We have confirmation of the Russian rumours that the commander of the 247th VDV Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel (unless he was promoted to colonel recently) Vasily Popov, has been killed. This is the second commander of the 247th to have been killed: Colonel Konstantin Zizevsky fell in action during the first days of the war, in all probability during the battles on the outskirts of Mykolaiv. I could be wrong, but this is the first case of a regiment/brigade losing its commander in action twice.

Popov reportedly took over a few weeks ago to replace the former commander (with the same surname as him) who had been replaced because of complaints from soldiers of the regiment after the failed counterattacks near Staromaiorske back in July.

It’s unclear whether he died in the Velyka Novosilka sector or in the Orikhiv/Tokmak sector, i.e. where most of the regiment was very recently transferred and where it joined the rest of the 7th VDV Division. The 247th suffered very significant losses in the two and a half months of fighting in the Velyka Novosilka sector.

On an unrelated note, in the Tokmak sector the Russians deployed a fire control network in order to enhance their counter-battery capabilities. The network is an automated tactical management system, based on the portable satellite communication station SNARK-100P system (Manpack class). The Ukrainians have compared the latter with Starlink, which is what they use for the same purpose. This network should be in use at the 76th VDV Division. This division is also one of the main Lancet users if not the first. It’s clear that the Russians wish to step up their counter-battery game.

Since the beginning of September, Ukrainian artillery fire in the Tokmak sector has increased greatly, also thanks to the use of numerous cluster munitions (which the Ukrainians wish were sent in larger numbers!). Right now the artillery is very active in striking Russian positions while the forces involved in the attacks in the sector (which have been reported by Ukrainian sources to have lost some combat capability) are “settling down” and mostly maintaining the positions they have conquered, waiting for the next attacks that will include more fresh units. Ukrainian artillery fires have been definitely noticed by the Russians: I had read on Telegram that an unknown Russian air assault regiment had complained last week that a crazy amount of shells had fallen in their defense area in a single day. In the sector it’s likely that Ukraine achieved fire superiority, and this is the first source of attrition for the Russian forces.

Mashovets was the first to mention this: https://t.me/zvizdecmanhustu/1213 (last paragraph)

Here’s a brief presentation of the SNARK-100R system: http://lib.tssonline. ru/articles2/sputnik/nosimyy-kompleks-sputnikovoy-svyazi-snark-100r

About how the network works on a technical way for counter-battery use I have no idea, though.

Thanks for the input, although I don’t know to what extent this method can be taken at face value, despite it’s very interesting.

There seems to have been no major activity in the South in June, despite the days before the counteroffensive began, and of course the attacks in those weeks, were marked by major artillery actions. I think the weather can skew the measures considerably - June, if I remember correctly, was quite rainy in Orikhiv, as were these past days in September - and apparently clouds can also affect this too.

In Bakhmut the Russians in July reported very strong Ukrainian artillery barrages, but they are not detected here. Certainly as you said cluster munitions could have a small footprint that doesn’t get detected, and I suppose the figures could be affected very heavily by the use of incendiary munitions, which the Russians often employ when there are clashes in or near a forest. For example, it has been reported that in recent weeks in the Serebrianka Forest the Russians have been using considerable amounts of these ammunitions.