Russia deploys 60-year-old tanks; Kremlin divide widens
The Russian military is responding to heavy armored vehicle losses by deploying 60-year-old battle tanks, the British Defense Ministry said Monday.
Even units of Russia’s premier tank force, the 1st Guards Tank Army, may be reequipped with the “vintage” T-62s to replace more modern tanks that have been destroyed in the war, the ministry said in its latest assessment of the conflict. Since last summer, about 800 T-62s have been taken from storage, some getting upgraded sighting systems to improve their effectiveness at night, the assessment says.
Russian BTR-50 armored personnel carriers, first fielded in 1954, also are now being deployed in Ukraine, the assessment says.
“Both these vintage vehicle types will present many vulnerabilities on the modern battlefield, including the absence of modern explosive reactive armor,” the assessment says.
Developments:
⬤ Russian forces attacked central and eastern regions of Ukraine with Iranianmade Shahed drones, Ukraine Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat told Ukrainian media. Of 15 drones Russia launched, 13 were shot down.
⬤ Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office says 464 Ukrainian children have died and 931 have been hurt in Russian attacks on civilians since the war began.
⬤ Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Mariupol and toured some of the city’s rebuilt infrastructure in an apparent attempt to cement the Russian hold in the areas it has occupied and annexed.
Russia bans anti-corruption group
The Russian government tightened its crackdown against criticism Monday by branding the global anti-corruption group Transparency International as “undesirable,” effectively banning it from operating in the country. The Berlin-based group is best known for an annual index ranking countries, including Russia, on their degree of corruption.
The 2022 rankings, the most recent, place the U.S. as the 24th least corrupt of 180 countries. Ukraine was tied at number 116; Russia ranked 137th. Denmark was found to be the least corrupt and Somalia was the most corrupt.
Ukraine vows to defend Bakhmut as Russian attacks intensify
Ukraine’s military leaders remain committed to defending Bakhmut despite the firepower Russian forces have rained down on the Donetsk region city for months, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
Ukraine’s army chief, Valery Zaluzhny, and regional commander Oleksandr Syrskyi “spoke in favor of continuing the defense operation and further strengthening our positions in Bakhmut,” Zelenskyy said.
Military strategists have questioned why Russia has been so determined to seize the city, given the heavy casualties and apparently modest military value. Ukraine authorities had considered a tactical retreat, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin endorsed Bakhmut’s defense Monday, saying Bakhmut’s value was more symbolic than strategic.
Russian shells again targeted the city and nearby villages Monday as Moscow made an apparent bid to crush Bakhmut’s resistance, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
Split between mercenaries, Kremlin grows
The clash between the Russian military and the private mercenary group that has been the point of the Kremlin spear in Ukraine’s Donbas region intensified Monday as the Wagner group owner again accused Russian leaders of withholding ammunition.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticized top military leaders for moving slowly to deliver the promised ammunition, questioning whether the delay was caused “by red tape or treason.” And Prigozhin complained in a VK social media post that his team was punished after writing a letter to a Russian commander seeking more ammunition.
Nuclear chief warns of ‘urgent need’ to protect plant
Intensified fighting and stressful working conditions at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant threaten to compromise safety and security at the plant, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi warned Monday.
The agency team at the site of Europe’s largest nuclear plant has reported increasing military action nearby, he said, adding that there has been “open discussion” about offensives and counter offensives in the area.
The situation underscores the “urgent need” to establish a nuclear safety and security protection zone at the site. Grossi told the agency’s board of governors he is conducting talks with both sides aimed at obtaining such protection.
“My simple question is: Are we waiting for a nuclear emergency before we react?” he said.