Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 **Media Thread** NO DISCUSSION #3

[PommyMommy]

APR 18, 2022
Mariupol's defenders dig in for last stand as Russia 'filters' out men - CNN
[...]

Myhailo Vershynin, chief of the Mariupol patrol police, told CNN the defenders inside are "ready for fierce resistance."

"They are aware what their fate may be, but no one is going to give up. Yesterday (the Russians) offered us a 'corridor,' they wanted us to leave without weapons, through the filtration points and then surrender," he told CNN in voice and text messages.

"Nobody agreed to this. No one will leave without a weapon," he added.

[...]

The Azovstal iron and steel works is a sprawling industrial complex in the southestern corner of Mariupol. The compound spans an area of more than four square miles and used to employ more than 10,000 people. It is unclear how many Ukrainian troops are still holding out in the plant.

Vershynin said that an estimated 1,000 civilians, including women, children and the elderly, were sheltering inside the plant.

[...]

"Russian occupational forces and their proxy from Luhansk People's Republic/Donetsk People's Republics know about civilians and keep their fire on the factory willingly. They use free-fall bombs, rockets, bunker-buster bombs, and all varieties of artillery, both ground and naval, for indiscriminate attacks," Lt. Col. Denys Prokopenko said on Telegram.

The commander of the Ukrainian Marine unit in the city said Mariupol was "what hell on earth looks like."

"At the [Azovstal] plant, women with children and babies live in bunkers. In hunger and cold. Every day being targeted by the enemy aviation. The wounded die every day because there is no medicine, no water, no food," Maj. Serhii Volyna, commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, said in an open letter addressed to Pope Francis and published on the Ukrainska Pravda website on Monday.

[...]

An estimated 100,000 people remain in Mariupol and its immediate surroundings. They have no way out.

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 18 | Institute for the Study of War (understandingwar.org)

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 18

April 18, 6:30pm ET

Russian forces began a new phase of large-scale offensive operations in eastern Ukraine on April 18 likely intended to capture the entirety of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Russian forces have been concentrating reinforcements—including both newly-deployed units and damaged units withdrawn from northeastern Ukraine—to the Donbas axis for several weeks.

The Russian offensive in the east is unlikely to be dramatically more successful than previous Russian offensives, but Russian forces may be able to wear down Ukrainian defenders or achieve limited gains. Russian forces did not take the operational pause that was likely necessary to reconstitute and properly integrate damaged units withdrawn from northeastern Ukraine into operations in eastern Ukraine.

Key Takeaways

• Russian forces likely began large-scale offensive operations in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts focused on Rubizhne, Popasna, and Marinka.
• Russian forces may be able to gain ground through the heavy concentration of artillery and numbers. However, Russian operations are unlikely to be dramatically more successful than previous major offensives around Kyiv. The Russian military is unlikely to have addressed the root causes—poor coordination, the inability to conduct cross-country operations, and low morale—that impeded prior offensives.
• Successful Ukrainian counterattacks southeast of Kharkiv will likely force Russian forces to divert some units intended for the Izyum offensive, but Ukrainian forces are unlikely to completely sever Russian lines of communication north of Izyum in the coming days.
• Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol continued to hold out against heavy Russian artillery and air bombardment.

Russian authorities face mounting unwillingness to fight among both conscript and contract personnel. The Ukrainian General Staff reported on April 18 that Russian forces began efforts to form additional units in Rostov and Crimea by April 24 to form a “second echelon” to occupy administrative buildings and important infrastructure in occupied Ukraine.[

Russian cruise missiles struck a Ukrainian vehicle repair shop in Lviv, western Ukraine, killing civilians in Lviv for the first time in the war. Social media users depicted several missiles striking a warehouse and railway junction in Lviv and killing several civilians on April 18.

Main Effort—Eastern Ukraine

Subordinate Main Effort—Mariupol (Russian objective: Capture Mariupol and reduce the Ukrainian defenders)

Russian forces continued assaults against Ukrainian defenders in the Azovstal steel plant but did not make any verifiable gains in the last 24 hours.

