FIRE FROM THE SKIES: RUSSIA INCREASES STRIKES IN UKRAINE
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Russian forces are in the Mariupol port area
The 51st day of the Russian military operation in Ukraine was opened with a new round of Russian missile strikes on military infrastructure of the Kyiv government.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a strike with high-precision long-range air-launched weapons destroyed the production buildings of the armoured vehicles and tank plant in Kyiv and a workshop for repairing military equipment in Nikolaev.
During the night, strikes with air-launched missiles hit 16 targets. For example, the strikes hit the following targets:
- 11 areas of concentration of Ukrainian military equipment and weapons in the settlements of Povstanskoye, Barvenkovo, Lysichansk, Sribnoe, Petrovsky and Opytnoye;
- two depots of rocket and artillery weapons in the Nikolaev area there;
- a central storage base for radar reconnaissance and communications equipment in the south-east of Poltava;
- a storage base for anti-aircraft missiles and weapons south of Poltava;
- the area of concentration of units of the 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the village of Gusarovka.
The Russian side says that during the night its operational-tactical aviation also destroyed 67 areas of concentration of Ukrainian personnel and military equipment.
Russian air defense systems also shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft in the air 15 kilometers south of the village of Izyum.
At the same time, Russian missile forces and artillery hit 811 targets, including: 43 command posts of Kyiv’s forces, 8 convoys with fuel for military equipment, as well as 760 manpower concentration areas.
According to the Russians, since the start of the operation, their forces have destroyed 133 aircraft, 458 unmanned aerial vehicles, 246 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2246 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 252 multiple rocket launchers, 981 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 2146 units of special military vehicles.
Developments of the last 2 days demonstrate the apparent increase in the scale of Russian strikes on military targets in Ukraine. For example on April 15, air alert reports were spotted throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. At the same time, the results of these strikes remain mostly underreported because the Russian side provides a limited amount of information about its actions while the Kyiv government has banned Ukrainian citizens from releasing photos and videos of any Ukrainian losses under the threat of criminal punishment.
Strike on Kyiv’s forces:
Being unable to strike military targets in depth of the territory of Russia, Kyiv’s forces continue to shell Russian border areas as well as terrorize population on the territories of Ukraine from which pro-Kyiv units have retreated.
For example on April 15, the Russian Armed Forces repelled a missile attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station (Kherson Region). This facility regulates the flow of the Dnieper River, supplies power to the Kherson region and water to the agricultural regions of southern Ukraine and the northern regions of Crimea.
The Russian side reported that a strike with two Tochka-U missiles was supposed to destroy the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, which would lead to an uncontrolled discharge of the Dnieper water and cause the flooding of many settlements in the Kherson region in order to tie down the actions of the Russian Armed Forces. Both missiles were shot down by Russian air defenses.
Fragments of one of the Tochka missiles fell in Novaya Kakhovka village, Kherson region. The building of the kindergarten and residential buildings were damaged, a woman and a child were wounded. Civilians received first aid from Russian servicemen.
Meanwhile, the situation on the frontline remains relatively stable with the most intense clashes in Mariupol city.
DPR units in Mairupol:
In previous days, Russian-led forces made a series of important tactical successes and captured the port and the Illicha plant in the city’s industrial area. As of April 16, Russian and DPR units are working to storm the Azovstal plant, which remains the main and only stronghold of Kyiv’s forces there. The rest of the city is in the state of permanent security operation.
Yan Gagin, adviser to the head of the DPR government, told RIA Novosti that there is actually an underground city under the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.
“Azovstal is a huge building, a huge Soviet-built plant, its area can be compared with another city, with another Mariupol, with its own communications, with roads and dungeons. That is, the facility itself was built back in Soviet times, taking into account the possibilities, including bombing, and blockades, and even some structures are designed for a nuclear strike,” he said.
According to Gagin, thousands of Kyiv’s fighters with armoured vehicles, a full arsenal of weapons, a large number of ammunition are encircled there.
Russian-led forces in the Mariupol port area:
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Click to see the full-size image
Click to see the full-size image
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Meanwhile, DPR artillery units with support from Russia continue a steady work to destroy fortifications of Kyiv’s forces in the countryside of Donetsk. The main areas of positional fighting there is Mariinka and Avdiivka.
Forces of the Lugansk People’s Republics are mainly involved in the ongoing positional fighting near the Severodonetsk-Lysichansk agglomeration. The city of Popasnaya remains contested. Nonetheless, local sources report that LPR units made tactical gains there recently.
Reports regularly appear about the advance of Russian troops from the Izum area to the south, towards Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. Nonetheless, the real large advance towards Slovyansk has not started and is not expected until the city of Mariupol is fully liberated.
Summing up developments of the last week, it becomes clear that the long-awaited second phase of the Russian advance in the east of Ukraine has not been launched yet. The Russian side is mostly focused on concentrating its forces, evacuating civilians from the frontline areas in the region of Donbass and securing territories from which Kyiv’s forces have retreated. At the same time, posture of the Kyiv government and its NATO puppeteers demonstrate that the diplomatic settlement of the conflict is not possible. Therefore, the development of the Russian military operation further in the east of Ukraine and potentially even more is the only realistic scenario.
t.me
