Russo-Ukraine War - 11 April 2022 - Day 47

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.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia's special military operation in Ukraine is aimed at ending the US-led world order, and mentioned that the United States seeks hegemony through the application of special rules and violations of international law.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily video address that Russia forces could use chemical weapons in Ukraine, but he did not say that chemical weapons have been already used. There were unconfirmed reports suggesting that chemical weapons were used in the besieged southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol. Azov regiment claimed that the Russians have dropped a “poisonous substance” in Mariupol from a drone, causing respiratory failure and vestibulo-atactic syndrome. Before Azov's statement about "unknown poisonous substance," Russian-backed militants of the so-called "DNR" threatened Mariupol defenders with a chemical attack.

Ukraine is expecting Russia to launch a major offensive in the east "soon", defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a briefing. "The enemy has almost finished preparation for assault on the east, the attack will begin soon," he said. "We don't know precisely when, but the preparation is almost over." After rebuffing a Russian offensive on Kyiv, Ukraine has for days said a renewed Moscow attack on its east and south is looming. "We are predicting that intense fighting will take place in these territories in the near future," Motuzyanyk said. "We cannot predict exactly when this will happen, these are sources from Western intelligence," he continued. "The Ukrainian army is ready."

US had seen indications that 20 Russian battalion tactical groups that pulled out of northern Ukraine into Belarus are heading east toward the Donbas. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said a convoy of Russian vehicles had been observed heading towards the town of Izyum, about 180km (112 miles) north of the city of Donetsk. But “it’s not clear to us how many vehicles are in this convoy and what exactly they’re bringing”, Kirby told reporters, adding that it appeared to be a mix of personnel-carrying vehicles as well as armoured vehicles “and maybe some artillery”. Kirby said “They’re repositioning, they’re refocusing on the Donbas”.

“If our forces in Donbas won’t be able to hold their positions, then the risk of a repeated offensive against Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast [province] is almost probable,” Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy warned his countrymen that the coming week would be as crucial as any since Russia launched its invasion. “Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state,” he said.

A Western official briefed that it is believed 37-38 BTGs of the 120-125 sent into Ukraine are now out of action. Nearly a third of the original combat force. The non-combat-effective number of BTGs has gone up. It was assessed at 29 last week. Now "in the region of" 37 or 38 BTGs. A Western official emphasised ongoing morale issues in the Russian army: "regardless of the reinforcing of their forces in the Donbas it is still unclear how they're going to overcome some of the morale issues....we've seen numbers of troops being unwilling to fight".

British military intelligence said Russia was seeking to boost troop numbers with personnel discharged from military service since 2012. “Russian forces’ prior use of phosphorous munitions in the Donetsk Oblast raised the possibility of their future employment in Mariupol as fighting for the city intensifies,” the UK Ministry of Defence wrote in its latest intelligence briefing. It also notes that Russia has continued shelling the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and that Ukrainian forces have repulsed several assaults “resulting in the destruction of Russian tanks, vehicles, and artillery equipment”. Russia continues using unguided bombs which “decreases their ability to discriminate” during attacks and increases “the risk of further civilian casualties,” the briefing added.

Mac William Bishop noted "They’ve learned from the enemy’s example the dangers of using inexperienced crews in armored assaults. The crew of one Russian BMP was three lieutenants, none from combat arms (one was a metrologist). This is... a non-standard BMP crew." Metrologist professionals are vital across various industries including electrical and electronics industries. They have several duties, including putting together electrical prototypes and systems, repairing electrical instruments and writing specifications of experimental electronic units.

Ukrainian forces are preparing for a “last battle” for control of Mariupol, soldiers in the city have said, adding they have been “pushed back” and “surrounded” by Russian forces. “Today will probably be the last battle, as … ammunition is running out,” the 36th marine brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces said in a post on Facebook. “It’s death for some of us, and captivity for the rest,” the brigade added. “Mariupol has been destroyed, there are tens of thousands of dead, but even despite this, the Russians are not stopping their offensive,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address to South Korean lawmakers.

The assault on the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol, where Ukrainian nationalists settled, may turn out to be ineffective and result in heavy losses for the DPR forces. This was announced on the air of Channel One by the representative of the People's Militia of the Donetsk People's Republic Eduard Basurin. Ukrainian neo-Nazis who have settled in bomb shelters on the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol will be destroyed with flamethrowers. This was announced by Basurin , on the air of the 60 Minutes program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel. According to him, the DPR fighters have already learned how to “smoke out” Ukrainian fighters from bomb shelters on the territory of other factories and industrial zones in Mariupol.

