In Mariupol, militants who are blocked on the territory of the Azovstal plant continue to surrender
In the area of the settlement of Podgornoye, several 155-mm M777 howitzers of American production were destroyed, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on May 18. The coordinates of their positions were established with the help of drones and artillery reconnaissance, and then missile strikes were launched. Experts note that artillery has remained the main firing means of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and therefore guns and multiple launch rocket systems are continuously hunted in all ways. In Mariupol, another 694 militants from among the forces blocked on the territory of the Azovstal plant surrendered.
Artillery strikes
The successful operation of the Russian Armed Forces in the area of the settlement of Podgornoye led to the destruction of several 155-mm M777 howitzers of American production. "After the drone strikes, the Ukrainian nationalists tried to hide in the forest and hide the towed M777 howitzers there. As soon as they concentrated the tractors and guns on the new position, artillery hit it. All equipment and American howitzers were destroyed. The surviving Ukrainian gunners fled," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
— Artillery is now the main means of destruction that the Ukrainian troops have at their disposal, — military expert Vladislav Shurygin told Izvestia. — Their aircraft flies little and not for long because of the dominance of our VKS in the air. The number of ballistic "Points" is limited, and the APU has no longer long-range precision missiles. The vast majority of fire tasks are solved by artillery. Therefore, the Russian side is now in a real hunt for howitzers and multiple rocket launchers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Therefore, the M777 became her trophy almost immediately after appearing at the front.
Footage of the destruction of the M777 howitzer battery
Image source: Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Heavy losses forced Ukraine to collect new guns around the world. At first, it received Soviet artillery systems from abroad, now it has begun to switch to foreign ones. The Pentagon sent 90 M777 to Ukraine, another 10 pieces came from Australia and Canada, the expert recalled. In terms of combat characteristics, they are quite comparable to 152-mm howitzers of Soviet design. But a large range of projectiles has been developed for them, from corrected by satellite coordinates to cassette.
It is unclear whether the United States, along with the howitzers, also handed over its most modern shells for them. Without them, these are not particularly outstanding samples of weapons that will not change anything on the battlefield for Ukraine. Such foreign aid will gradually be knocked out, as well as the "Soviet legacy" before, Vladislav Shurygin believes.
Attacks on mercenaries
During the day, high-precision air-launched missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit two control points, including the headquarters of territorial defense in the area of the settlement of Soledar of the Donetsk People's Republic, as well as 31 areas of concentration of troops, including the location of units of foreign mercenaries from European countries in Nikolaev and Krasnogorovka.
"In addition, two Ukrainian Su-24 aircraft were destroyed at a military airfield near Dnepropetrovsk, a division of Ukrainian S-300 anti—aircraft missile systems near Nikolaev, as well as four ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Ugledar, Pokrovskoye, Soledar and Bakhmut of the DPR," the department reported.
According to the Ministry of Defense, planes and helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit three control points, 41 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as an ammunition depot near the settlement of Ugledar.
Rocket troops and artillery hit 76 control points, 421 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment, as well as 147 artillery and mortar units in firing positions.
Howitzer D-30
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Ilya Pitalev
"In Mariupol, the militants of the nationalist Azov unit blocked at the Azovstal plant (criminal cases have been initiated against the formation in the Russian Federation) and Ukrainian servicemen continued to surrender. Over the past day, 694 militants surrendered, including 29 wounded. A total of 959 militants have surrendered since May 16, including 80 wounded, of which 51 who needed inpatient treatment were placed in the hospital of Novoazovsk of the DPR," the Defense Ministry said.
The department reported the destruction of a pontoon ferry in the area of the Protopopovka settlement of the Kharkiv region, brought by the APU to force the Seversky Donets River.
According to the Russian military, air defense means shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft over the village of Tripillya DNR. A MiG-29 fighter was destroyed near the village of Kamennaya Yaruga, Kharkiv region. In addition, 15 drones were hit in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions and in the DPR.
