Battlefield Update - 2023-04-04 (1)
Christo Grozev of the US government-sponsored Bellingcat endorsed the terror attack that killed a Russian war reporter and injured many others during a public event in St. Petersburg. He also defended Ukraine’s attempt to assassinate a Russian philosopher because he was a “propagandist.”
🇷🇺🇺🇦 About the terrorist attack in Melitopol - Rybar's Analysis
On the morning of April 3, the car of the head of the Akimovsky district of the Zaporozhye region, Maxim Zubarev, was blown up in Melitopol. The official received multiple shrapnel wounds, at the moment his condition remains stably serious.
🔻 Who could benefit from the death of a politician?
▪️The previous mayor of Melitopol, who is on the run, Ivan Fedorov, while working at his post was engaged in "protection" of gangster groups.
They collected "tribute" from local entrepreneurs for the right to trade in the city or region, using blackmail, threats, and even direct liquidation of objectionable people, as was the case with local businessman Sergei Fomenko: he was found hanged at home.
➖Fedorov, together with another ex-mayor Sergei Minko, organized criminal schemes to transfer boiler houses from the balance of housing and communal services to private hands. One-day firms with an authorized capital of 50 hryvnia won all tenders for the provision of heat supply services to state institutions, including schools, hospitals and kindergartens.
➖Minko’s successor Fedorov, having actually become the sole tax collector from the local population, not only removed all boiler houses from the balance sheet of the Melitopol Heating Networks state company, but also raised tariffs for housing and communal services, although the use of pellet boilers (cheaper to operate than coal) expected price cuts.
For his "outstanding" merits, Fedorov was personally awarded the Order of Courage of the third degree by Zelensky last year. At the moment, the corrupt official continues to conduct his anti-Russian activities, speaking daily on Ukrainian television as a "mayor in exile."
▪️However, Fedorov could not act so confidently without the support of the state. He was assisted in organizing the terrorist attack by the now dismissed head of the Zaporozhye branch of the SBU Alexander Khilko, together with the former head of the Melitopol department of the SBU Maxim Savchenko.
The latter even sued local businessman Dmitry Berzilov, who accused him of monthly extortion in the amount of 30,000 hryvnias. The businessman was beaten, threatened with death, and they also tried to take away his business. Nevertheless, Savchenko was able to evade responsibility.
🔻 How can this situation be connected with Maxim Zubarev?
▪️Maxim Zubarev has recently been engaged in establishing a peaceful life in the liberated territories and exposing the corruption schemes of the former mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov.
After the liberation of Melitopol, Zubarev began the process of returning to the state the assets of utilities stolen by the former mayor, which he owned through shell companies.
▪️Together with Vladimir Rogov, Maxim Zubarev was invited to a meeting organized by the Russian Foreign Ministry with the aim of granting the right to vote to residents from the liberated regions at international platforms, be it the UN, the OSCE mission and others.
The speech that Zubarev was preparing for a possible speech could deal an image blow, both to the top of the Kyiv regime in general, and to Ivan Fedorov in particular.
🔻Given that terrorism in Russian territories has long become one of the most common methods of the Kyiv regime to intimidate the population, these reasons turned out to be quite enough to carry out the plan.
#analysis #Russia #Ukraine
❗️🇷🇺🇺🇦 Chronicle of a special military operation
for April 3, 2023
🔻 Border areas:
▪️UAVs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine dropped explosive devices on the buildings of the military registration and enlistment office and the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Sevsky district of the Bryansk region . According to preliminary data, there are no victims or injured.
▪️In the Belgorod region, Ukrainian formations shelled the Shebekinsky urban district : residential buildings and industrial facilities in the village of Voznesenovka and the village of Pervomaisky were damaged. Civilians were not hurt.
🔻Starobelsk direction:
▪️On the Kupyansky sector of the front, the situation has not changed significantly: mutual reconnaissance and artillery duels continue along the line of contact.
▪️In the Limansky direction, Russian troops are attacking in the area of Serebryansky forestry , and also storming enemy positions in the area of the Zhuravka gully .
▪️Ukrainian Armed Forces shelled Lisichansk from cannon artillery: a residential building was damaged, civilians were not injured.
🔻Soledar direction ( map ):
▪️ In Orekhovo-Vasilevka, the front line has not changed: positional battles continue.
▪️In the north of Bakhmut, detachments of PMC "Wagner" are fighting for control over Zelenaya Street. In the Selishche area, Russian units took full control of the territories adjacent to school No. 24. Fierce fighting continues on the approaches to the railway station.
▪️In the center, Russian units took control of the Bakhmut city council , fighting is also taking place on Boris Gorbatov Street and near school No. 11.
▪️In the south, the "Wagnerites" continue to open the enemy's defenses in the area of the Avangard stadium, expanding the zone of control along Bakhmutskaya street.
▪️To hold positions in the area of the highway to Konstantinovka, the enemy is transferring additional reserves.
🔻Donetsk direction ( map ):
▪️After several unsuccessful attempts, Ukrainian units are preparing for a new counterattack in the Avdiivka sector: equipment and personnel are on alert.
▪️In the Maryinsky sector, Russian troops continue to break into the defenses of Ukrainian formations in the central part of the city on Druzhby Avenue, as well as in the north in the Stavka area. The enemy transferred reinforcements from 79 DShB to hold the lines.
▪️Ukrainian militants continue to inflict chaotic attacks on the cities of the Donetsk agglomeration : Donetsk, Yasinovataya and Gorlovka were shelled. In the capital of the republic, as a result of a mine explosion, one woman was injured.