The mayor of Mariupol said that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the Russian siege of his city, and that the death toll could surpass 20,000, with corpses that were “carpeted through the streets". Mayor Vadym Boychenko also said Russian forces brought mobile cremation equipment to Mariupol to dispose of the bodies, and he accused Russian forces of refusing to allow humanitarian convoys into the city in an attempt to conceal the carnage. Russian forces have taken many bodies to a huge shopping centre where there are storage facilities and refrigerators, Boychenko said.

The line of defense of the armed forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region was defeated as a result of difficult battles, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. “Tank crews of the T-72B3-M defeated the enemy’s tank and anti-tank defense lines, waging difficult battles. The capture and retention of the settlement allowed the main forces to develop success in the offensive , ”the message says.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Russian special forces, five kilometers south of the city of Izyum , liquidated one of the leaders of the "volunteer Ukrainian corps" of the extremist "Right Sector" Taras Bobanich, who was responsible for hundreds of deaths of civilians in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics , including children. It was noted that since 2014, Bobanich participated in the punitive operation of the Kiev regime in the Donbass , personally gave orders for artillery shelling of residential areas of Donetsk and Luhansk with heavy weapons, was one of the ideologists of the so-called theory of "superiority of the Ukrainian race", took a personal part in the attacks and murders of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine .

Russian troops with high-precision air-launched missiles destroyed the base camp of the "Right Sector" * on the territory of the DPR controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said at a briefing. "In the area of the settlement of Novogrodovka, Donetsk region , the base camp of the Nazis of the Right Sector terrorist organization * was destroyed," he said.

In addition, the Russian military attacked the command post of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the town of Chasov Yar. “On the afternoon of April 11, in the area of the settlement of Chasov Yar <…>, the Kinzhal aviation missile system destroyed a buried, well-defended command post of a grouping of Ukrainian troops in the Donbass,” the general said. In just one day, aviation eliminated 42 Ukrainian targets, in particular, three command posts, two radar stations for illumination and guidance, a fuel depot, as well as 35 strongholds and areas where Ukrainian military equipment is concentrated.

Among the targets hit were a Ukrainian Tochka-U tactical missile launcher, two multiple rocket launchers in an underground shelter, two camouflaged clusters of weapons and military equipment, and up to 40 Ukrainian nationalists in the Selydove region of the Donetsk region.

"During the day, high-precision ground-based missiles in the areas of the settlements of Popasnaya , Novozvanovka and Zolote of the Luhansk region destroyed the command and observation post of the battalion, three company strongholds, two company tactical groups of the Ukrainian 24th mechanized brigade and a territorial defense brigade," Konashenkov said.

According to him, two places of accumulation of personnel, weapons and military equipment were also destroyed. In total, as a result of the strikes, up to 300 Ukrainian militants, over 50 armored combat vehicles and up to 25 vehicles for various purposes were destroyed.

Polish servicemen fired at the Belarusian checkpoint Peschatka, according to a message posted on Telegram by the Border Committee of Belarus. “On the night of April 10-11, Polish servicemen fired on the Belarusian road checkpoint Peschatka. The security forces also tried to blind the Belarusian border guards with strobe lights."

The purpose of the existence of the modern state of Ukraine is only to harm Russia. This was announced on April 11 by State Duma deputy Andrei Isaev (United Russia) on the air of the 60 Minutes program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel. According to him, the Western curators of the Kiev regime formed it only in order for Ukraine to wage war with Russia. Political scientist Rostislav Ishchenko explained why the military special operation in Ukraine has ended and now the real war begins. “There are no options for peace. There is only the option of victory. Like Zelensky, when he was elected, he said: “I will bring you peace. But this will be our peace." And Poroshenko said the same thing. The Americans are saying the same thing now: "We really want peace and strive for it, but it should be peace on our terms," the political scientist is sure. Peace on their terms without a military, political or economic catastrophe in the Russian Federation is impossible. The West will definitely try to arrange this catastrophe, emphasizes Ishchenko.

Russia's special operation in Ukraine is designed to put an end to the reckless course towards the complete dominance of the United States in the world. This was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Russia will never take a position subordinate to the West. This was announced on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel by Lavrov. “Our special military operation is designed to put an end to the reckless expansion and the reckless course towards the complete dominance of the United States and other Western countries under them in the international arena,” Lavrov said. “Russia, of course, with its history, with its traditions, is one of those countries that will never occupy a subordinate position,” the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.

