Latest news with #70thMotorizedRifleDivision
Forbes
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Busting A Russian Bunker, A Ukrainian Jet Buried An Artillery Staff
The Ukrainian attack on the Russian command bunker on April 7. Lobbing a precision-guided bomb from potentially tens of miles away, a Ukrainian air force fighter—possibly an upgraded Mikoyan MiG-29—hammered a Russian bunker in southern Ukraine's Kherson Oblast on Monday. As many as 30 Russians from the command staff of the 81st Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment died, according to the Ukrainian general staff in Kyiv. In the aftermath of the daylight raid, a Ukrainian drone observed the survivors of the attack digging through the rubble with their hands. It was at least the second bunker-busting raid the Ukrainian air force has conducted in recent days. On March 31, one of the supersonic MiG-29s hurled a boutique, American-made GBU-62 glide bomb at a former Soviet air-defense bunker—also in Kherson—that was occupied by a Russian command group. A successful attack on a command bunker 'minuses the high-ranking officer corps along with equipment,' one Ukrainian blogger explained. 'Such strikes deprive enemy forces of clear control, and also significantly demoralize the military unit.' It's not for no reason the Ukrainian air force went after the 81st Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment's command bunker. The regiment, part of the 70th Motorized Rifle Division—itself part of the 18th Combined Arms Army—lends critical heavy firepower to Russian forces on the left bank of the wide Dnipro River threading through Kherson. A Russian command bunker explodes on March 31. Twenty-eight months after a swift Ukrainian offensive liberated much of Kherson, Russian troops may be plotting a new offensive of their own. When NPR visited a Ukrainian artillery battery on the right bank of the Dnipro recently, the Ukrainian gunners worried aloud about possible Russian mobilization in the area. One gunner claimed he welcomed a Russian attack across the Dnipro. 'We look forward to the Russians trying to attack us,' he told NPR. 'It would give us a chance to destroy more of them.' But Ukrainian troops are thin on the ground in Kherson as the general staff in Kyiv concentrates its best heavy forces in the east, where the Ukrainians are finally reversing some recent gains by increasingly weary Russian field armies. The Ukrainian marine corps' 34th, 39th and 40th Coastal Defense Brigades—new units largely equipped with light vehicles that are suitable for operations on muddy terrain—anchor Ukrainian defenses in Kherson. But they're outnumbered by a dozen or more Russian regiments and brigades. Blowing up command bunkers and burying the officers in the rubble can offset the Russians' manpower advantage—by depriving that manpower of leadership.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine struck Russian command post in Kherson Oblast, stronghold in Kursk Oblast on March 5
Ukrainian forces carried out precision strikes against a Russian command post in the occupied town of Oleshky in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast and a stronghold in Russia's Kursk Oblast on March 5, the Ukrainian military said on March 7. The attacks took place on the same day as the U.S. stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, which potentially undermines Kyiv's ability to carry out precision strikes. The statement did not specify whether the attacks occurred before the intelligence-sharing pause. Ukrainian forces reportedly attacked the command post of the 17th Tank Regiment of the 70th Motorized Rifle Division of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast. Russia was pushed back from the western part of Kherson Oblast during Ukraine's surprise counteroffensive in the fall of 2022 but continues to hold territory east of the Dnipro River. The March 5 strikes also targeted a stronghold of the 2nd company of Russia's 177th Separate Naval Infantry Regiment in Plekhovo in Kursk Oblast. Ukrainian forces have been fighting in the Russian border region since launching their incursion in August 2024 to draw Moscow's troops from Donbas and thwart Russian plans for further offensives. "These strikes are part of an ongoing campaign of fire engagements aimed at reducing the military potential of the Russian Armed Forces on the way to liberating the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine," the General Staff said in its statement. "The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remains fully prepared to conduct precision strikes to degrade the capabilities of the Russian Armed Forces in waging an aggressive war against the Ukrainian people." Read also: Regardless of Trump's Ukraine peace deal, war with West is 'foundational to Putin's rule,' experts say We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
