Report # 106. Lavrov: Russia can redraw front line deeper in Ukraine

 

http://eurasian-defence.ru/?q=eksklyuziv/report-106-lavrov-russia-can

Report # 106. Lavrov: Russia can redraw front line deeper in Ukraine

1. Western weapon supplies will spur Russia to push forward and to change front line in Ukraine

The use of Western-supplied heavy weapons by Kiev will force Russia to move deeper into Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told RT and Sputnik on July 20.

Lavrov noted that when negotiators met in Istanbul, Turkey on March 29-30, they were discussing “one geography,” referring to the areas controlled by Russia and the forces of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR). “Our willingness to accept Ukrainian suggestions was based on the geography as of the end of March, 2022,” the minister clarified. “Now the geography is different. We’re not talking about the DPR, the LPR. We’re talking about Kherson Region, Zaporozhye Region and a number of other territories, and this process is ongoing.”

Lavrov accused the West of exacerbating the conflict by “pumping” Ukraine with heavy weapons, including M142 HIMARS MLRS and long-range munitions.“It means that we will have to put the line even further,” he said, adding that Moscow will not allow Ukrainian troops to threaten either Russia, or two Donbass republics.

In his words, deliveries of long-range weapons by the Western countries to Kiev will expand the geography of the Special Military Operation

During its offensive, Russian and allied troops captured parts of southern Ukraine and pushed Ukrainian troops out of many towns in Donbass. The peace talks, meanwhile, have remained stalled since the end of March, as Western politicians say that Kiev should not be pressured into giving up territory to Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister shared his views about the risks of a nuclear war with the West and how the Western-supplied heavy weapons affect the fighting on the ground, as well as the decision-making in Moscow.

Lavrov also discussed the effects of the sanctions on the European economy and the delivery of Russian gas to EU member states.

The same day the Russian Embassy in Washington released a statement, saying that people living in Russian-controlled areas will “decide on their future independently, by themselves.”

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has set up a specialized commission to control the use of foreign weapons. People’s Deputy Oleksiy Goncharenko announced this on Telegram.
2. AFU tried to hit Zaporozhye NPP four times July 20

The authorities of city of Energodar reported four attacks by Ukrainian UAVs on the Zaporozhye NPP in a day on July 20th. This was reported to RIA Novosti by the press service of the city Administration. Energodar is located very close to this NPP.

It is reported that the last attack was recorded at 16:01 (Moscow time). The building located nearby was damaged.

The Administration of the Zaporozhye Region also reported that the reactor part of the NPP was not damaged as a result of the attack, the radiation level is normal.

What will be the reaction of the IAEA?
3. Situation on the battlefields

During last 24 hours AFU shelled thirteen DPR settlements.

AFU fired 437 shells – twice as less than in the past when banderists fired more than 800 shells a day. In recent case AFU used Grad MLRS, gun artillery of 155 (it means of NATO caliber), 152 and 122 mm caliber, as well as 120 mm mortars.

One civilian was wounded as a result of the shelling. Nine residential buildings and two civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged.

At the same time Russian troops together with the troops of DPR and LPR continue to wipe out ultra-Nazi in Ukraine and demilitarize it for the sake of enhancing European security.

High-precision weapons strikes of the Russian Aerospace Forces against missile and artillery weapons depot of 14th Mechanized Brigade of AFU in Soledar in DPR have destroyed 19 units of armoured equipment and up to 40 nationalists.

High-precision weapons of the Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed US-made Harpoon missile launcher near Usatovo, Odessa Region.

High-precision, long-range sea-based weapons have hit temporary deployment point of 35th Marine Brigade in Dachnoye, Odessa Region, where reservists for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) were being trained. More than 60 personnel have been destroyed, as well as more than 10 foreign-made military vehicles.

As part of counter-battery warfare, 5 platoons of Grad multiple-launch rocket systems of 48th and 58th motorized infantry brigades, 6 artillery platoons of D-20 howitzers and 9 artillery platoons of D-30 mounts in Kurakhovo, Novomikhailovka, Konstantinovka and Georgievka in DPR have been neutralized.

Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery have hit 7 command posts, including units of 63rd Mechanized and 61st Infantry Brigades near Yavkino, Bereznevatoe, Visunsk and Kaluga in Nikolayev Region, 128th Mountain Assault Brigade in Verkhnekamenskoye district in Donetsk People’s Republic, and 92nd Mechanized Brigade in Dolzhik district of Kharkov Region.

8 depots with missile and artillery weapons and ammunition have been destroyed near Praskoviyivka, Kostyantinovka, Artemovsk, Novovorontsovka in Kherson Region and Ternovatoye in Zaporozhye Region, as well as two fuel depots of 54th AFU Mechanized Brigade near Kurakhovo in DPR.

Russian Aerospace Forces’ fighter aviation have shot down 2 Ukrainian air force aircraft in an aerial battle: 1 MiG-29 near Snigirevka, Nikolaev Region, and 1 Su-25 near Dobropol’e, Donetsk People’s Republic.

Russian air defence means have shot down 4 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Blagodatovka, Yavorskoye, Kharkov Region, and Zugres, Donetsk People’s Republic.

In addition, 9 projectiles of Uragan multiple-launch rocket system have been intercepted near Vasilenkovo in Kharkov Region, as well as Novoraisk, Krasnosel’skoye, Stepnoye, and Taras Shevchenko in Kherson Region.
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https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/jul/20/pentagon-pulls-more-rocket-launchers-us-inventory-/

“decide on their future independently, by themselves”
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https://thesaker.is/the-power-troika-trumps-biden-in-west-asia/

When Moscow talks to Kiev, it talks via Istanbul. NATO, as the Global South well knows, does not do diplomacy. So any possibility of dialogue between Russians and a few educated westerners takes place in Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the UAE. West Asia as well as the Caucasus, incidentally, did not subscribe to the western sanctions hysteria against Russia.