Subordinate Main Effort—Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts (Russian objective: Capture the entirety of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, the claimed territory of Russia’s proxies in Donbas)

Russian forces likely began large-scale offensive operations in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts on April 18.

Supporting Effort #1—Kharkiv and Izyum: (Russian objective: Advance southeast to support Russian operations in Luhansk Oblast; defend ground lines of communication (GLOCs) to the Izyum axis)

Ukrainian forces continued a successful counterattack (begun on April 16) southeast of Kharkiv, taking several small towns on April 17-18. Ukrainian forces reportedly seized Bazaliivka, Lebyazhe, and Kutuzivka and claimed to capture several unspecified villages near Izyum.

Supporting Effort #2—Southern Axis: (Objective: Defend Kherson against Ukrainian counterattacks)

Fighting continued in Oleksandrivka, just west of Kherson, without any major territorial changes.

Supporting Effort #3—Sumy and Northeastern Ukraine: (Russian objective: Withdraw combat power in good order for redeployment to eastern Ukraine)

There was no significant change in this area in the past 24 hours.

Immediate items to watch

• Russian forces likely commenced large-scale offensive operations in Donbas but are unlikely to achieve a major breakthrough.
• Ukrainian counterattacks southeast of Kharkiv may divert some Russian units but are unlikely to sever Russian lines of communication in the coming days.
• Russian forces concentrating around Izyum will continue small-scale offensive operations to the southeast and southwest and may begin larger-scale offensives.
• Russia and its proxies may declare victory in the Battle of Mariupol.
• Russian forces could launch a new offensive operation from Donetsk City to the north through Avdiivka toward Kramatorsk.

 

[PommyMommy]

BY YURAS KARMANAU / AP
Russia Launches Offensive in Eastern Ukraine: Zelenskyy | Time
APRIL 18, 2022 11:49 PM EDT
''(LVIV, Ukraine) — Russia launched its long-feared, full-scale ground offensive to take control of Ukraine’s east on Monday, attacking along a broad front over 300 miles (480 kilometers) long, Ukrainian officials said in what marked the opening of a new and potentially climactic phase of the war.

“The Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in a video address. He said a “significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive.”

The Donbas is Ukraine’s mostly Russian-speaking industrial heartland in the east, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for the past eight years and have declared two independent republics that have been recognized by Russia.

In recent weeks, the Kremlin declared the capture of the Donbas its main goal of the war after its attempt to storm Kyiv failed. After withdrawing from the capital, Russia began regrouping and reinforcing its ground troops in the east for an all-out offensive.

“No matter how many Russian troops are driven there, we will fight,” Zelenskyy vowed. “We will defend ourselves. We will do it every day.”

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia invades Ukraine (cnn.com)

''New images emerged early Monday on social media showing Russia's guided-missile cruiser, the Moskva, badly damaged and on fire in the hours before the ship sank in the Black Sea on Thursday.

The sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, was the biggest wartime loss of a naval ship in 40 years -- and a huge embarrassment for Moscow.

The images show the Moskva listing to one side, with black holes from possible missile puncture marks, and significant scarring at and just above the waterline on the port (left) side of the middle of the vessel.

A large plume of black smoke can be seen billowing upwards, partly obscuring the front of the stricken ship.

Analysts told CNN the warship in the images looked like the Moskva, a Slava Class guided-missile destroyer.''

Russia invades Ukraine (cnn.com)
''Ukrainian commander: Russian forces firing "willingly" on Mariupol factory where people are sheltering

''In an address on Monday to world leaders, commander of the Azov Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Denys Prokopenko, said Russian forces are firing on the Azovstal steelworks factory “willingly” in Mariupol as hundreds of people are sheltering inside.

Prokopenko is the commander of one of the Ukrainian units defending the port city of Mariupol.

Prokopenko said in a post on Telegram account that among those sheltering are, “people of all ages, women, children, and families of Mariupol defenders. They are sheltering in the basements and bunkers from the ‘Russian world.'"

According to Prokopenko, those sheltering “found their only available shelter next to the Ukrainian soldiers, who are still defending the city from Russian invaders.”

“Russian occupational forces and their proxy from Luhansk People’s Republic/Donetsk People's Republics know about civilians and keep their fire on the factory willingly. They use free-fall bombs, rockets, bunker-buster bombs, and all varieties of artillery, both ground and naval, for indiscriminate attacks,” Prokopenko said.

He added, “City theatre, maternity hospital, schools, kindergartens, and houses were destroyed by those who now offer civilians evacuation and safety. These are the same people. And nobody believes.”

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 18, 2022
Zelenskyy: Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine has begun | AP News
[...]

“This morning, almost along the whole front line of the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, the occupiers attempted to break through our defenses,” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, was quoted as telling Ukrainian media. “Fortunately, our military is holding out. They passed through only two cities. This is Kreminna and another small town.”

He added: “We are not giving up any of our territories.”

[...]

Meanwhile, in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard that was holding out against Russian forces, said in a video message that Russia had begun dropping bunker-buster bombs on the Azovstal steel plant where the regiment was holed up.

The sprawling plant contains a warren of tunnels where both fighters and civilians are sheltering. It is believed to be the last major pocket of resistance in the shattered city.

[...]

A Lviv hotel sheltering Ukrainians who had fled the fighting in other parts of the country was also badly damaged, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said. The city has seen its population swell with elderly people, mothers and children trying to escape the war.

“The nightmare of war has caught up with us even in Lviv,” said Lyudmila Turchak, who fled with two children from the eastern city of Kharkiv. “There is no longer anywhere in Ukraine where we can feel safe.”

[...]

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the Pentagon’s assessments of the war, said there are now 76 Russian combat units, known as battalion tactical groups, in eastern and southern Ukraine, up from 65 last week.

[...]

The U.S. defense official said that if Russian forces succeed in taking full control of Mariupol, that could free up nearly a dozen battalion tactical groups for use elsewhere in the Donbas.

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 18, 2022
Russian Brigade Accused Of Bucha War Crimes Awarded Honorary Title (rferl.org)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed an honorary title on a brigade accused by Ukraine of committing war crimes in the town of Bucha.

A decree signed by Putin on April 18 gave the 64th Motor Rifle Brigade the title of Guards for their defense of the "motherland and state interests" and praised the "mass heroism and valor, tenacity, and courage" of its members.

[...]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
Mariupol Mayor: Russian forces illegally deport 40,000 civilians from Mariupol. Mayor Vadym Boichenko said in an interview on Ukrainian television that the civilians have been “forcibly deported” to Russia or to Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Professional firefighters from many countries did not stay away and came to Ukraine. Ukrainian MIA met those from the US, Germany, Australia, and Poland today. They have been helping in Borodianka since Saturday, and are currently working in Gostomel near Kyiv. PHOTO CREDIT: SES

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 25 min ago
UN: Six million Ukrainians have limited access to drinking water. UNICEF Ukraine said on April 18 that Russia’s war has “devastated water and electricity networks” in Ukraine, leaving an additional 4.6 million people with limited access to water.

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war: Russian troops capture eastern city as battle for Donbas region begins – live (theguardian.com)

3h ago 06.03
Today so far …

• The Russian offensive to seize eastern Ukraine and the “battle for Donbas” has begun, Ukraine’s president Volodymr Zelenskiy said. “Now we can already state that the Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” he said in a video address, adding that a “significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive”.
• Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed Moscow was starting a new stage of what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine. He predicted it would be a significant development.
• Russia’s defence ministry said Russian missile and artillery forces struck 1,260 targets in Ukraine overnight, and that anti-aircraft forces downed a Ukrainian MiG-29 jet in the Donetsk region. Russia’s new offensive is going “very cautiously” and will fail because Moscow’s forces lack the strength to break through Ukrainian defences, Ukraine’s presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych has said.
• Russia has 76 battalion tactical groups in the Donbas region of Ukraine and in the country’s south-east with 11 of those added over the last several days, a senior US defence department official said in a statement on Monday night.
• Russian troops have reportedly captured the east Ukraine town of Kreminna while local authorities have urged residents in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to evacuate. “Currently, control over the city of Kreminna is lost; street fights are taking place,” Luhansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said in a statement on his official Telegram channel on Monday night.
• Russia has again called on Ukrainian forces encamped in the Azovstal metallurgical plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol to lay down their arms. Ukrainian authorities say that no fewer than 1,000 civilians are hiding in the complex along with Ukrainian fighters.
• The deputy prime minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk has said there will be no humanitarian corridors set up again today in Ukraine, the third day consecutive day without agreed escape routes.
• Greece seized a crude oil Russian tanker off the island of Evia as part of European Union sanctions against Russia, a Greek shipping ministry official has said.
• French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said that an embargo on Russian oil at a European Union level was in the works, adding that France’s president Emmanuel Macron is keen on such a move.
• The UK government’s Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis said he would not comment on national security issues when asked what the UK was doing to bring home Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, British fighters in Ukraine captured by the Russians and paraded on national TV.
• Labour party’s shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, said “it is inappropriate for British people to be involved in the war in Ukraine and they should not be going there”. She said she had been “surprised” UK foreign secretary Liz Truss had given out “mixed messages” and had “seemed to almost be endorsing people going out to Ukraine. It simply is wrong.”

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 19, 2022
Russia ratchets up battle for control of eastern Ukraine | AP News
[...]

In what appeared to be an intensification of attacks, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that air-launched missiles destroyed 13 Ukrainian troop and weapons locations while the air force struck 60 other Ukrainian military facilities, including missile warhead storage depots. Russian artillery hit 1,260 Ukrainian military facilities and 1,214 troops concentrations over the last 24 hours. The claims could not be independently verified.

[...]

Moscow’s troops seized control of one town in the Donbas on Monday, according to Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, said that the defensive line had held elsewhere.

The breakthrough in Kreminna takes the Russians one small step closer to their apparent goal of encircling Ukrainian troops in the region.

Retired British Gen. Richard Barrons told the BBC that “in this particular battle the Russians will be approaching the Ukrainians from the east, but also from the north and the south to try and get behind them, and so this is a more complex military problem for the Ukrainians.”

[...]

Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard that is guarding the last known Ukrainian pocket of resistance in Mariupol, said in a video message that Russia had begun dropping bunker-buster bombs on the Azovstal steel plant where the regiment was holding out.

Civilians are also believed to be sheltering at the plant, which covers the territory of about 11 square kilometers (over 4 square miles).

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 19, 2022
For Russian diplomats, disinformation is part of the job | AP News
[...]

Russian embassies and consulates around the world are prolifically using Facebook, Twitter and other platforms to deflect blame for atrocities while seeking to undermine the international coalition supporting Ukraine.

[...]

With hundreds of social media accounts on every continent, Russia’s diplomatic corps acts as a global network for propaganda, in which the same claims can be recycled and tweaked for different audiences in different nations. And, so far, steps to substantially curtail that effort have fallen short.

[...]

“Each week since the beginning of the war these diplomats have posted thousands of times, gaining more than a million engagements on Twitter per week,” said Marcel Schliebs, a disinformation researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University. He has tracked more than 300 social media accounts linked to Russian embassies, consulates and diplomatic groups.

Some Russian embassies, like ones in the U.K. and Mexico, for example, are especially active, churning out pro-Russian propaganda and spreading falsehoods intended to support the invasion.

The Russian missile attack on a Ukrainian rail station that killed 50? Ukrainians were behind it, the Russian Embassy in the U.K. tweeted. Talk of Russian war crimes? It’s a plot by Britain to make Russia look bad, the embassy claimed. Those Ukrainian soldiers fighting for their country? They’re actually Nazis operating under U.S. orders, the embassy alleged.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Updated 9:50 a.m. ET, April 19, 2022 rbbm.
Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine, battle for Donbas begins (cnn.com)
''The Netherlands will send “heavier material” to Ukraine, “including armored vehicles," Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday.

In a tweet, Rutte said that he and the Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren had expressed their support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone conversation, “as Russia begins a renewed offensive.”

“Together with allies, we are looking at the delivery of additional heavier equipment,” Rutte said.
Zelensky also tweeted after the phone call, saying that he had informed Rutte “about the aggravation of the situation in Donbas” and was “grateful” for the support.

“When peace is restored we'll build Ukraine-Netherlands relations of a new quality together in the EU!” Zelensky said. ''

Russia-Ukraine war live updates: Putin launches eastern offensive in Donbas (nbcnews.com)
''Ukraine's fight linked to fate of other Black Sea countries, foreign minister says
Associated Press

1h ago / 8:37 AM EDT
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says security for his country also means security for Bulgaria and all other Black Sea countries.

“We are fighting not only for our safety,” Kuleba said after talks Tuesday with his Bulgarian counterpart, Teodora Genchovska. “We are fighting for you too, so that you never have to face the tragedy of Russia’s attempts to affect and damage your country.”

Kuleba expressed understanding that many in Bulgaria have emotional and historic links to Russia.

“But now it’s different — destroying, killing, torturing, raping,” he said. “This is not a Russia that deserves sympathy and understanding. I want everyone to understand that.”

Along with Hungary, Bulgaria is the only European Union member that has so far been reluctant to send weapons to Kyiv. During his unofficial visit to Sofia, Kuleba will also meet Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev and Prime Minister Kiril Petkov.''

 

[PommyMommy]

91-year-old Holocaust Survivor Perishes in Mariupol Basement - Eighty years after evading Nazis, Vanda Semyonovna Obiedkova died in war - Chabad-Lubavitch News

At 10 years old, she survived the Nazis in part by hiding in a basement in Mariupol. 81 years later, she died in a basement in the same city hiding from the Russians.

Vanda Semyonovna Obiedkova was born in Mariupol, Ukraine, in 1930 and survived the Nazi roundups that swalled her mother and family. Obiedkova, an active member of Mariupol's Jewish community, died in a freezing basement in Mariupol on April 4.

 

[PommyMommy]

Ukraine War: On the frontline in Donetsk

Ukraine War: Captured British men appear on Russian state TV

Ukrainian drone reveals Russian hiding places before strikes destroy them

 

[PommyMommy]

Canada sending heavy artillery to Ukraine, imposing sanctions on Putin's daughters | CBC News
Darren Major · CBC News · Posted: Apr 19, 2022
''The government has announced a round of new sanctions targeting individuals with ties to the Russian government — including President Vladimir Putin's daughters — and plans to send heavy artillery to Ukraine as Russian forces step up their attacks in the country's eastern regions.

Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova, Putin's adult daughters, are among 14 individuals being added to Canada's sanctions list. The U.S. and the U.K. made similar announcements earlier this month.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a press conference in New Brunswick on Tuesday that Canada will send heavy artillery to support Ukrainian forces.

"We've been in close contact with President (Volodymyr) Zelensky since the very beginning and we're very responsive to what it is that they need most specifically," Trudeau said. "Their most recent request from Canada is to help them with heavy artillery, because that's what the phase of the war is in right now."

Maria Lavrova, the wife of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, was also named in the latest round of sanctions.''

Lethal darts were fired into a Ukrainian neighbourhood by the thousands | Stuff.co.nz

'At Svitlana Chmut's house outside Kyiv, there are carrots in her garden and deadly Russian mini-arrows in her yard.

A pile of the sharp, finned projectiles rounded up by Chmut are now gathering rust in the spring's fine mist. She combed her walled courtyard for them, she said, after a Russian artillery shell carrying them burst somewhere overhead days before the Russians withdrew late last month, seeding the area with thousands of potentially lethal darts.

