It is impossible to liberate the territory of the people's republics without taking them, military experts are sure
On Friday, May 6, during a humanitarian operation, 50 civilians, including 11 children, were evacuated from the territory of Azovstal in Mariupol, the Interdepartmental Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response said. They were handed over to representatives of the UN and the Red Cross. On May 7, the Russian military will reopen the humanitarian corridor. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the destruction of a large ammunition depot on the territory of the Energomashspetsstal plant in Kramatorsk. According to experts, by the end of the week, an important defense hub, the city of Rubezhnoye, was taken under control, the battles for which lasted more than a month and a half.
Stages of evacuation
According to the military correspondent of Izvestia, Valentin Trushnin, the daytime evacuation in Mariupol took place in two stages. At first, twelve people, including four children, were taken out of the factory. On the second bus flight, thirteen more people and one dog were taken to a safe place. Already in the evening, information about the third group was received.
Earlier, the interdepartmental coordination headquarters of the Russian Federation for humanitarian response stated that on May 5, 6 and 7, from 8:00 to 18:00 Moscow time, a humanitarian corridor will be opened to evacuate civilians from the territory of Azovstal. During April 30 and May 1, during the previous phase of the operation, 126 people were taken out of the plant and neighboring residential buildings.
On Friday, the Russian Armed Forces continued to strike at military facilities in Ukraine.
— High—precision air-launched missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed a large ammunition depot of the Ukrainian group of troops located on the territory of the Energomashspetsstal plant in the city of Kramatorsk, - the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said on Friday.
A tactical missile system "Tochka-U" was destroyed near the village of Novotavrichoe, Zaporozhye region. Ten strongholds, areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were hit. In total, over 40 objects were attacked during the day.
Planes and helicopters of operational-tactical and army aviation hit 51 military facilities of Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday reported that drones were also connected to the strikes. Among the objects hit by the VKS are three ammunition depots in the areas of Kuzminovka, Zvanovka and Seversk of the Donetsk People's Republic, as well as seven company strongholds and 16 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment.
— As a result of the strikes, up to 310 personnel, 27 units of weapons and military equipment, as well as the Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile system "Osa—AKM" in the area of the settlement of Seversk in the DPR were destroyed, - Igor Konashenkov listed.
The missile forces managed to destroy the launcher of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system near the settlement of Nikiforovka in the Donetsk People's Republic. They also hit five areas of concentration of manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army.
Russian air defense systems shot down a MiG-29 fighter and a Su-25 attack aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as four Tochka-U ballistic missiles near the village of Transfigured in the LPR. A Ukrainian Su-27 was destroyed near the village of Platonovka in the Luhansk People's Republic. Also among the intercepted targets are 20 drones and two Smerch MLRS missiles in the Izyum area.
"Since the beginning of the special military operation, 152 aircraft, 112 helicopters, 749 unmanned aerial vehicles, 291 anti—aircraft missile systems, 2,867 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 331 multiple rocket launchers, 1,345 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,698 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed," the general said.
Completed Milestone
The hottest battles continue on the outskirts of Slavyansk in the DPR and in the triangle of the cities of Rubezhnoye, Severodonetsk and Lisichansk in the LPR, military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia.
— Without their capture, it is impossible to fulfill the goals of the special operation and completely liberate the territory of the republics. Rubezhnoye has been almost completely under control over the past week. Resistance remained only in one of its industrial zones," he clarified. — In order not to risk the destruction of Severodonetsk and Lisichansk, they are not stormed head-on, but gradually surrounded. The cities are already in a semicircle, and the roads along which the Ukrainian group is supplied are under artillery and aviation strikes. Success in Popasnaya will be critically important for the attack on the "triangle", it will help to close the dense environment around it.
The expert noted that when attacking Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, Russian troops will have to overcome the Seversky Donetsk River, which may not be easy. The bridges across it have already been blown up by the Ukrainian army and national formations. Earlier, under the Raisin, the APU had already tried to prevent the targeting of crossings with intensive artillery fire, but to no avail.
"Triangle of chemical industry"
On May 6, the head of the National Defense Control Center, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, announced the danger of provocations using dangerous chemicals.
— It has been reliably established that, on the instructions of curators from the United States and Great Britain, units of the armed forces of Ukraine and nationalist battalions at large enterprises, including the chemical industry, equip powerful fortified areas. So, on the territory of the Azot enterprise in Severodonetsk of the Luhansk People's Republic, militants have placed heavy weapons, and more than a thousand plant workers and local residents are being held as a "human shield" in underground structures," said the head of the NCSO. — Nationalists systematically fire from MLRS at the settlements of Pervomaisk, Stakhanov and Kalinovo, thereby provoking the Russian Armed Forces to retaliate in order to further accuse Russian servicemen of destroying civilians and causing a man-made disaster in the republic.
The neo-Nazis also mined containers with chemically dangerous substances (ammonia, ammonium nitrate, nitric acid) for their immediate detonation in case of forced abandonment of their positions, the general stressed.
— The implementation of this cynical crime will lead to chemical contamination of the air, terrain and water sources. A particular danger is the possibility of highly toxic substances entering the Seversky Donets River, which is the main waterway and source of drinking water for Eastern Ukraine and the republics of Donbass," Mikhail Mizintsev said.
The head of the NCSO referred to the testimony of captured servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to which similar provocations are planned at other facilities within the boundaries of the so-called "triangle of the chemical industry" (Severodonetsk, Lisichansk and Rubezhnoye), where more than 30 chemical enterprises are located.
— In addition, according to the available reliable operational information, in the settlements of Vysokopolye, Ivanovka, Knyazevka and Topolinoye of the Kherson region, as well as in Apostolovo, Dnipropetrovsk region, until 24:00 on May 6, 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine is planning provocations with the use of chemical weapons to further accuse the Armed Forces of Russia. At the same time, if earlier, during the preparation of such provocations, the civilian population was withdrawn from the area of the planned infection, now, in order to obtain maximum resonance, the notification of the population was not carried out," Mizintsev said.
On May 6, the Russian Defense Ministry told about the servicemen who showed courage and dedication during the fighting.
Lieutenant Mikhail Petelin, advancing deep into the defense of the AFU with his platoon, discovered a Ukrainian stronghold and decided to take the fight.
— Being shelled, Mikhail personally fired from a machine gun, suppressed a firing point with a heavy machine gun and destroyed at least 7 nationalists. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Petelin, the platoon successfully destroyed more than 20 nationalists, 2 calculations of the Javelin ATGM, and also suppressed three firing points with a large—caliber machine gun, the military department said.
The brigade's artillery chief, Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Olkin, received data from a drone about the positions of Ukrainian MLRS, personally corrected the fire, as a result of which two Grad installations were destroyed. A few days later, having advanced deep into the enemy's defense, Alexey Olkin, based on the intelligence received, corrected fire on the positions of armed formations of Ukrainian militants, as a result, four units of weapons and military equipment were destroyed, as well as up to 15 enemy manpower, the Defense Ministry said.
Anton Lavrov
Roman Kretsul
