Fierce Battles And Slow Progress On Front Lines In Ukraine
South Front, Apr 27 2022
Amid fierce clashes between the Russian and Ukrainian Armies in Donbass and southern Ukrainian regions, some military experts suppose that the major Russian assault has begun in the Kharkiv region and the Luhansk People’s Republic. The main hotspot of the war in Ukraine remains the area near Izyum in the Kharkiv region. There, on the northern Donbass front lines, the Russian troops are advancing slowly, amid fierce battles. As of Apr 27, the front follows the line: inflow of the Oskol River to the Seversky Donets – Sukhaya Kamenka village – Dolgenkoe – Suligovka and Dubravnoye – Kurulka – Brazhkovka – Malaya Kamyshevakha – Andreevka – Zavodi. The joint Russian and LPR forces are advancing in several directions breaking through the Ukrainian defence. Russian forces continue their offensive in the direction of Velikaya Komyshevakha. The villages of Zavodi and Krasny Shakhter were taken under their control. In the direction of Barvenkovo, fighting is going on in the area of the villages of Kurulka and Pashkovo. The village of Vernopol is still under the AFU control. In the direction of Slavyansk, the fighting for the village of Dolgenkoe continues. In the area of the Oskol River, the units advancing from Izyum are yet to join the group advancing from Borovaya. Fighting continues along the Yatskovka—Koroviy Yar—Shandrigolovo line. To the east, Russian forces are advancing towards the town of Krasnyi Lyman and Yampol. Fighting for the control of the village of Zarechnoe continue.
In the Luhansk People’s Republic, LPR forces are yet to secure the town of Rubezhnoye. Ukrainian soldiers are still in control of some industrial facilities on the southern outskirts of the town. Fighting continues on the approaches to Severodonetsk and in Popasnaya. However, no significant advances have been reported by any of the warring sides so far. The Russian control zone around the village of Novotoshkovsky is expanding. In the other front lines, positional battles continue. Situation remains unchanged in Maryinka and in the area of Avdiivka. There is no information about changes in the position of the parties in the southern sector of the Donbass front. Fierce battles continue between Gulyai-Pole and Velikaya Novoselka. Russian artillery is pounding AFU positions before the assault. According to some reports, fierce battles continue in the villages of Neskuchny and Vremyovka near Velikaya Novoselka. Along all the front lines in the Donbass region, Russian, DPR and LPR soldiers are gnawing their way through the Ukrainian defense. So far, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are yet to claim any significant victories. At the same time, the speed of Russian advance provides Ukrainian forces with time to strengthen their positions in the rears including with the foreign-made heavy equipment.
Ukrainian Army Planned Provocations On Border Of Belarus And Russia In Feb 2022
South Front, Apr 27 2022
Kononets Vladimir Vladimirovich, born on Feb 22 1993, served in military unit 1302, 93rd separate mechanized brigade. Served as commander of the repair crew of the second self-propelled artillery division support platoon. Registered Donetsk region, Dobrovolskiy district, the city of Belozerskoye. Since 2019 I lived here, Starobelsky district, Kalmykovka village. Served in military service in 2012–2013 in the 169 training center “Desna,” 300th tank regiment. Subsequently, I worked at the mine upon demobilization from military service and worked until 2019 at the mine. In 2019, when passing the annual physical checkup, on the bypass sheet appeared column the military commissariat. Went to the military commissariat to sign, and it turned out that I was a mobilization evader. I was offered five years in prison or to sign a contract for three years. I signed a contract for three years, got into training center in Nemirov village, Yavoriv landfill. I completed training, in September I was enrolled in the 93rd brigade. Twice we went to the operational zone. The first time from mid-Dec 2019 to mid-Aug 2020 in the village of Smolyaninovo, near Severodonetsk. And the second time, we left in Dec 2021, and we arrived in either in Mar or Apr 2022. I had repair tasks on equipment.
I voluntarily left the location of the military unit on Feb 18 2022, and came home to my wife and son in Starobelsky district. I was here all the time. I planned stay one month, so that I could get a year’s probation and no longer continue military service. I often went to meetings instead of my platoon commander and a such topic arose there: Departure to Kharkov region, we were not told what place exactly, but it was said that this departure was planned because of the Russian-Belarusian exercises near the border with Ukraine. And possible provocations for shooting at civilians were planned, so that Russia could be blamed for it afterwards. In general, I was an involuntary witness to the conversations of two Pravy Sektor fighters at the Yavoriv training ground, when they were bragging about how they had taken prisoners in Peski or somewhere and how they had mocked them. They had cut off their ears. Some had their genitals cut off. At the Yavoriv training ground in the village of Nemirov I saw the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade undergoing training with them foreign instructors.
