The situation at the front
PMC Wagner mercenaries continue assault operations in Bakhmut. In the pro-Russian Telegram channels, photos of Wagnerites appeared at the entrance to the district administration on Sibirtseva Street.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ukrainian forces over the past 24 hours hit two Russian command posts, two manpower concentration areas, a radar station and an electronic warfare station.
Ukrainian military retreating blow up buildings in Bakhmut. According to the Moscow calling Telegram channel, the blown up houses, judging by the map, were located on the territory controlled by the PMC Wagner.
Oleksandr Sladkov, a reporter for the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, also wrote about the bombings of previously abandoned buildings by the Ukrainian military:
“During the retreat, Ukrainian soldiers destroy residential buildings that they have turned into fortresses. Trying to bury our soldiers under the ruins. Mining the territory behind you is, by the way, an old experience.”
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russians continue to focus their main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions.
The GRAY ZONE Telegram channel provides footage of the use of what appears to be 9M22S incendiary munitions for the Grad MLRS (which is believed to be associated with the Wagner PMC) on a residential area in Bakhmut.
The CIT, which has previously assessed such strikes, classifies 9M22S as an air-delivered incendiary munition (because the missiles explode in the air, scattering incendiary elements), and considers their use on residential areas where civilians remain a war crime.
shelling
Russian troops fired at the Dneprovsky district of Kherson, hit the territory of the park, one person died, the Kherson OVA reported .
In addition, Russian aircraft reportedly attacked the village of Zmievka in the Berislav region, hitting the building of a local school. As a result of the attack, a 62-year-old supply manager, who was inside the building at that moment, was killed, and a 55-year-old school watchman was injured.
The authorities of the "LNR" reported that Ukrainian troops fired three rockets from the MLRS HIMARS at the village of Svatovo. According to them, the building of the central district hospital, administrative buildings of the hospital, as well as the Niva stadium were damaged.
Russian tanks reached America
Russian T-90A "Maestro" was spotted in Louisiana. Previously, it belonged to the 27th separate tank brigade, and was abandoned in Kirillovka, Kupyansky district, during the retreat from the Kharkov region on September 25, 2022. It is still unknown why he was sent to the United States: to study or to participate in an exhibition of captured equipment.
The Russian retreat in the Kharkiv region, which the Russian Defense Ministry called a "regrouping of troops," was chaotic – this was also indicated by the fact that the Russians were abandoning military equipment. According to the average estimates given by GRAY ZONE, the Armed Forces of Ukraine captured as trophies more than 90 tanks, more than 150 infantry fighting vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and other armored combat vehicles, as well as more than 50 different artillery systems, including multiple rocket launchers.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation hides losses from the FSB
Journalists continue to study secret documents that have appeared on the network. The New York Times analyzed another document of the US military, according to which the confrontation between the Russian law enforcement agencies may be more significant than previously thought.
According to documents reviewed by the journalists, the FSB believes that the Ministry of Defense is hiding data on casualties. The military does not include in their reports the losses of the Russian Guard, PMC Wagner, as well as units sent to Ukraine from Chechnya. The Russian military is still unwilling to "report bad news to the higher command," according to the United States.
According to the document, which dates back to February 28, the FSB itself estimates that Russia has lost about 110,000 people killed and wounded in Ukraine. The data provided by the Ministry of Defense is not provided in the document. The last time the Russian military officially reported on losses was on September 21. Then Sergei Shoigu said that they accounted for 5937 people killed.
Other leaked documents stated that the US Department of Defense Intelligence Agency estimated that Russia had suffered 189,500–223,000 casualties, including 35,500–43,000 killed and 154,000–180,000 wounded. Ukraine lost between 124,500 and 131,000 people, including 15,500-17,500 killed and 109,000-113,500 wounded, Reuters reports .
Also, the document, which The New York Times writes about, talks about the confrontation between the Ministry of Defense and the founder of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin. It is noted that in order to resolve this conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin organized a meeting with the participation of Prigozhin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. According to these data, it took place on February 22.
The fact that they are trying to resolve the conflict at the highest level may be indicated by the fact that in the official reports of the Ministry of Defense they began to mention PMC Wagner.
According to the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, the airborne troops are supporting the assault detachments of the PMC Wagner on the flanks, blocking the transfer of reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to Bakhmut.
What else became known from the leak
The New York Times journalists have identified a person who may be involved in the leak of secret Pentagon documents – this is 21-year-old US Air Force soldier Jack Teixeira. He is the moderator of the Thug Shaker Central private online chat where these documents first appeared.
Also according to secret documents, China planned to secretly send weapons to Russia at the beginning of the year, disguising military equipment as civilian. This was reported by journalists of The Washington Post.
Last September, in the airspace over the Black Sea , a Russian Su-27 fighter jet mistakenly fired a missile at a British reconnaissance aircraft . What happened could be regarded as an act of military aggression. According to secret US documents cited by The New York Times journalists, this was due to a misunderstanding between the Su-27 pilot and the ground-based radar operator. The pilot fired a missile at the British aircraft, but the launch failed. About 30 people could be on board the British Boeing RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft at the moment when the Russian fighter, as the document says, “almost shot down” it.
Arms deliveries
The German government gave permission to Poland to transfer MiG-29 fighter jets, which were previously in service with the GDR, to Ukraine. Der Tagesspiegel writes about it. Poland wants to give Ukraine five aircraft that Germany handed over to Poland in 2002. To do this, she had to get the approval of Germany.
In early April, Poland has already handed over several MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. Until last year, Poland had at least 29 aircraft of this type.
Russia, meanwhile, according to Ukrainian military intelligence, decided to launch the production of cruise missiles, the stocks of which were greatly depleted over the autumn-winter. Alexei Gromov, head of the Main Operational Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said at a briefing that Russia is tentatively planning to start serial production of Kh-50 type strategic air-launched cruise missiles in June, which will make it possible to intensify strikes on Ukrainian territory closer to autumn.
On February 7, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that Russia had less than 100 Caliber, Kh-101 and Kh-555 high-precision missiles left. According to the then estimate of Ukrainian intelligence, the production of missiles was no more than 30-40 per month. The last massive rocket attack on Ukrainian cities took place on March 9, 2023, more than a month ago.
About the main events of the war on April 3 – in the previous report: “ The capture of the railway station in Bakhmut, Russia is waiting for the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye region. What's going on at the front ."