countries of the Middle East.

A map summary of the situation in Ukraine as of March 10 (since then, Russian forces have taken control of the key stronghold of Volnovakha in Donbass and several other areas: