Russo-Ukraine War - 06 April 2022 - Day 42

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country.

“Every Ukrainian alive right now is experiencing survivor’s guilt, to a certain extent,” says Roman Kechur, a Ukrainian psychiatrist and president of the Ukrainian confederation of psychoanalytic therapies. “The ones who left the country feel guilty toward those who stayed. Those who stayed feel guilty toward those who are in the war-torn east. Those in the east feel guilty toward those who joined the territorial defence forces. Those in the territorial defence forces feel guilty toward the army. And those in the army feel guilty toward those who died,” he says. “Only the dead don’t feel any guilt.”

All parties to the armed conflict, including foreign fighters, are obligated to abide by international humanitarian law, or the laws of war. Applicable law includes Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and customary international law. Common Article 3 prohibits abuses against “[p]ersons taking no active part in the hostilities,” including captured combatants and detained civilians, such as “violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture.” The deliberate killing or other abuse of a person in custody is a war crime. Commanders whose forces commit war crimes that go undeterred or unpunished may be criminally liable as a matter of command responsibility.

Russia will be able to achieve the goal of its operation in Ukraine and guarantee the safety of its citizens, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the Bundestag "It has to remain our goal that Russia does not win this war," saying that this was the reason behind sanctions against Russia, sending arms to Ukraine and taking in Ukrainian refugees. Scholz said the "perpetrators and those who commissioned them have to be held accountable" and once again called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war. He repeated Germany's intention to reduce its dependency on Russian fossil fuels, pledging to fast-track terminals for liquefied natural gas in Germany. He also highlighted the need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels in general. "Now more than ever, we will become independent from the use of fossil fuels," Scholz said.

The North Atlantic Alliance could not see signs of a revision of Russia's "plans to establish control over the territory of Ukraine," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said before a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers. According to him, this is why the NATO bloc should strengthen its defenses and prepare long-term anti-Russian sanctions.

Four brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with a total strength of up to 15,000 people are located in Lisichansk and Severodonetsk, on the outskirts of which fighting is now underway, said Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the LPR in the political subgroup of the contact group on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass.

The Associated Press says its reporters saw “the small, blackened foot of a child” in the tangle of a pile of six burned corpses in Bucha. “What we’ve seen in Bucha is not the random act of a rogue unit,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. “It’s a deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape, to commit atrocities.”

The Russian side is collecting information about war crimes committed by Ukrainian security forces against Russian servicemen in order to send them to international organizations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. She pointed to the facts of "inhuman atrocities by the Ukrainian security forces" against Russian prisoners of war. "I would like to say that all work on the information provided is carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our points, we collect this information. Of course, we act in strict coordination with our colleagues from the Ministry of Defense, the Investigative Committee, the Prosecutor's Office in order to send this all to international organizations," the diplomat said.

Evidence of Russia's innocence in the crime in the city of Bucha in Ukraine is enough for this topic to be closed from this point of view, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. "There is so much evidence of the innocence of the Russian side that this topic should be closed from this point of view, but open from the point of view of a direct accusation of the Ukrainian regime, the Kiev regime, and all those who assist it in this or on whose orders this is all being done," - said the diplomat.

The Ukrainian side is preparing another provocative materials about the death of civilians allegedly as a result of the actions of the Russian military, said the head of the Interdepartmental Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine - the head of the National Center for Defense Control of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev. The Russian Defense Ministry had evidence that Kiev is preparing new provocations like the one carried out in Bucha and warns the West that such a scenario will not work this time, said Mizintsev.

The Ukrainian side prepared provocations with the participation of civilians in a number of settlements in the Sumy and Kiev regions, as in Bucha, said the head of the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev. The colonel-general emphasized that the crime of the Kiev regime in Bucha should be thoroughly investigated with the involvement of international human rights organizations. "But the Ukrainian authorities do not stop there. At present, preparations for such provocations involving the civilian population in the cities of Konotop and Trostyanets in the Sumy region, as well as in Borodyanka and Katyuzhanka in the Kiev region, have been completed," Mizintsev said.

German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said an analysis of noncommercial satellite images showed victims in Bucha had been lying on a road since at least March 10. "Credible evidence shows that Russian armed and security forces were deployed in the area from March 7 up to and including March 30. They were also engaged in interrogation of prisoners who were subsequently executed. These are the findings we have," Hebestreit said. "The statements made by the Russian side that these were staged scenes and that they were not responsible for the killings, are thus not tenable in our view."

On the Southern front, the Ukrainian side reported on the fighting on the border of the Nikolaev and Dnepropetrovsk regions. They also say about some “surrounded Russians in the Kherson region” , who offered to surrender (a good offer, given the attitude of the Nazis towards prisoners) and an offensive is announced in this direction. In fact, there are no surrounded Russians in the villages of Kherson region. Moreover, there was confirmation that Arestovich's recent statement that the Russian army was leaving the Nikolaev region was a lie. There was photographic evidence that another convoy with humanitarian aid arrived in Snigirevka, Mykolaiv region, with the support of the Russian Armed Forces. 20 tons of food and 8,000 liters of bottled water delivered. The Ukrainian military, standing at checkpoints, intimidated local residents to the west: “We will soon enter and cut out all the bitches.” While the Russians were standing quite tightly in this direction, there was no continuous front line as such. All attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to do something in this direction were defeated, bringing heavy losses.

On the Eastern front, following calls for the evacuation of civilians from the Slavyansko-Kramatorsk and Lisichansk agglomerations, preparations were announced for evacuation from the Dnipropetrovsk region. Along the way, there was replenishment and work of new equipment in the Severodonetsk direction and in other places. There are fights everywhere : in Rubezhnoye, the cleaning of the industrial zone, in Popasnaya in urban areas. The LPR also reports that they stormed the 29th checkpoint (the position became known throughout the entire period of the war in Donbass - battles had been fought over the 29th and 31st checkpoints since the end of 2014).

Izyum was again under fire from Ukrainian rocket artillery today. Again, "cassettes" were torn over the city center. Russian troops were advancing towards Barvenkovo and Slavyansk, in this direction they have occupied the village of Brazhkovka, Malaya Kamyshevakha with battles and are repelling counterattacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. High-precision missiles struck at the railway junction in Lozova, which is important for supplying the Armed Forces of Ukraine - a large accumulation of foreign-made equipment was destroyed. From Ugledar to Gorlovka, the RF Armed Forces were advancing slowly but surely.

In the Donetsk and Kharkov region, a school in Donetsk and a residential area in Makeevka suffered. The center of Mariupol, like other boilers, is being cleared. The Russian flag flies over the building of the regional SBU. The "Azov militants and other neo-Nazis" were pushed back to the embankment and the seaport. In the evening, photos of the Donbass control ship of the Ukrainian Navy appeared, smoking after the strikes.

The United States and its allies intend to provide Ukraine with 10 Javelin anti-tank missile systems (ATGMs) "for every Russian tank," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said. US President Joe Biden approved a $100m transfer of Javelin armour-piercing missiles to Ukraine, according to an administration official. The European Union will continue to supply weapons to Ukraine, despite calls to abandon such a policy in order to end the conflict as soon as possible and save lives, said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

The British authorities are planning to supply Kiev with a batch of Mastiff or Jackal combat vehicles, The Times reported, citing its sources. In addition, London intends to send instructors to one of Ukraine's neighboring countries to teach Ukrainian militants how to operate equipment. In the near future, the UK is also going to announce additional deliveries of man-portable anti-aircraft and anti-tank missile systems to Kiev. According to journalists, the British government continues to increase the volume of lethal weapons sent to Ukraine, believing that the next three weeks will be "critical" for the course of a special military operation.

The Latvian authorities have sent Kiev military equipment and weapons worth over €200 million from the defense reserves of the republic. This was announced by the Latvian Ministry of Defense. The report cited by Interfax specifies that this delivery includes: individual equipment, dry rations, individual weapons, ammunition, anti-tank weapons and Stinger man-portable air defense systems (SAM). Also, the Ministry of Defense of the Baltic country indicated that in connection with this it will be necessary for him to replenish the reserves.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said that only the military strengthening of the Ukrainian armed forces, and not anti-Russian sanctions, would stop the conflict on the territory of Ukraine. According to Janshi, "economic sanctions against Russia are important" , but only they will not be able to stop the war - they can only make the Russian Federation "more inclined to negotiate, and then not immediately. "

For this Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Russian army has lost nearly 400 tanks on the Ukrainian battlefield. Many people feel that the loss is not big. The Russian army still has a lot of unused inventory, at least tens of thousands of tanks. In fact, the Russian army Not rich at all in tanks. The Russian army has 2,600 tanks in active service, of which 1,340 are newly manufactured or refurbished in the past 20 years, more than 300 T-90 and so on.