Some were embedded in the tarp that covered her vehicle, as if someone nailed them to her car.

"If you look closely on the ground around my house, you will find a lot more of them," said Chmut, 54.

''These projectiles, called fléchettes, are rarely seen or used in modern conflict, experts have said.

Many landed in the street in the strike, Chmut said, including some observed by Washington Post reporters, among fields of gear and the occasional liquor bottle or chocolate bar abandoned by retreating Russian soldiers.

At 3 centimetres in length, these fléchettes look like tiny arrows. They have a long history in war - a version of them was dropped from airplanes in World War I and used by the US in Vietnam - but are not in common use today.''

 

[PommyMommy]

António Guterres urged to take lead in securing peace in Ukraine or risk future of UN

Former UN officials say body could be doomed if secretary general does not play a bigger role in mediating for peace in Ukraine

A group of more than 200 former senior UN officials have written to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warning him that unless he does more personally to take a lead in trying to mediate a peace in Ukraine, the UN risks not just irrelevance, but its continued existence.

The former staff members, including many former UN undersecretaries, urged him to raise his profile and be prepared to take personal risks to secure peace, saying the UN is facing an existential threat due to the invasion of Ukraine by one of the five permanent members of the security council.

“What we and the broader public want to see, though, is a political UN presence and public engagement, in addition to the UN’s notable humanitarian response to the Ukraine crisis,” the authors said.

“We want to see a clear strategy to re-establish peace, starting with a provisional ceasefire, and the use of the UN’s capacity for good offices, mediation and conflict-resolution. That could include visits to the conflict-stricken areas, discussions with the opposing sides, even moving your own office temporarily to Europe, closer to the urgently needed negotiations and, thereby, indicating the UN’s resolve to address this major crisis head-on.”

(...)

By contrast during the Cuban missile crisis in 1961, the newly appointed Burmese UN secretary general, U Thant, played a major role in de-escalating and then mediating the conflict between Russia and the US.

Similarly, during the buildup to the Gulf war the UN secretary general, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, convinced the US to negotiate with Iraq. In 2013 the UN took the task of mediation so seriously that its senior envoy Sérgio Vieira de Mello was in Baghdad where he was killed in a terrorist blast at the UN headquarters.

(...)

“This is the raison d’être of the United Nations, which is being tested again in this case. We are horrified at the alternative, the UN becoming increasingly irrelevant and, eventually, succumbing to the fate of its predecessor, the League of Nations, with the human losses and material destruction that went with it.”

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 7 hrs ago
Russia mines roads, fields near occupied Kherson. Russians have densely mined the area along the Kherson – Snihurivka highway overnight on April 18, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry’s intelligence. The highway is one of the main routes from Mykolaiv Oblast to Kherson.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Azov says Azovstal plant bombed, almost completely destroyed. Mariupol City Council said more than 1,000 civilians are hiding in underground shelters of the city’s main metallurgical plant, where the last defenders are holding out against Russian forces.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 6 hrs ago
Ukrainian military regains control of Marinka, Donetsk Oblast. According to the General Staff, Ukraine launched a counter-offensive and drove out Russian troops from the city, which is less than 10 km west of Donetsk. Marinka was last controlled by Ukraine in mid-March.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 5 hrs ago
Scholz says Germany will continue arming Ukraine but Berlin's capacity 'almost exhausted.' German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that weapons that are already familiar to Ukrainian soldiers should be supplied, and his government will work with manufacturers to make it possible.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
UN chief calls for 4-day Easter 'pause' in Russia's war against Ukraine. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged for a truce from Holy Thursday until Easter Sunday on April 24 that would allow a safe passage for civilians to flee the war zone and deliver humanitarian aid.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
Zelensky: 'If we had access to all the weapons we need, which our partners have, we would have already ended this war.' Zelensky renewed calls for weapons to Ukraine, saying “it is unfair that Ukraine is still forced to ask for what its partners have been storing for years.”

