28/3/2023–|Last updated: 3/28/202307:32 PM (Makkah)
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed today, Tuesday, that it had shot down a “supernatural” American missile fired by Ukrainian forces, for the first time since the outbreak of the war more than a year ago, while there were conflicting accounts about the Bakhmut front, where the fiercest battles are taking place in eastern Ukraine.
And the Russian Ministry of Defense announced today that its air defenses intercepted a missile carrying a bomb being launched from the ground. The range of this American weapon – called “GLSDB”, short for the full name (Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb); That is, the small-diameter bomb launched from the ground – up to 150 kilometers; That is, about twice the range of HIMARS missiles that reached the Ukrainians previously.
These bombs can fly around terrain or artificial barriers to hit targets behind mountains, and even behind a target positioned behind the launch vehicle itself.
Ukraine says that this type of missile is necessary to launch a counter-attack and is preparing for it, and the United States promised to deliver them to Kiev at the beginning of last February.
Ukraine insisted that it needed such weapons to destroy Russian supply lines, and thus compensate for the shortage of its manpower and ammunition in preparation for a counterattack it said it was preparing for, to repel the Russian forces that control large parts of southern and eastern Ukraine.
Conflicting accounts
In Bakhmut, where the fiercest battles have been taking place for weeks in eastern Ukraine, British military intelligence revealed that the Russian forces had made only slight progress during their attempt to besiege the town, noting that they had suffered heavy losses.
And British intelligence suggested – in its series of tweets – that the 10th Tank Regiment, which was formed by Moscow in August 2022 to support its war on Ukraine, had lost a large proportion of its tanks during its attempt to besiege the town of Avdiivka from the south.
This announcement came as an apparent refutation of what was revealed by the Russian military website, “Rebar”, that the Russian “Wagner” military forces continue to launch offensive operations in the areas north and south of the city of Bakhmut, and are advancing more towards the city center from these two directions.
The “Tass” news agency also reported that the Russian forces in Bakhmut took control of the entire industrial area, and the pro-Russian Donetsk authorities confirmed that the Russian forces were advancing in the Avdiivka axis.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, General Alexander Sersky, said that what he described as the Russian occupiers would not abandon their attempts to seize Bakhmut.
And Sersky added – during his inspection of the fighting forces in Bakhmut – that the goal of the Ukrainian defenders was to drain the “enemy forces,” as he said.
In other field developments, the pro-Russian authorities in Donetsk Province said that the Ukrainian forces targeted the city and province of Donetsk with 75 shells of various calibers during the past 24 hours, causing material damage to about 20 residential buildings and infrastructure facilities.
The Ukrainian Air Force announced that it had shot down 13 drones that attacked the country from the north and southeast. The Ukrainian General Staff also said that Russian forces carried out 7 air strikes and more than 15 attacks on the positions of Ukrainian forces and civilian infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Tanks and armored vehicles
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that British “Challenger 2” tanks and American armored vehicles, in addition to German combat vehicles; It is at the disposal of the Ukrainian forces.
Reznikov confirmed in a statement that the new equipment will strengthen the Ukrainian combat units, and that his country will liberate all Ukrainian cities, as he put it.
For its part, the Portuguese Ministry of Defense announced the delivery of 3 tanks of the “Leopard 2-A26” model to Ukraine.
The German magazine Der Spiegel quoted unnamed sources as saying that Germany had handed over 18 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, which it pledged to provide to support Kiev in its war with Russia.
The magazine added that about 40 German “Marder” infantry fighting vehicles had already arrived in Ukraine.