by Larry Johnson at A Son of the New American Revolution
Zmeiniy Island aka Snake Island aka Serpent Island is a chunk of pork chop shaped rock that appears to be the same size as three large football pitches. Prior to the start of the Russian “special military operation” it belonged to Ukraine and marked the southern boundary of Ukrainian territorial waters. Not anymore.
Russia snatched it up early on in the invasion of Ukraine. Sunday night, Ukraine tried to snatch it back and utterly failed. The attack appears to have been timed to preempt Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on Monday. The anticipated victory did not materialize. Russia clobbered the Ukrainians–losses included the death of more than 60 Ukrainian marines and members of elite AFU units, four fixed wing combat aircraft, 10 helicopters, 3 boats and 30 unmanned aerial vehicles.
Intel Slava Z reports that a U.S. Marine Lt. Colonel and a British Special Boat Squad Major accompanied the first wave of Ukrainian attacks and are missing. If true, this creates a definitive casus belli for Russia if it chooses to retaliate against the United States and NATO. That is the key phrase, “IF TRUE.”
There is a significant uptick in fighting around Kharkiv. The picture remains muddled. Southfront’s report, for example, is contradictory. First it claims that Ukraine is advancing towards the Russian border:
The Ukrainian Army advanced along the right bank of the Seversky Donets River and took control of the area north of the Pecheneg reservoir. The further Ukrainian advance towards the town of Volchansk located on the Russian border is expected. At the same time, clashes were reported in the villages of Liptsy and Rubezhnoye in the Kharkiv region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to advance towards the villages of Cossack Lopan and Tsupovka, where a small Russian grouping continues to hold the defense.
But in the next paragraphs, Southfront reports on significant progress by Russia in the same area:
Despite the attempts of the AFU counteroffensive, Russian troops continued to expand the control zone in the Izyum area.
Russian-led forces took control of the village of Velika Kamyshevakha after prolonged fighting to the west of Izyum. The Russian offensive against the AFU grouping in Barvenkovo continues.
In the Luhansk People’s Republic, the encirclement of the AFU group in the cities of Severodonetsk and Lisichansk continues. There are battles for the village of Belogorovka. The positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Lisichansk are constantly shelled by Russian artillery, special forces are deployed on the city outskirts.
In the area of Rubezhnoe, Chechen soldiers of the unit of the Akhmat special forces and the People’s Militia of the LPR blocked the remnants of Ukrainian units at the Zarya plant. According to the military assistant to the head of Chechnya the area from the left flank of the Zarya plant to Kudryashovka located on the north-eastern outskirts of the town was secured.
Here is the video version of the Southfront brief:…
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