Ukraine: Calm Before the Storm

DISCLOSURE: Sourced from Russian government funded media

FULL DISCLOSURE: Sourced from Russian State-Controlled Media

SF: The situation on the frontlines in Ukraine remains without major changes with the Russian military and the armed forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) preparing to develop their operations in the Donbass region.

On April 2 and 3, the intense fighting was reported in Mariupol city. Russian forces and DPR units are currently carrying out the final stage of the operation to secure the city. The remaining members of Kyiv’s forces focused their defense in the city port and Azovstal Plant areas.

The efforts to evacuate the remaining civilians in Mariupol continue to be hindered by Kiev’s authorities. On April 2 and 3, Russian forces opened several humanitarian corridors to help civilians leave the city. However, Ukrainian nationalists continue to threaten these routes. A solution to this problem is yet to be found.

Russian forces and LPR units also worked on April 2 and 3 to set conditions for a large advance towards Slovyanks, Kramatorks, and Bahmut.

During the same period, units of the LPR continued their advance on positions of the Ukrainian 57th Infantry Brigade seeking to block Borovskoe from the east and south.

On April 4, developing their offensive, DPR forces captured the fortified area and took control over the village of Novobakhmutovka. During the fighting, up to a company of the Ukrainian 25th airborne brigade was destroyed.

The units of the People’s Militia of the LPR advanced 2 kilometers more and blocked the settlement of Novotoshkovskoye from the east and south.

Meanwhile, the Russian military continued its missile strikes on military targets in different parts of Ukraine.

On April 2, over 100 members of pro-Kyiv forces were eliminated in the missile strike on a military headquarters in Kharkiv city.

Russian forces also carried out a strike with high-precision air-launched missiles on targets near the railway stations of Lozovaya and Pavlograd. The strike destroyed armored vehicles, ammunition, and fuel tanks sent to reinforce the Ukrainian troops in Donbass.

The Mirgorod military airfield in the Poltava region was also placed out of service as a result of a missile strike. Several Ukrainian combat helicopters and warplanes, as well as fuel and aviation weapons depots, were destroyed.

On April 3, high-precision air-launched missiles destroyed large fuel reserves in the Konstantinovka Nikolaev region, the Slavuta Rovno region, and in Ternopil. From these facilities, fuel was being supplied to Ukrainian troops groups in the Nikolaevsky and Donetsk districts.

Moreover, a missile attack on Balovnoe airport, in the suburbs of Nikolaev, destroyed at least three Ukrainian helicopters and a fuel storage facility.

Another missile strike on the Vasilkov military airport in the Kiev region destroyed the Aviation and Air-Defense Center of the Ukrainian Air Force.

Furthermore, a strike with high-speed naval and air-launched missiles destroyed an oil refinery and three oil storage containers in Odessa. These facilities were supplying fuel to Ukrainian forces in Oysk in the Nikolayevsky direction.

On the night of April 4, as a result of an airstrike near the city of Lysychansk, the control point of the 24th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces and warehouses with ammunition, weapons and military equipment were destroyed.

Meanwhile in Kiev, the Ukrainian authorities and local journalists appear to be trying to capitalize on the Russian withdrawal.

On April 3, Ukrainian journalists shared footage showing several alleged dead bodies in the streets of Bucha where Russian forces were stationed. Of course, Russian servicemen were blamed of committing a mass shooting on civilians when leaving the area without any real evidence. The bodies seen in the footage have not been identified yet.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that Kiev’s information about the mass killings in the Butcha was not true, and that the footage was staged.

The ministry stated that all the facts irrefutably confirm that the photos and videos from Bucha are another stagings of the Kiev regime for the Western media, as it was a case in Mariupol with the maternity hospital, as well as in other cities.

According to the ministry:

-All units of Russian troops completely withdrew from Bucha on March 30, and these shots appeared on the 4th day after that when SBU officers and representatives of Ukrainian TV arrived in the area;

-During the stay of Russian soldiers in Bucha, not a single civilian was injured;

-452 tons of humanitarian aid were delivered and issued to civilians by Russian servicemen in the settlements of the Kiev region.

The Ukrainian claims are likely meant to disturb the military operations of Russian-led forces as well as to mount more pressure on Moscow. It is also possible that nationalists in the Kiev regime are attempting to sabotage the ongoing peace talks.

Source:  Southfront