The situation at the front
According to the evening summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the most fierce battles over the past day were fought for Bakhmut and Maryinka. In total, 40 attacks were repulsed in the following directions:
– Limansky – south of Dubrava and in the area of Belogorovka;
– Bakhmut – in Bakhmut (about 15 attacks);
– Avdeevsky and Maryinsky – in the Novokalinovo and Pervomaisky districts, as well as in the Maryinka area (about 15 attacks).
In the Volynsky, Polessky, Seversky, Slobodsky, Kupyansky, Shakhtyorsky, Zaporozhye and Kherson directions, the situation remains unchanged.
The Russian army, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, launched 19 missile and 6 air strikes, carried out about 20 attacks from the MLRS. Of the 19 missile strikes, 13 were delivered from the S-300 air defense system against Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. Aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine inflicted 5 strikes.
The daily report of the British Ministry of Defense is dedicated to the battle for Bakhmut. According to the agency, Wagner PMC mercenaries and Russian military personnel have improved cooperation and resumed the offensive.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces still hold the western districts of the city, but during the previous 48 hours they have come under particularly intense artillery fire from the Russian army, the report said.
Assault groups of PMC Wagner continue to advance in the central part of Bakhmut, and Russian airborne troops cover them from the flanks – to the north and south.
According to the British agency, the Ukrainian forces are experiencing significant difficulties in resupplying, but they managed to withdraw in an orderly manner from the positions they had to leave.
According to a volunteer who returned from the front line of the defense of Bakhmut, whom The Insider managed to talk to, there are supply routes for the Bakhmut garrison with “mainland”, and this is not a single road, but several directions through the fields. “The problem is in the monstrous mudslide – the black soil has turned into impassable mud, in which almost any equipment gets stuck, with the exception of the good old M113, which proved to be exceptionally good in off-road conditions,” he said.
“The fighters say that three different military formations are attacking the city from three sides – in the center, the fighters of the Wagner PMC, from the south – regular Russian troops, from the northern flank – the remnants of what was called the "People's Militia of the DPR and LPR". Interestingly, the Ukrainian military is talking about qualitative changes in the composition of PMCs – there are no more prisoners with their “meat assaults”, professional special forces groups trained in urban combat tactics are working, which methodically occupy house after house.
The supply of shells is periodic in nature – the Russian command, taught by numerous "bavovnas", tries not to keep large warehouses near the front line, instead of them, a network of small ones has been created in the shallow rear (although they sometimes blow up), so if a truck with / k, then the artillery begins to work out all the targets that were scheduled in the days of calm …
Since there is no interaction between regular troops and Chekashniks as a class, it is not uncommon for positions already occupied by the Wagnerites to be shelled, just because a few days ago they were designated as fortified areas of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
shelling
As a result of the rocket attack on Slavyansk, eight people were killed . According to Ukrainian media, rescuers pulled a child born in 2020 alive from the rubble, but he died in an ambulance.
According to preliminary data, Russian forces struck with S-300 missiles. Five high-rise and five private houses were damaged, as well as a store, two public buildings and three cars. Several people may remain under the rubble.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the attack on Sloviansk:
“The evil state again demonstrates its essence. Just killing people in broad daylight. Destroying all life. There will be fair accountability for every manifestation of terrorism.”
The Russian authorities have not yet commented on the attack on Slavyansk.
On Friday, Russian troops attacked an enterprise in the Semyonovsky district of the Chernihiv region with guided bombs. According to preliminary data, one person was injured, there is damage.
The National Police and the State Emergency Service are working at the scene. The Ukrainian authorities do not report which enterprise came under fire.
In the Zaporozhye region, Russian Su-35 aircraft launched air strikes on the settlement of Orekhov. Private houses and the building of the Youth Sports School were damaged.
Losses
Ukrainian armored vehicles FV103 Spartan and MT-LB were destroyed by Russian troops in Bakhmut. All crew members survived. The British-made FV103 Spartan armored personnel carrier was bought by volunteers and handed over to Ukrainian troops. This is the first confirmed loss of FV103.
Losses of special forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
The war in Ukraine has caused significant damage to the Russian GRU special forces brigades, reports The Washington Post, citing American intelligence documents “leaked” into a group on the Discord platform.
At the beginning of the war, the Russian command sent special forces to the front line, as a result of which these units suffered serious losses. The documents note that those who planned ground operations had no confidence in the fighting qualities of conventional infantry.
As a rule, special forces are used to carry out secret high-risk operations of high significance. Since during the initial phase of the war in Ukraine, four of the five brigades of the special forces of the Russian army involved in the campaign suffered huge losses in personnel and weapons and military equipment (WME), their combat effectiveness subsequently decreased sharply. The text of the "leaked" reports emphasizes that it takes at least four years to train a special forces soldier.
The documents contain satellite photographs of the permanent deployment point of the 22nd Separate Special Purpose Brigade (22 ObrSpN; subordinate to the GRU). The first image, taken in November 2021, shows a large amount of equipment. The following photo, dated November 2022, after the return of the brigade from the combat zone, demonstrates the exorbitant level of disposal of weapons and military equipment. For example, less than half of the Tiger armored vehicles returned to the base.
According to US intelligence estimates, the 22nd ObrSpN and two other brigades of Russian special forces have lost from 90% to 95% of their combat capability.
Armament and military equipment
The family of Russian “tankensteins” (improvised military equipment) has been replenished with another model: a photograph of a 2M-3M automatic naval gun mounted on a Soviet ATS-59G artillery tractor has appeared on Telegram channels.
Earlier in our reports, we mentioned similar vehicles based on lightly armored MT-LB tractors. The fact that the ATS-59G tractor does not have armor speaks in favor of the CIT group's hypothesis that such vehicles can be used in the rear to combat numerous Ukrainian drones. However, their effectiveness in this role is doubtful due to the lack of radar and night vision devices.
Morawiecki VS Medvedev
Ukraine has the right to strike at the territory of Russia, and such actions do not violate any agreements with the countries that support it, said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. He also said that there is no need to worry about a possible war between NATO and Russia, because the Russian Federation will lose this war.
According to Morawiecki, Russia's war against Ukraine could last for several more years. “We do not calculate any exact date, but simply observe what is happening at the front, on the battlefield. And in accordance with this, we are trying to adapt to the situation, cooperating with our diplomacy, with our partners in Western Europe, in order to support Ukraine,” he said.
In response to Morawiecki's statements, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev called him an "idiot" and threatened to destroy Poland. “I don’t know who will win or lose such a war, but given the role of Poland as an outpost of NATO in Europe, this country will definitely disappear along with its underdeveloped prime minister,” said the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
About the main events of the war on April 13 – in the previous report: “ Russian tanks in America, the Russian Ministry of Defense hides losses from the FSB, the Armed Forces of Ukraine blow up the abandoned buildings in Bakhmut. What's going on at the front ."