Press digest – Ukraine

58th day of heroic resistance of Ukraine against Russian military invasion

#ArmUkraineNow

DESTRUCTION AND LOSSES

📌As of the morning of April 22, the official number of killed child victims has not changed — 208. The number of injured has increased — 386.

📌On April 20, a 16-year-old boy was seriously injured in an artillery shelling by the invaders in the Bakhmut district of Donetsk region.

📌The bombing and shelling by the armed forces of the Russian Federation damaged 1,141 educational institutions, 99 of which were  destroyed.

📌 Ombudswoman Liudmyla Denisova: “In Irpen, three rashist occupiers raped a mother and 15-year-old younger sister in front of her eyes. They were beaten and raped with special cruelty. Both are dead. The girl in a state of psychological shock lived with the corpses in the house for 4 days. After the liberation of the city she was able to get to her grandmother. She said that while her relatives were being killed, she was being held and not touched, “because I am ugly.” They said, “Live and pass on to others.”

📌 Russians continue targeted shelling of hospitals and other medical facilities. The regional trauma hospital in Lyman (Donetsk region) was fired upon today by the Russian army from Uragan (Hurricane) volley fire systems. Direct shelling caused fires and destruction to both hospitals and nearby homes. The fire was extinguished and explosive devices were neutralized.

📌Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began at 3:40 in the Milove area in the Luhansk region, and already at about 5 am the attacks were everywhere, — Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov.

📌A humanitarian catastrophe has already started in Luhansk region, but the Russians want to deepen it to a famine. Shops and food warehouses have been under fire for a month now. Dozens of warehouses and hundreds of shops were destroyed. Tonight, the last food warehouse in the region was destroyed by enemy shelling. 

📌 AN-26 plane performing a technical flight crashed in Vilnia district of Zaporizhia region. One person was killed and two were injured. According to preliminary and unconfirmed information, the plane hit an electric pole, as a result of which the engine caught fire.

📌In Mykolaiv on Thursday evening there was an explosion again — the mayor Oleksandr Senkevych. “Mykolaiv is again under attack with cluster shells. Last night three people were wounded, one of them died in hospital,” — said mayor.

📌Since February 24, almost three quarters of the population left the occupied territory of Donetsk region: now there are about 430 thousand people left, said the head of RSA Kyrylenko.

📌 For two days the Russian army fires at the civilian population of Mykolayiv region. On April 20 and 21, 20 people were injured.

📌Rashists continue to fire on the liberated part of Kherson region and the village near Kryvyi Rih.

📌 During the daytime shelling of the Lysychansk area, Russian troops damaged a 110 kV high-voltage power line. All residential districts of Severodonetsk are without electricity. An emergency crew is working on the spot.

📌 In Mariupol, after “filtering”, men are split into three categories: state employees are sent to prison, non-civil servants – to the ranks of the military DNR and Russian troops. City residents are partially allowed to stay and are involved in removing the remains of the destroyed buildings and hiding the crimes committed by the Russian Federation, the mayor of Mariupol Vadym Boychenko says. 

📌In Berdyansk, the occupiers created an electronic database with a list of people who do not have the right to leave the city – Ukrainian officials and activists with a pro-Ukrainian position. To move around the city, the invaders issue special passes for cars with a stamp and the inscription “Military-Civil Administration, Russia, Zaporizhzhia region, the city of Berdyansk.”

📌As of April 23, the Russian military took a full control over Oleshki. They are currently looking for someone to lead the city. The surnames have not been published yet, Mayor Yevhen Ryschuk said.

📌World Bank President David Malpass assessed the physical damage to Ukrainian buildings and infrastructure due to the Russian invasion. It has reached about $60 billion and will grow as the war continues. 

 

📌 Photo of the day

This is Maria and her dog. Both wearing scarves. This is how they both dressed when the hell broke in Gorenka (near Bucha). Mrs Maria wound a scarf on her dog so that it would not be so afraid of shelling

 

RUSSIAN CONTEXT

⚠️To prevent the disruption of the spring conscription campaign in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea from April 30 this year, the invaders are prohibiting people from leaving and entering the peninsula.