Did they train with us? Not with us! I won’t say 100%. I won’t say that there was no such thing, but I heard that infantry were trained by British instructors. Up until the time I was in the brigade everyone were there mostly because of the money, a lot of young people, 19 or 20 years old, they go to contract for what they are afraid of enlisting. In 2015 in my hometown of Belozerskoye some part of the “Azov” unit was stationed. For a very long time, probably more than a year, these people kept the whole town in great fear. People often disappeared. They beat people up and some girls were raped. They were looting: they went into a store, into a supermarket, they picked up carts full of things they needed, and on the way out they went through the cash register and the cashier said, “And to pay?”, one of them turned his PKM (machine gun) on her and said, “Ukraine will pay you!” Then the Berkut detained me. Berkut officers came to my home and I went out to their yard. They asked me if I had served. I did not hide anything from them. I said I served, explained the situation, in which I went to “samovolka” (desertion). They gave me time to get dressed and go to the district department of internal affairs.”
Kiev’s Actions Receiving Tough Responses From The Russian Army
South Front, Apr 26 2022
Amid the fierce battles on the front lines, the Armed Forces of Ukraine resumed large-scale attacks on Russian territory. On Apr 25, the AFU struck an oil depot and a military unit in the Russian Bryansk region. The attack was likely carried out with drones. A large fire broke out on the tanks with fuel and lubricants. According to local reports, in addition to the oil depot, fire presumably hit the 120th arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate. Later, it was reported that the Russian air defense shot down 6 drones in the Kursk region. On the same day, the AFU fired at the border villages of Nehoteyevka and Zhuravlevka in the Belgorod region. Two civilians were wounded. In response to the AFU attacks, Russian high-precision missiles hit at least six railway substations in Western Ukraine. As a result, railway facilities in the Krasnoe, Zdolbunov, Zhmerinka, Berdichev, Kovel, Korosten were destroyed. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that these stations were used for the supply of foreign equipment and weapons to the Ukrainian groups in the Donbas region. Now, railway communication in a number of western regions of Ukraine is blocked.
Meanwhile, on the front lines Russian forces are slowly advancing in different directions. The joint Russian and LPR troops are pushing the AFU to the south of Izyum and near Velikaya Novoselka. The reinforcement of Russian forces in the area continues, so a major assault in the area is probably yet to come. To the east, the LPR troops advanced from the direction of Kremennaya, took control over the village of Zarechnoye and are approaching the town of Lyman. The AFU are suffering heavy losses in the region. Control over the town of Lyman will provide the LPR units with a direct road to Slavyansk from the east. Another victory for the LPR was claimed to the north-east of Popasnaya. The town of Novotoshkovskoye was taken under the LPR control. A Su-34 of the Russian Aerospace Forces was shot down over the Balakleya district of the Kharkiv. Both pilots ejected safely and were promptly found by the search and rescue team of the Russian Army. In Mariupol, the Russian side unilaterally claimed another truce for evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal plant. A humanitarian corridor was secured for workers, women and children to exit in any direction. However, none of the civilians ever came out of the facilities, confirming that the Azov nationalists do not care about the fate of their hostages. Two months after the launch of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the situation on the front lines confirms that the conflict has finally phased in to a war of attrition.
Ukrainian Forces Shelled Road In Donetsk People’s Republic, Killing Civilian
South Front, Apr 26 2022
On Apr 26, the Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled the road between the villages of Makeevka and Yasinovataya in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The targeted road is the only one leading to the town of Yasinovataya. The massive shelling was carried out with large-caliber weapons. A civilian car was hit. As a result of the shelling a man was killed and two other civilians was injured. They were transferred to a hospital.
Strikes On Ukrainian Railways Threaten Military Supplies To Armed Forces
South Front, Apr 26 2022
On Apr 26, the Russian cruise missile hit a railway bridge over the Dniester River in the village of Zatoka in the Odessa region. As a result of the strike, the railway track was damaged. This is the only bridge that connects Odessa with the western part of the region and Romania. The destruction of the bridge will significantly complicate any transfer of weapons from Europe to Ukraine, as well as a possible advance of foreign troops in the region.
