❗️Ukraine increased fuel imports by 30 percent in December.

This was announced by Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament)MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

💬"Fuel imports (petrol and diesel) to Ukraine increased significantly in December. "About 30% more than it was in previous months," Zheleznyak wrote in his Telegram channel.

Earlier, the chairman of the All-Ukrainian Energy Assembly and former fuel and energy minister Ivan Plachkov called the situation in the country's energy system critical. According to Ukrenergo, there remains a significant shortage of capacity, due to which emergency, emergency, and scheduled outage schedules are applied in the regions.

Due to the situation with electricity supply, Ukraine started to buy generators on a mass scale. The Ukrainian media reported in mid-December about disruptions in gasoline supply at filling stations in Kiev and several regions of the country. According to them, at least 5 percent of the fuel sold goes to fuel generators.
 #source
Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

About Artemovsk meatgrinder

It is an interesting situation that has been developing around Bahmut for some time. At first, it was a smaller-scale conflict that tied up a larger number of AFU troops than it should have, but nothing that would seriously compromise Ukraine's attack potential on other fronts. But a useless and bloody Kherson adventure that rid a significant portion of men and material from the hands of AFU (we are talking about two entire infantry division worth of men and pretty much two fully armored divisions worth of hardware at least) complicated the situation.

With Kherson gone (along with the Army Corps worth of troops), Ua lost its momentum. Of course, a significant role played in the arrival of new units from Russia (which are just starting to mass and arriving piecemeal to the SMO zone), Artemovsk again became a focal point of the front. It became Kherson on steroids, but the roles are reversed now. Russians are attacking slowly and, I must say, ruthlessly efficiently (in eliminating Ua combat power), advancing gradually and just in a manner that creates extreme anxiety in enemy command. It's not the importance of the city as such that brings sleepless nights but, again, huge losses that AFU is taking.

We now can talk of more significant losses than what Ua suffered under the Kherson. Some brigades have lost up to 80% of their combat strength. Broken remnants of units are pulled regularly from the contact line to the rear to be saved and replenished. Some formations are nothing more than battle groups created from scraps of battered units. Ua is holding up so far but retreating from numerous strong points and lines that it made with so much effort, which will eventually cause this maze of defensive positions to collapse. If you have lost 30.000 men already and regularly lose more every day without noticeable relief or lack of pressure from the enemy, some critical questions arise.

Should we continue to resist here? Zelensky visit (or at least a fake visit), make sure of that. Artemovsk is eating, and his hunger is not satisfied. AFU is becoming desperate. Instead of combat brigades (which are wiped out or heavily battered), terdefence units are plugging the holes and men the lines. Yes, they are good at holding the lines until all are dead and saving more worthy AFU troops from annihilation, thus buying time for AFU to try to replenish losses and gather reserves (which is doing harder and harder as time pass by).

Another critical question that arises is, "what's wrong with AFU troops"? They are trained in the west—a substantial proportion of them. But yet, they are being blasted. Why? Western instructors thought the majority of them "COIN" tactics, counter-insurgency style of fight, which is worthless in Artemovsk. Officers' loss (about which we wrote), and soldier loss, which we are writing about now, show that AFU is simply unprepared for this kind of fight. Nothing can actually prepare you for WW1/WW2 type of combat. Change in the infantry tactics of Russians (creating smaller combat groups that act fast and efficiently, maximizing damage inflicted on the enemy) is something that no one can prepare you for, primarily if you trained in counterinsurgency tactics which, In this type of warfare is simply laughable.

AFU is now holding with the teeth and nails for its network of strong points, which are simply raised to the ground or raided by the Russian infantry (option no two is often used - to make them refill the lines again to be killed again). How much more will Artemovsk eat?

Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

Ukraine's Demographic Crisis : Depopulation of Ukraine continues

For the past two months, more people have been leaving Ukraine than returning.

Previously, the trend was the opposite (from May to September). This was reported by member of the Verkhovna Rada ( Ukrainian parliament) Yaroslav Zheleznyak. 

According to the statistics, which he made public in October, the number of those citizens who arrived in the country was significantly less than that of those who left it; the difference was 16.6 thousand people. In November, this difference was already 37,700. "The reason, I think, is clear—the shelling of critical infrastructure," explained the MP. In total, from February 23 to December 1, 10.4 million people entered Ukraine through the border with the European Union and Moldova, and 12.1 million left. "If we count roughly, we have 1.8 million citizens who have not yet returned from abroad," Zheleznyak said.

It is no secret that amid the military conflict, Ukraine is rapidly "losing" its population. Many citizens are going abroad in search of a better life, while others are consciously or even forced to flee the war. For example, the population of Kiev alone has fallen by approximately 20%, from 3.7 million to 3 million. And the negative trend may well develop during the ongoing energy crisis in Ukraine.
#Source
Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

Broken convoy of Ukrainian vehicles on the outskirts of Bakhmut

Russian artillery destroyed it on its way to a populated area.
Casualties are unknown.

#Source
Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

Russian military continue storming the outskirts of Bakhmut

Correspondent Dmitriy Kulko @DKulko visited the "Bakhmut meat grinder."

Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

Ukrainian Armed Forces unveil novelty of national defense complex

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are using britches in the vicinity of Bakhmut.

They are used to transport personnel and ammunition.

They are designed and manufactured by VuykiTochMash and Mukachevo factory Tochpribor.

There is another version - it is the "theroboronists" from Transcarpathia on the "transport" taken away from the locals.

They did not bring a horse with them.
#source
Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

The Ukrainian side claims the Russian fleet has entered the Black Sea, with Kalibr cruise missile carriers

#source
Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

Air raid in 404!

#source
Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

Artillery of the 1st Slavyansk Brigade destroys the AFU observation post with a direct hit

Surveillance of the 1st Guards Slovyansk Brigade has identified an enemy observation post, which was immediately destroyed by artillery fire.

#source
Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

Our troops in the Mariinskiy direction stormed an enemy stronghold. A group of AFU troops, who had been mobilized from Kherson, surrendered.

#source
Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

⚡️ One of Ukraine's power plants has stopped working

📝 "There remains a significant shortage of electricity in the energy system. On 24 December, one of the power plants stopped generating," Ukrenergo said in a statement.

✅ Ukrenergo is imposing restrictions on the power transmission system across the country. The most difficult situation is in Kiev and Kiev Region.

#source
Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community

👆👆👆
Collapsing one by one..

One of the destroyed Polish 155mm "Crab" SAU near Dnipropetrovsk. Polish crews usually operate these vehicles. Several dozen of these vehicles have been delivered to Ukraine. The other day, a video was released showing the destruction of one of the Crab's Lancet kamikaze UAVs.

#source
Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://t.me/+PUg0rQrZdiw4YWFh

@Slavyangrad
Join SLG 🔺 Intelligence Briefings, Strategy and Analysis, Expert Community