⚠️Putin’s order not to storm Azovstal shows that Russia does not want to lose a significant number of forces in one area.  Notable losses to the Russians will reduce their overall combat effectiveness.  Putin’s decision to block the metallurgical plant is a desire to release Russian forces for deployment elsewhere in eastern Ukraine. Source: British intelligence.

⚠️Russia’s full-scale ground attack on the Azovstal plant is likely to cause significant losses to the Russians, which will further reduce their overall combat effectiveness, according to British intelligence.

⚠️ Russia has officially announced plans for the second phase of the “special operation”. In the near future, the invaders are going to:

  • establish full control over Donbass;
  • create a land corridor to the temporarily occupied Crimea;
  • establish control over the south of Ukraine to obtain “another exit to Transnistria, where the facts of oppression of the Russian-speaking population are noted.”

 

DEFENSE UPDATES

📌 Estimated losses of the Russian Federation Army in Ukraine:

📌4,700 hectares of territory have already been inspected by sappers in the Kyiv region, about 18,000 munitions have been defused, according to the SES.

📌The Air Defense of the National Guard of Ukraine shot down an enemy helicopter K-52 “Alligator” in the Zaporizhzhia region. According to them, this is one of the newest combat units in the arsenal of the Russian army. This helicopter is equipped with an anti-tank missile system, a gun installation with a laser guidance system, air bombs and other weapons.

📌For the past 24 hours, air defense forces have destroyed 15 air targets: 3 aircraft (Su-34, Su-35, Su-25), 3 helicopters (two Mi-8 and one Ka-52), 9 UAVs (Orlan-10).

📌The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said that, according to Ukrainian data, the Russians were able to save only 58 people from the sunken cruiser “Moskva”. 

“We cannot confirm this, but, preliminarily, it appears to be true. But they are hiding it. A total of 510 people were on the cruiser. But if there are no people, no one to bury, there is no need to hold a ceremony. Missing, disappeared. This is the policy of the Russians,” — Danilov said.

📌According to the available information, on April 20, 2022, another batch of wounded servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (about 220 people) and more than 50 bodies of the killed invaders were taken to the central district hospital of Novoaydar.

📌In addition, the battalion tactical group of the 136th separate motorized infantry brigade, which operated in the Kurakhiv direction, suffered significant losses in manpower (up to 250 people) and lost up to 10 units of jet and barrel artillery systems.

📌The Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal and the Secretary of Defense of the United States Lloyd Austin discussed issues related to military support for Ukraine at a meeting in Washington.

📌For the first time in 19 years, Japan called the Kurils illegally occupied by Russia. “The northern territories are islands over which Japan has sovereignty, and they are an integral part of Japan’s territory, but they are now illegally occupied by Russia,” — the Blue Book of Diplomacy said.

📌A pro-Russian association which tried to shake up the situation in the south and agitate for separatist demonstrations was neutralized in Odesa — said Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odessa RSA.

📌British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested that a full-scale war in Ukraine could continue until the end of 2023, according to the BBC. 

Johnson said it was “a realistic possibility”. In his opinion, because of the catastrophic failure, the Russian elite, led by Russian President Vladimir Putin, cannot retreat. Moreover, the Russian army has a numerical advantage. 

Therefore, according to Johnson, the Russians will continue their “appalling, grinding approach driven by artillery, trying to grind the Ukrainians down.” Despite this, the British Prime Minister is convinced that the Russians will not be able to overcome the spirit of freedom of the Ukrainians, who did not have the ratio of military means on their sides.

