Ukraine War Update NEWS: Pt 1 - Overnight & Other News
Table of Contents 📖
"And if you are someone in the threads who's still supporting Russia, most of those aren't either hanging around anymore or they've been banned for saying egregious things. What do you do with this? How do you get around this? What's your excuse here? What's your answer to this and is it good enough? Almost certainly not. Watch the footage yourself."
Hello Team
🎦 00:00-00:18⏩
Jonathan welcomes viewers to another ATP Geopolitics video, a Ukraine War news update - the first part for 2nd October 2024. He will be providing an update on the reported Russian losses for the previous day.
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🪦 DISCLAIMER FOR GENERAL STAFF LOSSES DATA
- These are real people with real lives and real families who love them. Don’t let the numbers sap your humanity.
- These numbers probably aren’t accurate but they’re the best we have and we don’t need them to be accurate to be indicative of patterns of activity.
- All losses are estimates. Losses cannot be counted with accuracy because of the conditions on the ground.
- Both sides would see it to be of their advantage to minimize their own losses maximize the other side’s losses.
- Neither side releases their losses but we have enough transparency from the Ukrainian side to have confidence in they are indicative.
- Personnel losses are hard to count. If a soldier gets injured, heals up, and returns to the front line only to get injured again, is that one loss or two? Also, how to deal with losses from PMC’s or soldiers fighting with RF from occupied territories?
- Equipment losses are hard to count. If an AA complex involves several parts and one part gets disabled, is that a loss, or a fraction of a loss? If a tank gets disabled, repaired, back into the fight, then disabled again, is that one lost tank or two?
- All recorded losses are vulnerable to multiple reporting. We have already seen numerous cases of multiple drones in the air reporting the same loss from different angles as multiple engagements.
- Losses are not always reported on the same day they occurred. It is frequent that drone losses are reported at least 24 hours after other terrestrial equipment losses. Certain losses may not be reported for days or weeks for military intelligence reasons.
Russian Losses
🎦 00:18-02:07⏩
Jonathan begins with the Ukrainian general staff reported figures for Russian losses for the previous day (1st October 2024).
- 1,130 personnel - down from the recent average of over 1,300
- 4 Tanks (below average)
- 32 Troop carrying vehicles (almost double the average - a "Good haul" in this category)
- 14 Artillery systems (below average)
- 71 vehicles and fuel tanks (a high number)
- 4 pieces of special equipment
He notes that there has been a sustained increase in the number of artillery systems being taken out by Ukrainian forces - for example, a record 71 pieces in a single day recently. Jonathan questions how long this rate of attrition is sustainable. He hopes to provide a map update soon.
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Russian Deaths - Mediazona/BBC and US Estimates
🎦 02:07-07:14⏩
Jonathan discusses a recent update from Mediazona and BBC Russia, who are collaborating on a long-term project to establish the number of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine using open source techniques.
- They use a dual approach:
- Recorded names count: This involves searching social media and obituaries for verified deaths of Russian soldiers in Ukraine. This count is considered to be an absolute minimum as it doesn’t include figures from the DNR (Donetsk People’s Republic). Current figure: 71,000
- Probate Registry Estimate: Using Russian government legal filings relating to deaths the current figure is 120,000 (considered conservative). It is unlear whether this includes the LNR/DNR.
- Jonathan notes that 71,000 deaths over 19 months is already phenomenally high compared with the estimated 15,000 Russian soldiers killed in Afghanistan over 10 years - a conflict which ultimately ended due to public pressure.
- Recent US intelligence estimates put the number of Russian dead at 200,000 and 500,000 wounded. He notes another estimate of 100,000 dead and questions the very low figure from Mediazona (71,000) given the circumstances.
- Newly appointed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated that Russia has suffered 500,000 casualties (killed and wounded).
Ethnic Disparities in Russian Losses
🎦 07:14-08:12⏩
Jonathan cites an article that reveals that casualty rates are higher among soldiers from the Bashkortostan and Tatarstan regions compared with other regions of Russia.
- He has previously noted how few casualties there appear to be from cities like Moscow and St Petersburg. In contrast, regions like Dagestan, Buryatia, Bashkortostan and Tatarstan appear to suffer disproportionately high casualties.
- Jonathan argues that it’s more likely to be implicit, institutional racism rather than deliberate - underfunded regions offer fewer opportunities for social mobility. Military service is seen as a way to improve social standing, particularly given the increase in wages offered to attract recruits. People from these regions may also be less informed about the realities of the conflict.
Treatment of Russian Wounded
🎦 08:12-08:20⏩
A Ukrainian soldier has given an interview stating that Russian soldiers abandon their wounded 100% of the time.
- Jonathan has seen plenty of evidence of this himself and says that even if it's not 100% of the time, he agrees it happens a lot, and that he has heard Russian soldiers themselves confirming this.
Vovchansk - Ukrainian POWs and Russian Vacuum Bomb
🎦 08:20-09:13⏩
Footage has emerged of more Russian POWs from the Vovchansk area, which indicates that Ukrainian forces are on the offensive there.
- There are reports that the Russians have responded by targeting Vovchansk, which has been subjected to heavy bombardment - possibly involving the use of a huge ODAB-9000 vacuum bomb.