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
UK Defense Ministry update: Despite increased shelling and attacks, Russia is struggling to make significant progress as its advances are stifled by environmental, logistical and technical challenges, combined with the resilience of the highly-motivated Ukrainian armed forces.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
Biden, Johnson, Trudeau to send more artillery to Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson all said their countries are planning on sending heavy artillery to Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Johnson told lawmakers in London that “(Ukrainians) need support with more artillery, that is what we will be giving them.”

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Ukraine's Air Force: Nine Russian aerial targets destroyed. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, air defense units shot down one airplane, one helicopter, one missile, and five UAVs on April 19.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 1 hr ago
CNN: US preparing another $800 million military aid package for Ukraine. According to officials and sources familiar with the planning, the details of the aid are still being discussed. One senior administration official said the aid could be approved within the next 36 hrs.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Pentagon: Ukraine has received additional aircraft and aircraft parts to increase fleet size. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said Ukraine has received additional fighter planes and spare parts from other countries, not including the U.S., to expand its air capabilities.

 

[PommyMommy]

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 7 hrs ago
John Deere agricultural machinery stolen by Russian troops in Zaporizhia Oblast "surfaced" in Chechnya at an agricultural firm linked to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov Looting - stolen in Ukraine combines from the United States found in a company with which Ramzan Kadyrov is associated | Ukrayinska Pravda

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
Two Kharkiv-based Feldman Ecopark employees missing since early March found dead They stayed to feed the animals amid Russian attacks. Now their bodies were found with gunshot wounds in a back room. In total, 5 employees were killed during the war.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
The Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol was destroyed by heavy bombs and many people were trapped under its rubble, the Azov Regiment stated. Mariupol defenders: Azovstal steelworks destroyed, many people under rubble (ukrinform.net)

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Romania is likely to hand over weapons to Ukraine from the reserves of some institutions of the national defense system. The country has prepared necessary changes to legislation to make possible the transfer of military aid to a country outside NATO.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
2,000 foreign medical workers have applied to work in Ukraine to save lives. Many of them were from Germany and Lithuania. 230 foreign medical workers are already working in Ukraine, - the Ministry of Healthcare Chairman of the Committee on Health of the Nation Mykhailo Radutsky

'They Waved Goodbye To Us': Ukrainian Woman Recalls How Russian Soldiers Killed Her Son (rferl.org)
VIDEO CAPTION: This is a Ukrainian mother's account of how her 13-year-old son was killed when she and her children tried to flee a village occupied by the Russian military. Inna says that, at first, Russian troops allowed her family to leave and even waved goodbye, but then opened fire at the cars they were traveling in.

Russia-Ukraine war: Russian troops capture eastern city as battle for Donbas region begins – live (theguardian.com)

2h ago 19.52
Ukraine receives more aircraft and parts for repairs, Pentagon confirms
[...]

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby did not offer details on which countries provided aircraft, but acknowledged new transfers and said Ukraine had more operable fighter aircraft than it had two weeks ago.

[...]

“We certainly have helped with the trans-shipment of some additional spare parts that have helped with their aircraft needs, but we have not transported whole aircraft,” he added.

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter

️Russia rejects ceasefire for civilian evacuation.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, said calls for Russia to establish humanitarian ceasefires "merely point to an aspiration to provide Kyiv nationalists breathing room" to regroup and to receive more weapons.