On Apr 25, 5 Ukrainian railway junctions were simultaneously hit by Russian missiles. Russian high-precision missiles hit reportedly hit eight railway substations in Western Ukraine. As a result, railway facilities in the Krasnoe, Zdolbunov, Zhmerinka, Berdichev, Kovel, Korosten, Kazatin and Fastov were destroyed.
The blows were inflicted on substations, without which electric trains cannot move. Railway communication in Western part of Ukraine was paralyzed. About 2 dozen passenger trains were delayed. By lunchtime the Ukrainian Railways services reported that they had managed to localize the problem. However, freight traffic was still stopped. The vast majority of transportation in Ukraine is carried out by electric traction. As of 2020, there were more than 1,600 electric locomotives in Ukraine, and only 300 diesel locomotives. Today, the bulk of military transportation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is carried out by rail, which is much faster and cheaper than mobile transport, especially given the shortage of diesel fuel throughout the country. Paralyzing the Ukrainian railway transport, the Russian military command achieves the main task to paralyze the strategic transfer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is extremely important given the escalation in the Donbas and in the south of Ukraine. If the strikes on electrical substations continue, 1,600 Ukrainian electric locomotives will not be able to move. They can only be replaced with the remaining 300 locomotives. At the same time, some part of the railway transport has already been taken out of service by Russian troops in the territories under their control, including in the Donbass, Kherson, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions. Moreover, Kiev’s Western partners also cannot help with the supply of European trains, since the track gauge in Ukraine differs from the European one. If Russian missiles continue to strike at substations of Ukrainian railways, this will be able to significantly reduce the supply of weapons and manpower to the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the front line.
Russian Forces Continue Attempts To Breach Ukrainian Defenses
South Front, Apr 25 2022
As of Apr 24, the Russian military and the armed forces of the LDPR continue to test the defenses of Kiev’s forces on several fronts without conducting any large-scale military operations. On the eastern front of Donetsk city, DPR units supported by Russian forces carry out artillery strikes on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the direction of Mariinka and Avdiivka. Nonetheless, no active offensive operations were carried out there. On the Lysichansk-Severodonetsk front lines, LPR units are slowly pushing Kiev’s forces out from their positions under the threat of encirclement. However, no major advance is expected on this front before the complete collapse of the AFU in the area. On the Izum front lines, Russian forces expanded their control in the southern direction in a bid to advance towards the towns of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. Clashes were also reported near the towns of Pashkove, Dovhenke and Velyka Komyshuvakha in the Kharkiv region as well as near the towns of Novo Mykhailivka and Maryinka in the Donetsk region. In the city of Mariupol, the Russian military and DPR forces have been working to secure the liberated areas. The remnants of the Azov battalion are still besieged in the Azovstal industrial area. A direct attack on the area was suspended because the nationalists continue to hold hostages, including women and children and also in order to minimize losses in the Russian ranks.
The Russian military continued its missile strikes on high-value military targets in different regions of Ukraine. On Apr 24, a strike with high-precision ground-launched missiles targeted explosive workshops of Kiev’s forces near Pavlograd. The facilities were completely destroyed. Russian missiles also destroyed fuel facilities on the northern outskirts of the city of Kremenchug. They were used for the production of fuel from an oil refinery, as well as storage of petroleum products and supplied the AFU groupings in the Donbass with fuel and military equipment. At night, high-precision air-launched missiles hit six Ukrainian military facilities, including three Ukrainian strongholds and places of concentrations of manpower and military equipment, as well as three ammunition depots in the districts of Barvenkovo and Novaya Dmitrovka in the Kharkiv region. The Russian Aerospace Forces also attacked 56 facilities belonging to Kiev’s forces. The targets included two command posts, 53 areas of concentrations of the AFU, as well as a fuel storage facility near the settlement of Novaya Dmitrovka. Up to 160 personnel were destroyed, as well as 23 armored vehicles, artillery pieces and vehicles. The Russian artillery is reported to have carried out 967 strikes on 33 command posts, 929 strongholds and gatherings of manpower and military equipment, as well as on 5 warehouses of rocket and artillery weapons and ammunition. Russian air defenses shot down 13 Ukrainian drones near Mezhurino, Balakleya, Borodoyarskoye and Nevskoe in the Kharkiv region, as well as Vysokoe and Chernobayevka in the Kherson region.
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