Russia’s Armed Forces destroyed a Ukrainian warehouse of “Tochka-U" missiles

As of March 17, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as units of the DPR and LPR, continue to act against the forces of Ukrainian nationalists. In general, the advance already corresponds to the standard procedure - the relatively unhurried movement of ground units, whose main task remains to encircle and block enemy groups, is accompanied by intensive aviation work and strikes with precision weapons on military infrastructure facilities.

Exceptionally successful in information and political terms was the strike on the barracks at the Yavorov training ground near Lvov (Western Ukraine), where, according to unofficial information, up to 180 foreign mercenaries and a large number of weapons were eliminated. The surviving foreigners massively shared their impressions on social networks and in interviews with respectable Western media, which is why the number of people willing to participate in hostilities on the side of Ukraine has seriously decreased.

Over the past day, the DPR troops in the battles for Maryinka, Slavnoye and Sladkoye were able to advance up to 4 kilometres. The forces of the LPR fought from several directions inside Severodonetsk and Rubezhnoye.

A significant event, taking into account the openly terrorist attack by the Ukrainian forces with the “Tochka-U” missile system on the centre of Donetsk, which led to numerous civilian casualties on March 14, was the destruction of a warehouse of such missiles located in Sarny, Rovno region of Ukraine.

Apparently, the Ukrainian side managed to partially restore the functionality of some airfields, reports continue to arrive about the scattered presence of Ukrainian Air Force equipment in the air. Over the past day, Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters, as well as 12 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, including three Bayraktar TB-2, were shot down in the air by aviation and air defence of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 181 Ukrainian aircraft and helicopter, as well as 172 unmanned aerial vehicles have been destroyed.

On the ground, the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed 46 military facilities of Ukraine. Among them: 11 anti-aircraft missile systems, including the S-300 division, one installation of a multiple launch rocket system, three command posts, one electronic warfare station, seven ammunition depots and 18 places of accumulation of military equipment.

In total, since the beginning of the operation, 170 anti-aircraft missile systems, 1,379 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 133 multiple rocket launchers, 514 field artillery and mortars, as well as 1,168 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed.

Attention is drawn to the obvious attempts of senior partners of the Kiev authorities to provide the Ukrainian army with means effective in drawing Russian forces into urban battles.

US President Joe Biden said he would send weapons totalling over $1 billion to Ukraine. In particular, the Kiev military will be supplied with 800 Stinger MANPADS, 2000 Javelin ATGM, 1000 hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers (model unknown), 6000 AT-4 grenade launchers, 100 UAVs, including kamikaze drones, 100 grenade launchers (model also unknown), several thousand small arms, 20 million rounds, 25,000 bulletproof vests and helmets.

Taking into account the specifics of the supplies, we should expect further use by the Ukrainian forces of the "human shield" tactics, in which civilians are deliberately held near the positions of Ukrainian armed formations. Such tactics force the Russian army to avoid using the most powerful means of destruction.

On the part of NATO - this time through the mouth of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz - a categorical refusal to use NATO forces directly in countering the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was once again announced.

In the main theatres of operation, the situation did not bring serious breakthroughs compared to the previous period. The gradual encirclement of Kiev and Kharkov continues, the cleanup of Mariupol is being completed at a low pace, the Ukrainian group taken in the "pincers" near Severodonetsk is still in place, not trying to manoeuvre to avoid an obvious imminent encirclement. Active artillery duels continue.

As a result of the documents received by the Ministry of Defence from Ukrainian laboratories, details of the military biological programs of the United States and NATO allies in Ukraine became known. One of the areas of work was the long-term study of ways of transmitting diseases to humans through bats at the laboratory in Kharkov.

The Kharkov Institute of Veterinary Medicine also studied wild birds as vectors for the transfer of highly pathogenic avian influenza. At the same time, the conditions under which the transmission processes can become uncontrollable and cause economic damage, and create food security risks were assessed.