TheMalcontent

Russia-Ukraine SITREP for 21 DEC 2023 21:15 PST - General Bezdorizhzhia Rules The Battlefield

Added 2023-12-22 11:14:56 +0000 UTC

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SITREP 565 is 63 pages long.

What's Happening

What's the big story? Mud. Warmer temperatures and rain have turned the line of conflict into a nightmare of mud and we have pictures and videos. General Bezdorizhzhia has stopped Russian advances in their tracks over the last 24 hours.

What's the second story? I don't even know how to explain this. Russia's projection on the world of its own issues was completely exposed by actress, blogger, and TV host Nastya Ivleeva, who held an Eyes Wide Shut meets The Hangover party in Moscow.

What's the bonus story? Robert "Magyar" Brovdi uses his magic pointer to make the sunrise. Badda boom!

Summary

There are map updates
The table of Ukrainian vs. Russian heavy equipment losses using information from the Oryx Database has been updated through December 21, 2023
There are rumor updates
Weather conditions have turned parts of the line of conflict (LOC) into impassable seas of mud
Fighting continued in the Kupyansk AO
Russian forces probed Ukrainian defenses near Stelmakhivka in the Svatove AO
Russian forces suffered heavy losses during a failed attack east of Yampolivka
Fighting continued in the Kreminna AO
Russian forces made small but tactically significant gains in Khromove
Fighting continued northwest and southwest of Bakhmut
Fighting continued in the Klishchiivka AO
Fighting continued on the northern flank of Avdiivka
Claims that Ukraine withdrew from Stepove are false
Fighting continued on the southern flank of Avdiivka
Russia is placing mannequins of soldiers on already destroyed tanks and APCs for unknown reasons
Video suggests Ukrainian forces made marginal gains south of Sieverne
Ukrainian forces continue to hold the northwestern corner of Marinka
Russian forces used a VBIED in a failed attack east of Novomykhailivka
Ukrainian forces made small but tactically critical gains south of Novomykhailivka
A gas pipeline in occupied Makiivka exploded
One of the water pipelines that supply occupied Donetsk was damaged
The operational headquarters for the Russian 1st Army Corps Sparta Battalion had a close encounter of the worst kind with Mr. HIMARS
Frustration is growing in occupied Donetsk as utility outages enter the ninth day, with officials declaring a state of emergency
Positional fighting continued in the Orikhiv AO
The IAEA issued an update about the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
Fighting continued in, south, and west of Krynky
Robert “Magyar” Brovdi used his magic pointer to make a TOS-1A MLRS disappear, and it's spectacular
A Russian Shahed-136 one-way drone struck an 26 story apartment building in Kyiv
The Freedom of Russia Legion conducted a cross-border raid in Terebreno, Belogord, Russia
Apparently, Chechen Akhmat took the day off from defending the Belogord border
A partisan set fire to the “Museum of the Northern Military District” in Saratov, Russia
A Russian soldier blew up his apartment and his hand in Chelyabinsk, Russia
Twenty-eight Shahed-136 drones attacked Ukraine with 24 shot down
Since February 24, 2022, Russia has fired 7,400 missiles and launched 3,700 Shahed-131/136 drones at Ukraine
The number of UMPK glide bombs used by Russia in December is down
Reports that Ukraine is going to conscript men who are living abroad are false
Reports that Ukraine’s 2024 strategic goal is the liberation of Crimea is partially false
The Verkhovna Rada has approved a law that will make medical marijuana legal
Ukraine hinted that “good news” was coming about ammunition production
PM of Hungary, Viktor Orban, has agreed to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Canada is sending its one-thousandth Rosel Senator IMV
Poland transferred 5,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine
Finland announced its 21st military aid package for Ukraine
Germany will be sending 40 more Marder IFVs to Ukraine in 2024
The United Arab Emirates sent its first batch of ambulances to Ukraine
The deputies of the Smolninsky District of St. Petersburg, Russia, released a video demanding an end to mobilization
Residents of the closed military settlement of Znamesk appealed to President Putin to solve poor living conditions immediately
Police in St. Petersburg conducted new raids on migrants searching for military-age men
Russia’s projected 2024 production numbers for guided missiles have become significantly lower
Russian President Putin signed a decree to use mobilization by app and SMS in the fall of 2024, and to include Russians living abroad
There won’t be Christmas or New Year fireworks in Moscow because of the “war”
Russians are outraged after pictures and videos showed a “naked party” in Moscow hosted by Nastya Ivleeva
The Ministry of Internal Affairs raided the Mutabor club in Moscow and opened up at least four investigations into “spreading LGBT propaganda”
President of the Russian public movement Union of Right Forces, Leonid Gozman, has been charged with spreading fakes about the Russian Armed Forces
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has charged the head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Maria Pevchikh, with three crimes and issued a warrant for her arrest
The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued an arrest warrant for the host of the Popular Politics YouTube channel, Dmitry Nizovtsev
The G7 countries signed an agreement to extend the deferral of Ukrainian debt payments until 2027

Where's the damn podcast?

That is 100% on me. I am steadfast in no more work after 01:00 hours local time (here it is 03:45 hours), and yesterday's SITREP wasn't complete until after 03:15 hours. That means no one to sign off on the script. Working on a solution. The challenge is as more and more OSINT accounts give up, get deleted by social media, or are canceled for the right or wrong reasons, the intelligence gathering for us keeps getting longer and longer.

You can listen to previous podcasts through the Megaphone web app and your favorite podcast provider, including,

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