- If the "9000" refers to the explosive yield (9000 kg), this represents a significant increase - typically these bombs have yields of between 250-3000 kg. Jonathan says this would completely destroy an aggregate plant.
Melitopol Car Bomb Attack
🎦 09:13-10:09⏩
Unconfirmed reports from Melitopol suggest that a car bomb attack has killed 3 Russian soldiers.
- Ukrainian intelligence has released details stating that the attack was carried out by the Ukrainian underground resistance.
- The attack took place on Defender's Day and targeted a Vas 2110 car. The car exploded outside a factory, killing the three Russian occupants.
Ukraine Conflict Footage Update - BMP2 vs BMP2 and Ukrainian Drone Attacks
🎦 10:09-12:00⏩
Jonathan discusses some new footage from the conflict but doesn't show it on screen:
- A Ukrainian BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle destroys a Russian BMP-2 in a direct engagement before Ukrainian forces capture the disabled vehicle.
- Footage has emerged of a Russian Zala reconnaissance drone which has been shot down. The drone was painted with Ukrainian markings (a breach of the laws of war - perfidy) and may have been carrying an IED or an extra battery pack. Jonathan isn’t sure which as there has been speculation that the Ukrainians have been targeting drones by ramming them and forcing them out of the sky.
Drone and Missile Attacks
🎦 12:00-13:52⏩
Jonathan reports that details are sparse but Russia launched 32 Shahed drones into Ukraine overnight (1st-2nd October).
- 11 were shot down, which isn't great. However, the Ukrainians appear to have "spoofed" 4 others causing them to return to Russia and a further 10 were downed by electronic warfare. This leaves 7 (out of 32), which represents a higher success rate for the Russians than in recent weeks.
- The drones targeted port infrastructure in the Izmail district of the Odessa region.
- A Turkish truck driver was among two people injured during the attack, which also caused a fire.
- The Orlovka checkpoint (on the Romanian border) was damaged forcing its temporary closure. The head of the Odessa regional military administration has accused Russia of deliberately targeting the checkpoint to disrupt civilian crossings.
Alleged Russian Execution of 16 Ukrainian POWs
🎦 13:52-17:45⏩
Distressing footage has emerged that appears to show the execution of 16 Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered to Russian forces near Sukhoi Yar and Krasnoye Yar in Donetsk Oblast.
- Jonathan has seen footage in the past of much smaller groups (between 1-6) being executed after surrendering, but this is on another scale and too horrific to show on screen.
- Although Tim White (an open-source intelligence analyst) has stated that he cannot verify the footage, it has been widely circulated and is generally accepted as genuine.
- The Ukrainian Prosecutor General has launched an investigation. The incident is alleged to have taken place near the villages of Mykhailivka and Sukhoi Yar and shows a group of Ukrainian soldiers emerging from a forest into Russian hands. Having been forced to form a line, they are intentionally shot. Those who are not killed are then executed at close range. The prosecutor general has described it as the largest known execution of its kind on the front line.
- Jonathan is clearly affected by the footage describing it as “terrible”, highlighting the loss of life and the human cost involved. He is also angered by the loss of valuable, trained soldiers who would otherwise have been returned to the fight or used as bargaining chips in prisoner exchanges.
- He is angry that despite the evidence, Russia is not being held accountable for its actions - the mainstream media are not giving it the attention it deserves (he asks why this isn’t “front and centre”) and questions why Russian officials are not being held to account.
- Jonathan struggles to comprehend how anyone could continue to support Russia given the atrocities it has committed.
Vovchansk - British Intelligence Assessment
🎦 17:45-18:20⏩
British intelligence has confirmed Jonathan’s analysis from a previous video that Ukrainian success around Vovchansk has been possible because Russia has redeployed troops from there to support its operations in the Kursk region.
- Vovchansk has been fiercely contested since May 2024.
- Russian forces initially launched an offensive to capture the town, aiming to establish a buffer zone to deter and mitigate against Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod. This resulted in a stalemate, with both sides trying to force the other out.
- The redeployment of Russian forces from Vovchansk to Kursk has reduced their combat capability in the area.
Vuhledar - Ukrainian Withdrawal
🎦 18:20-22:47⏩
After 31 months of fighting, Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the town of Vuhledar, which has been completely destroyed.
- Ukrainian forces have repelled three Russian offensives during that time inflicting heavy losses - thousands of Russian soldiers and vehicles have been lost in the fight for the town which is only 3.5 square kilometres in size. This makes it a costlier battle for the Russians than Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
- Vuhledar has long been considered a graveyard for Russian armour - Jonathan recalls footage of more than 100 Russian naval infantry vehicles being destroyed as they attacked uphill towards the town.
- Although Ukraine has lost the town, it has served its purpose by inflicting huge losses over a protracted period, which has hampered Russian progress.
- Jonathan believes that Ukrainian forces have executed a successful fighting withdrawal. This has enabled them to buy valuable time and trade ground for the lives of their soldiers and the destruction of enemy capacity and capability. He praises the Ukrainian soldiers who defended the town, particularly the 72nd Brigade.
Wrap up
🎦 22:47-23:23⏩
Jonathan thanks viewers for watching and for their support.
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