A parliamentary investigation in the Russian Federation established the facts of the deliberate distribution of banknotes infected with tuberculosis in the Luhansk People's Republic in 2020, Igor Kirillov, head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, said at an informal meeting of the UN Security Council on the "Arria formula". "As part of a parliamentary investigation conducted by the Russian Federation, the facts of the deliberate distribution in 2020 of banknotes infected with the Asian strain of tuberculosis among minors on the territory of the Luhansk People's Republic were established. The organizers of this crime took into account the behavior of children who have a habit of putting everything in their mouths and taking food with unwashed hands. The investigation is ongoing," Kirillov said.

Ukrainian intelligence agencies are planning to blow up a chlorine storage facility in the Kharkiv region and accuse Russia of creating a chemical disaster. This was stated by the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Major General Igor Konashenkov. "According to confirmed information, in the city of Pervomaisky, Kharkiv region, Ukrainian special services are preparing a major provocation using poisonous substances. On the territory of the Khimprom production association, SBU employees mined a storage facility with 120 tons of chlorine. This storage facility is planned to be blown up to accuse Russia of allegedly creating a chemical disaster that caused loss of local residents," he said.

The Russian Armed Forces destroyed a fuel base with high-precision air-launched missiles in the Kharkov region. Igor Konashenkov told reporters. "High-precision air-launched missiles in the Kharkiv region destroyed a fuel base near the settlement of Chuguev, from which fuel was supplied for the equipment of the Ukrainian troops," Konashenkov said. According to the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, also at the Lozova railway station in the Kharkiv region, an accumulation of foreign-made military equipment and weapons supplied to supply the Ukrainian armed forces was destroyed.

Russian military high-precision missiles in the Donetsk region destroyed the command post of the Ukrainian 56th brigade and the base of the nationalists, said Konashenkov. "High-precision ground-based missiles in the Donetsk region destroyed: the command post of the Ukrainian 56th separate motorized infantry brigade in the area of the village of Novogrodovka, as well as the nationalist base in the village of Grodovka," he said.

Since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian armed forces have destroyed 408 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 216 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), 1,987 tanks and armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Konashenkov said. "In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the following have been destroyed: 125 aircraft, 93 helicopters, 408 unmanned aerial vehicles, 227 anti-aircraft missile systems, 1,987 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 216 multiple rocket launchers, 862 field artillery guns and mortars, and also 1,888 units of special military vehicles," he said.

The Russian Aerospace Forces hit 34 Ukrainian military targets during the day, including an artillery battery and two supply depots, Konashenkov said. "During the day, operational-tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 34 military facilities of Ukraine. Among them, an artillery battery, two logistics depots, as well as 9 strongholds and areas of concentration of military equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces," he said. According to Konashenkov, a Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down in the air by Russian air defense systems near Taranovka in the Kharkiv region.

More than 4.27 million refugees from Ukraine have arrived in its neighboring countries since the beginning of the Russian military special operation. During the day, their number increased by more than 34 thousand, reported the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The latest and still growing count had 2,469,657 people entering Poland, 648,410 in Romania, 396,448 in Moldova, 394,728 in Hungary, 350,632 in Russia, 301,405 in Slovakia, and 16,274 in Belarus. Most of the arrivals have been women and children. All men aged between 18 and 60 have been prevented from leaving Ukraine to stay and fight.

Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said more than 600,000 people evacuated into Russia during the conflict, denying Kyiv’s claim of mass deportations. “We’re not talking about any kind of coercion or abduction, but rather the voluntary decision by these people,” he told the Security Council.

Ukraine says that Russia has lost more than 18,000 combatants in the war, whereas Western countries, including the United States, put the losses at around 10,000. The Russian authorities have reported their losses as a fraction of those numbers.

Jerome at Military Land reported