The so-called Donetsk People’s Republic has said that it took out a Ukrainian military position in a residential area of Avdiivka.
The images purport to show pro-Russian forces firing mortar shells at Ukrainian positions in a damaged suburban area.
The images were obtained from the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Tuesday, 4th April, along with a statement claiming: “Mortarmen of the 87th Regiment smashed the enemy’s PVD and mortar positions in the Avdiivka direction.
“The calculation of the UAV of the 87th Regiment of the 1st Donetsk Army Corps (formerly the 119th regiment of the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic) revealed the enemy’s PVD and mortar positions in a residential area in the Avdiivka direction. Supporting the offensive in this direction, regimental crews of 120-mm mortars inflicted a fire defeat on the opened positions of Ukrainian nationalists.”
We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 405th day of the full-scale war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 4th April 2023, Russia had lost about 175,690 personnel, 3,627 tanks, 6,999 armoured combat vehicles, 2,697 artillery units, 528 multiple launch rocket systems, 280 air defence systems, 306 warplanes, 291 helicopters, 2,277 drones, 911 cruise missiles, 18 warships, 5,562 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 298 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Finland will formally become the 31st member of the world’s largest military alliance today (Tuesday, 4th April).
Stoltenberg said that the last country to ratify Finland’s membership, Turkey, would hand over its official texts to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with the NATO Secretary-General then inviting Finland to do likewise.
Russia has reportedly said in response that it will increase its defences near the Finnish border if NATO troops are deployed inside the country.
Mike Pompeo, the former US Secretary of State, visited Ukraine on Monday and said that he will work towards the United States providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles.
Asked if he was in favour of supplying Kyiv with F-16s and long-range missiles, Pompeo reportedly said: “Yes. And the training and the software and all the things needed to actually protect and defend your own land.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to visit Poland on Wednesday for talks with his Polish counterpart, President Andrzej Duda.
Poland has reportedly already delivered a first batch of soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to Kyiv, according to Marcin Przydacz, the Head of Poland’s International Policy Office.
Russian drones have hit the strategic Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, with local Ukrainian authorities saying that the city had suffered some “damage”.
Ukrainian officials have said that the Russian side is “very far” from capturing the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where the notorious Russian mercenary organisation Wagner claims to have raised a flag over the city hall.
The Russian police have arrested a woman named as Darya Trepova, suspected of delivering a bomb that killed prominent pro-war Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, real name Maxim Fomin, in a cafe in central Saint Petersburg on Sunday.
