Control of strikes: the offensive grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Zaporozhye was defeated

In Mariupol, the surrender of Ukrainian militants, blocked at the Azovstal plant, continues

Ukrainian formations made an unsuccessful attempt to counterattack in the Zaporozhye direction, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. In it, the enemy lost about 40 armored vehicles, including 26 tanks. Experts believe that this could be an attempt to unblock the grouping on Azovstal or to pull forces away from Donbass, where the advance of allied troops continues. The People's Militia of the LPR reported the beginning of street battles for the city of Severodonetsk. The VKS attacked training centers in Akhtyrka, Desna and the Lviv region, where Ukrainian reserves were trained.

Unsuccessful counterattack

Russian servicemen stopped an attempt of a counterattack by Ukrainian armed formations in the Zaporozhye direction — on March 14, two mechanized battalions tried to attack units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with tanks and infantry fighting vehicles near the village of Vishnevoye in the Zaporozhye region. This was reported on May 17 in the Russian Defense Ministry.

"The advance of the enemy's armored vehicles and the preparation for the attack was revealed by calculations of unmanned aerial vehicles and means of technical intelligence of the Russian connection. The enemy's armored vehicles were hit by unmanned aerial vehicles and artillery units during their advance and deployment at the line of attack, after which the enemy's attack was repulsed by counter fire from tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, as well as the use of modern anti—tank weapons by Russian servicemen," the ministry said.

According to the Ministry, the retreating armored vehicles were destroyed by artillery fire, and the militants were dispersed. The Ministry of Defense demonstrated video footage of the destruction of armored vehicles and burnt tanks recorded from drones.

"As a result of the unpromising adventure of the Kiev regime, 26 Ukrainian tanks and 12 infantry fighting vehicles were destroyed by units of the Russian Armed Forces during the attempted attack. The irretrievable losses of the enemy in manpower amounted to about 100 militants," the Defense Ministry said.

Footage of the destruction of enemy armored vehicles

Image source: Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

— The Ukrainian command probably counted on completely different results of its counterattack, — military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia. — They planned, if not to break through to Mariupol, then to delay the forces of Russia and the allies from the "Donbass arc", where they are advancing on Severodonetsk, Lisichansk and Slavyansk, to slow down the advance. No wonder, a few days before they announced some good news. But the offensive is a much more complicated matter than the defense and requires a completely different training of forces, as the APU was convinced of. On land, it became for them the same painful blow as Snake Island — at sea.

Taking advantage of the superiority in technical equipment, artillery and aviation, Russian troops lured the enemy into a "fire bag", where they exterminated the attackers. A day after the complete failure of the operation, the Supreme Command of Ukraine ordered the garrison at Azovstal to surrender. This is hardly a coincidence, the expert said.

The surrender of Azov militants (criminal cases have been initiated against the formation in the Russian Federation) and Ukrainian servicemen blocked at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol began on May 16.

Surrendered Ukrainian servicemen and militants of the nationalist Azov battalion

Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexey Kudenko

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 265 militants, including 51 seriously wounded, laid down their arms and surrendered during the first day. All those in need of medical care were sent for treatment to the hospital in Novoazovsk, Donetsk People's Republic.

Correspondents of Izvestia in Mariupol reported that the surrender continued on May 17. Another long column of ambulances with wounded Ukrainian soldiers arrived at the Novoazovsk hospital.

The People's Militia of the LPR reported on May 17 that the units of the republic had completely liberated the village of Orekhovo. It was also announced the liberation of the village of Novozvanivka in the Severodonetsk region and the continuation of the offensive in the Popasnyansk direction. According to the officer of the People's Militia of the LPR Andrei Marochko, in Severodonetsk, fighting is already underway in urban development, in Lisichansk, targeted strikes are being carried out on the accumulation of manpower and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The People's Militia of the Donetsk People's Republic earlier stated that it controls the urban-type settlement of Drobyshevo.

Strikes on reserves

"High-precision long-range sea-based Kalibr missiles in the area of the Starichi railway station in the Lviv region destroyed the personnel of Ukrainian reserve formations, as well as shipments of foreign weapons and military equipment from the United States and European countries prepared for shipment to Donbass. In addition, high—precision long-range air and ground-based missiles destroyed enemy reserves that completed combat coordination on the territory of training centers in the areas of the settlements of Akhtyrka, Sumy region, and Desna, Chernihiv region," the Russian military department said.

The Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed two control points and a communications center with high-precision air-based missiles, including the 30th mechanized Brigade in the Bakhmut area, 28 areas of concentration of AFU troops, two warehouses of rocket and artillery weapons and ammunition in the areas of the settlements of Ugledar and Konstantinovka of the Donetsk People's Republic. "As a result of the strikes, more than 470 nationalists were destroyed, 68 units of military equipment were disabled," the military department reported.

In addition, in the area of the Merefa railway station in the Kharkiv region, an electric traction substation was destroyed, which provided for the delivery of weapons and military equipment from Western countries to Donbass.

Rocket troops and artillery hit six control points, 224 areas of concentration of troops, 12 artillery and mortar batteries in firing positions, four BM-21 Grad MLRS batteries and two radar stations for detecting aerial targets.

Ukrainian servicemen near multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) BM-21 "Grad"

Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti

— Yesterday, from 10:00 to 11:00, Ukrainian nationalists from multiple rocket launchers "Smerch" struck residential areas of the city of Kherson. Russian air defense intercepted all 10 Ukrainian rockets. I want to emphasize that there are no units of Russian troops in the city of Kherson. The Kiev regime is well aware of this. The strike was deliberately inflicted on the civilian population in retaliation for the support of the Russian Federation, — said the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Major General Igor Konashenkov.

According to the Russian military, 168 Ukrainian aircraft, 125 helicopters, 912 unmanned aerial vehicles, 309 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,134 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 385 multiple rocket launchers, 1,542 field artillery and mortar guns, as well as 2,983 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation.

On Tuesday, the head of the Interdepartmental Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response, the head of the National Defense Control Center, Colonel–General Mikhail Mizintsev, said that 17,733 people, including 1,797 children, were evacuated from dangerous areas of Ukraine and the People's Republics of Donbass during the day. In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 1,325,714 people have already been evacuated, 225,892 of whom are children.

The general said that the militants continue to use civilian infrastructure facilities to equip strongholds and deploy heavy weapons.

— Neo-Nazis of the Azov battalion in the DPR's Mirnograd in the building of kindergarten No. 19, located in the Vostochny microdistrict, and the boarding school on L.Chaikina Street equipped strongpoints and barracks, and placed armored vehicles and artillery in close proximity to residential quarters; in the Borovaya Kharkiv region in the school building and in the kindergarten "Berezka" equipped barracks, and heavy military equipment, artillery and MLRS were placed in the territories. At the same time, civilians with children are forcibly detained in the basements. The militants of the Aidar battalion equipped firing positions, placed artillery and MLRS on the territory of the Church of the Praise of the Mother of God in Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk region, in close proximity to densely populated residential quarters," Mikhail Mizintsev said.

Throwing into the fire

On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry told about soldiers and officers who showed courage and dedication in battle.

The tactical group of the howitzer artillery division of the Guards Airborne Assault Brigade, where Corporal Ayur Balzhinimayev served, was fired from grenade launchers and small arms during the redeployment.

Having instantly got his bearings in the situation, Ayur deployed the gun and with aimed shots from a howitzer destroyed an enemy BMP and a car with ammunition. The militants, having lost fire support, retreated. Advancing to the rear of the enemy, Corporal Balzhinimaev also hit an enemy checkpoint and a field refueling station with equipment.

The company of Captain Alexey Saunin fought fierce battles with the Ukrainian military, who attacked the positions of the battalion-tactical group of Russian troops. During the artillery shelling, several enemy shells hit a hangar with military equipment, which caught fire.

Alexander, without hesitation, despite the deadly risk, personally rushed into the fire and brought out of the hangar two UR-77 mine-clearing installations with full ammunition. Detonation of hundreds of kilograms of explosives in them would lead to heavy losses in the battalion tactical group. Together with his subordinates, he saved a total of ten pieces of equipment.

The group of Senior Lieutenant Leonid Kalashnikov found an armed group of Ukrainian soldiers in the forest belt planning an attack on our battalion tactical group. Despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, the Russian military destroyed his firing points with sudden heavy fire, repelled the attack, and then defeated the group, eliminating two armored personnel carriers and more than 20 opponents. Another 22 people surrendered. A large number of weapons, including Western-made ones, were seized from the militants. There were no losses among Leonid's subordinates.

Anton Lavrov

Roman Kretsul