Moscow will not pause its offensive for subsequent rounds of talks with Ukrainian officials. Sergey Lavrov told state television he saw no reason not to continue the discussions but insisted Russia will not halt what it describes as its “special military operation” when the two sides convene again. He said that Putin had ordered a suspension in military action during the first round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in late February but that Moscow’s position had changed since. “After we became convinced that the Ukrainians were not planning to reciprocate, a decision was made that during the next rounds of talks, there would be no pause [in military action] so long as a final agreement is not reached,” Lavrov added.

Zelenskyy criticised NATO and the UN in an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes. “When you are [working] at diplomacy, there are no results. I don’t have any more lives [to give]. I don’t have any more emotions. I’m no longer interested in their diplomacy that leads to the destruction of my country,” Zelenskyy said, after being asked about his outburst at NATO and the UN Security Council when he told the UNSC it should punish Russia or “dissolve itself”. He told CBS: “We are defending the right to live. I never thought this right was so costly. These are human values. So that Russia doesn’t choose what we should do and how I’m exercising my rights. That right was given to me by God and my parents.”

Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Ukraine needs “further military support to defend itself”, particularly “heavy weapons”, as it readies for an anticipated renewed Russian offensive in its eastern Donbas region. “But it is clear that Ukraine needs further military materials, especially heavy weapons, and now there is no time for excuses, now is the time for creativity and pragmatism, ” said Burbock, who arrived at a meeting of EU foreign ministers. Her remarks came after the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, earlier warned that the war is likely to intensify in the coming days. The United States said they did not intend to transfer MiG-29 fighters to Kiev through Germany.

Spiegel reported 11 April 2022 that the armaments group Rheinmetall was prepared to deliver main battle tanks to Ukraine. This is the Leopard 1, as CEO Armin Papperger told the " Handelsblatt". This is the predecessor of the Leopard 2 currently used in the Bundeswehr. "The first Leopard 1 could be delivered in six weeks" Papperger told the Handelsblatt. The prerequisite for this is the approval of the federal government. Most recently, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock indicated a change of course in the previously restrictive approval of exports of offensive weapons such as tanks. The Green politician said: »Ukraine needs more military material, above all heavy weapons.« According to the information, the Ukrainian soldiers can be trained to use the Leopard 1 within a few days. The prerequisite for this is that they are trained military personnel.

Zelensky said that Ukraine’s fate as the war shifts south and east depends on whether the United States will help match a surge in Russian weaponry in the regions. “To be honest, whether we will be able to (survive) depends on this,” Zelensky said in an interview broadcast on US television. “Unfortunately, I don’t have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need." Zelensky said he was grateful to Biden for US military aid to date but added that he “long ago” forwarded a list of specific items Ukraine desperately needed and that history would judge Biden’s response. “He has the list,” Zelensky said. “President Biden can enter history as the person who stood shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainian people who won and chose the right to have their own country. (This) also depends on him.”

Russia will take legal action if the West tries to force it to default on its sovereign debt, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper, sharpening Moscow's tone in its financial wrestle with the West. Russia faces its first external sovereign default in more than a century after it made arrangements to make an international bond repayment in roubles last week, even though the payment was due in US dollars. It had been due on April 4 to make a payment of $649 million to holders of two of its sovereign bonds, but the US Treasury blocked the transfer, preventing Russia from using any of its frozen foreign currency reserves to service its debt. "Of course we will sue, because we have taken all the necessary steps to ensure that investors receive their payments," Siluanov told the newspaper in an interview.

Russia has lost about 19,500 soldiers since it invaded Ukraine on February 24, Ukraine’s military has said. It also lost 725 tanks, 1,923 armoured vehicles, 154 planes and 137 helicopters, the General Staff of the Armed Forces said on Facebook, adding that the figures are approximate because of the ongoing hostilities. On 08 April, the Kremlin admitted to “significant losses”, but did not specify the number. NATO said on March 24 that Moscow lost up to 15,000 soldiers in Ukraine.

As of February 2021 estimates were that Russian active tank holdings included 435 T-90, 480 T-80, and about 2030 T-72 MBTs. With somewhat fewer than 3000 in service, losses of over 600 would be quite significant. Furthermore, some are damaged, others weren't actually in working shape, and some are needed elsewhere.

Nearly 45,000 more Ukrainian refugees fled in 24 hours, the UN said, although many were trapped in their regions or staying put hoping the war will end soon. The UN refugee agency UNHCR said 4,547,735 Ukrainians had fled the country since the Russian invasion on February 24 – a figure up 44,781 from the previous day. The UN's International Organization for Migration estimates that 7.1 million people have fled their homes but are still in Ukraine.

Jerome at Military Land reported