In total, since the beginning of the military operation, 172 aircraft, 125 helicopters, 927 drones, 311 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3139 armored vehicles, 389 MLRS installations, 1548 guns and mortars have been destroyed, the Defense Ministry reported.
Controlled fire
On May 18, the Russian Defense Ministry told about the soldiers and officers who showed courage and dedication in the battles.
During the offensive of Russian troops on the positions of Ukrainian nationalists, Senior Lieutenant Konstantin Stolyarov directed and corrected the firing of his battery's guns, as well as controlled the results of the enemy's defeat. He disguised his post, and despite the return fire, he correctly determined the aiming points and promptly transmitted the coordinates of enemy objects.
Thanks to the professionalism of the senior lieutenant, missile strikes were carried out on enemy targets in a timely manner, and a mortar battery was destroyed, which included three units of 82 mm mortars and twelve nationalists.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Image source: iz.ru
Sergeant Denis Shamalyuk, while patrolling the area of the battalion tactical group, discovered eight Ukrainian nationalists planning an ambush on Russian servicemen. Denis, having secretly approached a group of radicals, threw two grenades at them, as a result of which two opponents were killed, and the remaining six laid down their weapons and surrendered.
The reinforcements arrived and delivered the surrendered nationalists to the headquarters of the battalion tactical group, where they gave out the place of concentration of their military equipment during interrogation, which was subsequently hit by an airstrike.
The medical platoon, where Sergeant Dmitry Nasonov served, was engaged in evacuating the wounded and providing medical assistance in one of the settlements. During the movement, an ambulance with wounded servicemen was fired from a mortar, the driver and the commander of the medical platoon received severe shrapnel wounds. Dmitry Nasonov immediately took control of the situation and provided them with emergency medical care, and after making sure the car was in good condition, he took them to a field hospital. All the wounded managed to save their lives.
Behind a human shield
On Wednesday, the head of the National Defense Control Center of Russia, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, said that 17,212 people, including 2,004 children, were evacuated from dangerous areas of Ukraine and the republics of Donbass during the day. Since the beginning of the military operation, 1,342,926 people have been evacuated, 227,896 of whom are children.
Mikhail Mizintsev announced a bloody provocation being prepared by the Kiev authorities.
— According to the testimony of captured servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in Konstantinovka of the DPR, the Kiev regime, under the leadership of Western curators, is preparing another provocation according to the "Buchinsky" scenario. To implement it, militants disguised in the uniform of Russian servicemen, with white armbands, must shoot Ukrainian civilians on camera, and photos and videos of this monstrous crime, including those taken by video recorders of allegedly accidentally passing cars, by specialists of the Center for Information and psychological operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be widely replicated in Western media and on various Internet resources after the liberation of this city by the Armed Forces of Russia," the general said.
Ukrainian military who surrendered
Image Source: Photo: TASS/Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Mikhail Mizintsev also reported on the facts of the use of hospitals, residential buildings, churches, kindergartens, schools and other civilian facilities for the shelter of combat units and the placement of weapons.
— In Kramatorsk, the DPR, wounded militants of Ukrainian nationalist formations are stationed in the building of polyclinic No. 2 on Dnepropetrovsk Street. Civilians, including the seriously ill, were forced to leave the medical facility under threat of reprisals. And at all approaches to the polyclinic, the AFU units have deployed checkpoints and equipped firing points. In Podolsk, Odessa region, a regional clinical hospital is equipped with an APU stronghold, and armored vehicles and artillery are deployed in large numbers on the adjacent territory. In Kamenets-Podolsk, Khmelnitsky region, in the buildings of the regional children's tuberculosis sanatorium on Sicinsky Street and the boarding school No. 2 on Lesya Ukrainka Street, the AFU units are equipped with firing positions, and artillery and MLRS are located in the adjacent territory. At the same time, the staff of institutions and residents of nearby houses are being held as a "human shield," Mizintsev said.
Anton Lavrov