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Russo-Ukraine War - 01 April 2023 - Day 402

A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

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. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) 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. 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]

The UK Ministry of Defence reported that on 11 January 2023, Russian Chief of the General Staff (CGS) General Valery Gerasimov took personal command of the 'special military operation' in Ukraine.

Gerasimov's tenure has been characterised by an effort to launch a general winter offensive with the aim of extending Russian control over the whole of the Donbas region. Eighty days on, it is increasingly apparent that this project has failed.

On several axes across the Donbas front, Russian forces have made only marginal gains at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties, largely squandering its temporary advantage in personnel gained from the autumn's 'partial mobilisation'.

After ten years as CGS, there is a realistic possibility that Gerasimov is pushing the limits of how far Russia's political leadership will tolerate failure.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day, Russia launched 2x missile strikes, 25x air strikes and launched 6x attacks from MLRS.

Without the desired results on the battlefield, Russia continues to cynically wage war against peaceful citizens. Today, the russian Federation again launched missile attacks on civilian objects in the city of Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast, and other populated areas of Ukraine, using ballistic missiles. There are wounded among the civilian population.

The probability of further missile and air strikes on the entire territory of Ukraine remains high.

Russia is concentrating its main efforts on conducting offensive actions on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mar'yinka axes. During this day, units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine repelled more than 50x Russian attacks. The battles for the districts of Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mar'yinka remain the fiercest. Volyn', Polissya, Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: the operational situation has not changed significantly.

The top political leadership of the Republic of Belarus continues to support Russian aggression, provides airspace and territory to Russia.

The training of units of the territorial troops of the armed forces of the Russian Federation continues at the Belarusian training grounds. At the same time, no signs of the formation of Russian offensive groups were detected. During the day, Russian forces shelled the settlements of Oleksandrivka, Chernihiv Oblast; Baranivka, Volfine, Katerynivka, Kindrativka, Novomykolaivka, Popivka of the Sumy Oblast, as well as Veterinarne, Zybyne, Okhrimivka and Krasne Pershe settlements in the Kharkiv Oblast.
Kupyansk axis: Dvorichna, Kutkivka, Zapadne, Masyutivka, Kupyansk, Pishchane, Krokhmalne and Novoselivske of the Kharkiv Oblast were under Russian fire in the.
Lyman axis: during the day, Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensives in the areas south of Kreminnaya and Verkhnokamyansk. Nevske, Kolodyazi, Dibrova, Belogorivka and Rozdolivka of the Luhansk Oblast were hit by artillery fire.
Bakhmut axis: Russia does not stop the assault on the city of Bakhmut. However, our defenders courageously hold the settlement. At the same time, Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in Bohdanivka, Donetsk Oblast. During the day, Russian forces shelled the settlements of Vasyukivka, Orihovo-Vasylivka, Novomarkove, Bakhmut, Ivanivske, Chasiv Yar, Kurdyumivka, Diliivka, New York and Druzhkivka.
Avdiivka and Mar'yinka axes: Russian forces unsuccessfully conducted offensive actions in the areas of Avdiivka, Severnoy, Pervomaisky and Mar'yinka. Fired at Avdiivka, Orlivka, Netaylovka, Krasnohorivka, Georgiivka, and Mar'yinka.
Shakhtars'k axis: during the day, Russian forces actively used UAVs to adjust artillery fire, shelled the settlements of Pobyeda, Novomykhailivka, Vugledar, Velika Novosilka of the Donetsk Oblast.
Zaporizhzhia and Kherson axiss, Russian forces did not conduct active operations, improving defensive lines and positions. They carried out shelling of populated areas, which are next to the line of military confrontation. Among them are Vremivka of Donetsk Oblast; Burlatske, Zatyshsha, Gulyaipole, Zaliznychne, Biloghirya, Mala Tokmachka, Mali Shcherbaki, Kamianske of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, as well as Dudchany, Kachkarivka, Zmiivka, Beryslav, Vesele, Mykolaivka, Burgunka, Kizomys of the Kherson Oblast and the city of Kherson.

The Russian occupiers continue the forced passporting of the population of the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. In particular, in the city of Tokmak, Russian invaders are restricting the movement of Ukrainian citizens who have not received passports of the russian federation at checkpoints. The Russian occupiers purposefully and deliberately search vehicles without further opportunity to enter the city. In case of absence of a Russian passport, citizens of Ukraine are threatened with a ban on entering the city. In turn, FSB representatives, during house searches, threaten local citizens of Ukraine with job loss and employment problems without a Russian passport.

During the day, the Ukrainian Air Force carried out 8x strikes on the concentration areas of the Russian occupiers, and units of missile and artillery troops hit 3x areas of concentration of manpower, weapons and military equipment and 2x Russian ammunition depots.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that military expert Boris Rozhin said that the information that appeared in some media about the occupation of the PMC "Wagner" by the administration of Bakhmut (Artemovsk) is premature. On the morning of April 1, the distance from the advanced positions of the "Wagnerites" to the mentioned building was 200-250 meters. Progress is being made, but slowly due to the stubborn resistance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). However, in the late afternoon, new reports began to appear about the advance of the assault troops in the area, but they are still waiting for confirmation.

In addition, the hacking of enemy defenses in the southwestern quarters of the city continues. The situation near Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Ivanovsk and Khromov did not undergo significant changes.

Also today it became known about the elimination of nationalist Daniil Lyashuk near Bakhmut. After the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in 2014, he was involved in torture, kidnapping and other crimes in the Donbass. It is noteworthy that even the post-Maidan authorities considered the list of his offenses sufficient to imprison the militant, but released Lyashuk after the start of the special operation.

The situation on other sectors of the front

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, during the day, the Russian Armed Forces along the entire line of contact liquidated or wounded about 350 enemy soldiers, 16 vehicles, an armored personnel carrier, 9 armored vehicles, 3 D-30 howitzers, 1 D-20, 2 Akatsiya self-propelled guns and 1 Gvozdika ", towed gun "Hyacinth-B" and rocket launcher "Grad".

Artillery and aviation hit 86 enemy artillery positions and 92 places of accumulation of manpower and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. An ammunition depot of the 127th Territorial Defense Brigade was destroyed in Izbitsky.

Fighter aircraft shot down a MiG-29 of the Ukrainian Air Force over Koptev and an Mi-8 over Novovasilevka. Air defense systems intercepted nine shells from HIMARS and Smerch rocket systems, as well as five enemy drones.

Today, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired at the border settlements of the Kursk region, namely Iskra, Kleven and Bogoslovka. There were no casualties, but there were problems with the power supply, which are now being resolved by the relevant services.