 

HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS AND EVACUATION UPDATES

📌​​Russians refuse to open a corridor for civilians in Mariupol, pretending that they don’t understand a difference between a corridor for delivery of prisoners of war and a humanitarian corridor for evacuation of civilians, – Irina Vereshchuk

  • The Ukrainian military and about 1,000 of civilians are currently in Azovstal.
  • There are corridors for captivity. The Russians have opened the one, but we don’t need it. Because our military does not want to surrender to them.
  • There are humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from the combat zone. We need a corridor from Azovstal to evacuate women, children and the elderly. 
  • Only some official Russian speakers are not ashamed to tell lies that the humanitarian corridor has been provided but for some reason our civilians do not want to use it. 
  • The Russians are scared to attack Azovstal, but they are deliberately and cynically not releasing civilians from Azovstal, thus trying to put additional pressure on our military.
  • Ukraine reiterates its call to world leaders and the world community to immediately make every effort to open the Azovstal Humanitarian Corridor for women, children and the elderly. 

📌 At the same time, 70 people were evacuated from Luhansk region today. 45 people from Lysychansk are already heading to Dnipro. 25 people were evacuated on a school bus which went with people from Popasnaya which Russians opened fire on.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s daily statements 

🇺🇦 Unfortunately, Russia rejected the proposal to establish an Easter truce. This shows very well how the leaders of this state actually treat the Christian faith, one of the most joyful and important holidays. But we keep our hope. Hope for peace, hope that life will overcome death.

 

PUBLIC AND BUSINESS SUPPORT

📌 An exhibition of Ukrainian artists Masha Reva and Ivan Grabko will be held in Berlin. Under The Open Sky is a new exhibition by artists Masha Reva and Ivan Grabko, designed to support Ukraine and raise funds for humanitarian aid. The artists created all the works in Uzhhorod after they had to leave Kyiv due to the war.

📌The Venice Biennale will host the exhibition “This is Ukraine: Defending Freedom”, which is a joint project of the PinchukArtCentre and the President’s Office.

📌Belgian brewer “Anheuser-Busch InBev” has decided to sell its share in the Russian brewer “AB InBev Efes”. In addition, “Anheuser-Busch InBev” announced that it was introducing the Ukrainian beer brand Chernigivske to the markets of Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Austria and other countries.

All funds from the sale of Ukrainian beer will go to humanitarian aid.

📌 The song about the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky was released by Gogol Bordello members Yevhen Hudz and Serhiy Ryabtsev, as well as Sean Lennon, Billy Strings, Stuart Copeland from The Police and Les Claypool from Primus: “We jumped on creating affirmative music that calls for unity and pays respect to the real doers in Ukrainian defense, such as President Zelensky, who demonstrated previously unheard of stamina and heroism.” All the proceeds from the song will be donated to support the humanitarian organization Nova Ukraine.

📌On April 23, the exhibition “This is Ukraine: Defending Freedom” will open at the Slazola Grande della Misericordia Palazzo in Venice. It will feature works by Ukrainian and international artists “in the context of national history and culture.”

📌 Posters depicting Russian military crimes in Ukraine were placed at the Vilnius railway station. These posters are seen by passengers of the Moscow-Kaliningrad train. The train stops here, but passengers do not board or disembark.

📌 Markus Wasmeier, together with German volunteers, raised half a million euros in aid for Ukraine during the war. Already the second batch of humanitarian aid for the military, civilians and children arrived in Ukraine (in Uzhgorod) thanks to the two-time Olympic champion, world champion and world championship winner, skier Markus Wasmeier.

📌SKF leaves Russia. It is one of the largest manufacturers of bearings, lubrication systems and a host of other important products for mechanical engineering.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT OF UKRAINE

📌Slovenia will provide Ukraine with T-72 tanks, and in return will receive infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers from Germany, Reuters reports citing sources. 

📌US appoints a coordinator of military assistance to Ukraine. As the coordinator, a retired Lieutenant General Terry Wolf was assigned, according to CNN. “After years of a career at the intersection of the diplomacy and war, he is the right person to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs to win Russia’s bloody aggression war,” — Nathan Sales, former U.S. counterterrorism coordinator, commented on the appointment.

📌Russia has been deprived of a permanent observer at the Organization of American States status. The Organization of American States unites 34 states.  Among its goals — maintaining peace and security on the American continent, promoting the development of countries. The OAS has an institute of permanent observers, which includes Ukraine.

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