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 7 hrs ago
Ukraine’s UN envoy: Half a million Ukrainians deported to Russia. Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya said on April 19, that more than 500,000 Ukrainians were “forcibly transferred” to Russia, including 121,000 children.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
According to Kyslytsya, citizens of Ukraine are sent to Russia’s “economically depressed regions,” in particular, the northern regions and the island of Sakhalin. He said they receive documents banning them from leaving Russia for two years.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 6 hrs ago
Mariupol defenders ask world leaders to evacuate people from Azovstal, say hours could be left. The 36th marine brigade commander Serhiy Volynskyi said that they were outnumbered 10 to 1 and there are only a few days, if not hours, to save people sheltering at Azovstal plant.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
According to the commander, 500 wounded soldiers and hundreds of civilians are at the plant. “This could be the last appeal of our lives,” he said.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 5 hrs ago
Deputy Prime Minister: Evacuation corridor for women, children, elderly agreed in Mariupol. Iryna Vereshchuk said that civilians would be able to evacuate from the besieged city to Zaporizhizhia through occupied Mangush and Berdyansk.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
Norway sends 100 air defense systems to Ukraine. Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram said his country had donated French-made Mistral short-range missile systems to Ukraine, which are no longer used by Norway's military but are still modern and effective weapons.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 3 hrs ago
Ukraine's intelligence: FSB arrests Russia's proxy in occupied part of Luhansk Oblast. Ukraine's intelligence said that Moscow began to “clean up” its proxies in Donbas for “failures at the front.” Igor Kornet is currently being held in a detention center in Rostov-on-Don.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Ukraine confirms receiving spare parts, components of aircraft from allies, but not new planes. Despite Pentagon’s earlier claim that Ukraine received new planes as well as spare parts, Ukraine’s Armed Forces said that the country “did not receive new aircraft from partners.”

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 2 hrs ago
Luhansk Oblast governor: Electricity, gas and water will not be restored in parts of region till the end of the war. Serhiy Haidai said that the infrastructure in the cities of Popasna and Rubizhne and several villages in Luhansk Oblast was nearly completely destroyed.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Ukraine’s intelligence: Russia plans forced mobilization in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson regions. Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Intelligence Directorate says Russia plans to carry out forced mobilization in occupied territories and send Ukrainians to fight against their own country.

 

[PommyMommy]

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 4 hrs ago
Russian representatives came to Berdiansk cultural institutions & demanded Russian concerts be held on May 9. "People are outraged,"–said Acting Berdiansk Mayor Zaporizhia Obl Head said that residents report abductions of relatives and acquaintances, –Obl Administration

NEXTA on Twitter
The West should immediately supply weapons to #Ukraine This was stated by the official representative of the #Polish government Piotr Muller.

The New Voice of Ukraine on Twitter
The Russian occupiers fired at the Nikolaev Zoo

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - 1 hr ago
Daily Report 20.04: Heavy fighting in the Donbas area. “Azovstal” plant in Mariupol has been almost destroyed, Ukrainian fighters are pulling people out of the rubble. UA Air Force rebutted Pentagon report: so far it has not got any aircraft from the US Russo-Ukrainian war, day 56: The Battle for Donbas escalates, Russia is preparing to annex occupied regions | Euromaidan Press

NEXTA on Twitter
Germany will help the Ukrainian military with training and assistance in the servicing of equipment, Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said. Also, according to her, #Germany did not disclose to public all the weapons they had previously sent to #Ukraine. Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine, resistance continues in Mariupol (cnn.com)

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - Video
"What is Mariupol today? A city completely destroyed, bombed, burned,and raped by Russian occupiers. Dead bodies on the streets. Burial of family members in yards, kindergartens. But it does not give up as long as Mariupol courageous defenders fight, until the last bullet"–Video: Azov soldier

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
"Mariupol must be Ukrainian in order to have hope for a happy future, so as not to become one of the many already dead cities of unrecognized 'republics',"–Azov soldier added Telegram: Contact @polkazov

NEXTA on Twitter
The U.S. is constantly monitoring Russia's nuclear arsenal, CNN reported citing its sources in Defense Department. They claim that so far the U.S. has seen no indication that #Russia has taken any steps to prepare nuclear weapons for use in time of war. Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine, resistance continues in Mariupol (cnn.com)

NEXTA on Twitter
A protest against sexual violence and war crimes in Ukraine was held near Russian embassy in #Riga. According to local media estimates, about 200 women with black bags on their heads, hands tied behind their backs and fake blood on their feet lined the street in front of embassy.

 

[PommyMommy]

Ex-Kremlin official, wife and daughter found dead in Moscow apartment

Russian billionaire blasts Putin's invasion