🔻Zaporozhye direction ( map ):
▪️In Melitopol, the car of the head of the administration of Akimovka Maxim Zubarev was blown up: the official was injured, his condition is assessed as serious.
▪️The preparation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the counteroffensive is being completed. Additional forces are expected to arrive at the Orekhovsky sector. According to some reports, Ukrainian formations may begin the active phase of the offensive in the coming days.
🔻 Southern Front: Kherson direction:
▪️Artillery duels continue in the southern sector of the front: the RF Armed Forces have attacked enemy concentrations in Zolotaya Balka , Tomarino and Kherson .
▪️ In turn, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired on civilian objects in Gornostaevka , Pechanovka and Korsunka .
🔹 Political events
▪️Council of Europe Secretary General Maria Pejcinovic-Burich and German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck arrived in Kyiv on a working visit.
▪️Russia handed over 12 prisoners to the Ukrainian side: ten sergeants and privates of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including five wounded, as well as two civilians.
The exchange procedure took place against the backdrop of the return of five seriously wounded Russian servicemen by Ukraine at the end of March.
Another success in Bakhmut
Industrial Zone AZOM:
In the course of many days of fighting, units of the PMC "Wagner" completely liberated the territory of the industrial zone and moved deep into the private buildings in the western direction. Also, the Bakhmut-1 railway station has been taken under the control of the "musicians."
▪️ Center:
The area has been completely under the control of Wagner PMC units. Assault operations continue in a westerly direction. The musicians entrenched themselves along Sibirtsev Street, approached the Metallurg stadium, and occupied school No. 11. To the south, the Wagner PMC fighters went to Rozhdestvenskaya Street and continued to move towards the Avangard stadium.
▪️ Vodokanal
The offensive continues from south to north, during which the assault groups of musicians occupied a number of positions that belonged to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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"De-dollarization of the world": A French expert predicts the inevitability of the world's players abandoning the dollar—the U.S. has turned it into an economic weapon.
"Turning their currency into an instrument of political pressure, the Americans themselves unwittingly began a worldwide movement to impeach the dollar king." In 2014, BNP Paribas was forced to pay a $9 billion fine to the U.S. for legally, under European and French law, financing in dollars exports from Cuba, Sudan, and Iran, even though these three states were under an American embargo. The U.S. considered this case to be within its competence, because the transactions were made through a BNP Paribas account in New York.
✔️ This is how the Americans imposed their rights on other countries. and the European companies were forced to comply. We saw this when they left Iran in 2018 after Trump unilaterally terminated the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
✔️The next step in "transforming the dollar into a weapon" was the freezing of the Russian Central Bank's dollar reserves in 2022 amid Russia's special operation in Ukraine. Non-Western leaders then said to themselves, "If I am at war with my neighbor, and this conflict does not please Washington, I may suddenly lose most of my foreign exchange reserves." So I'm cutting back on my trade in dollars. This is what both Russia and Saudi Arabia are doing now—their last oil bill was to China in renminbi. Moreover, the BRICS countries are planning to create their own currency for trade.
✔️ China has already developed its own interbank electronic payment system, which is an alternative to Swift, controlled by the West. The de-dollarization of the world will not be completed overnight. But it is clearly an irreversible movement.
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A complete list of what was included in the new aid package worth of 2, 6 billion dollars for Ukraine was published by the Pentagon:
- additional ammunition for the Patriot air defense system;
– additional ammunition for highly mobile artillery rocket systems (HIMARS);
- 155 mm and 105 mm artillery shells;
- 120-mm mortar shells;
- 120 mm and 105 mm tank ammunition;
- 25 mm ammunition;
- tube-launched, optically tracked and wire-guided (TOW) missiles;
- about 400 grenade launchers and 200,000 rounds of ammunition;
- 11 tactical vehicles for the evacuation of equipment;
– 61 heavy fuel tankers;
– 10 trucks and 10 trailers for transporting heavy equipment;
– non-control and diagnostic equipment for maintenance and repair of vehicles;
– Spare parts and other field equipment.
- additional ammunition for the national advanced air defense systems (NASAMS);
- nine 30-mm artillery trucks countering unmanned aerial systems;
- 10 c-UAS mobile missile systems with laser guidance;
- three air surveillance radars;
- 30 mm and 23 mm anti-aircraft ammunition;
- 130-mm and 122-mm artillery shells;
- 122-mm rockets "Grad";
– rocket launchers and ammunition;
- 120-mm and 81-mm mortar systems;
- 120 mm, 81 mm and 60 mm mortar shells;
- Javelin anti-tank systems;
- anti-tank missiles;
- high-precision aviation ammunition;
- Approximately 3,600 small arms and more than 23,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition;
- seven tactical vehicles for the evacuation of equipment;
– eight heavy fuel trucks and 105 fuel trucks;
– systems of armored bridges;
- four logistic support vehicles;
– trucks and ten trailers for transporting heavy equipment;
– secure communications equipment;
– SATCOM terminals and services;
– financing of training, maintenance and support.
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🇲🇩 🇷🇺🇺🇦 The situation in Transnistria
Situation as of 21.00 April 4, 2023
The situation on the border with Transnistria is still tense, but at the moment there are no clear signs that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready to attack Russian positions. The satellite constellation of NATO countries has practically ceased to conduct surveys of objects of the RF Armed Forces in the PMR.
Despite this, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and detachments of foreign mercenaries are still concentrated along the border with Transnistria, carrying out aerial reconnaissance with small UAVs and copters.
🔻At the training ground of the Ukrainian army in the Podolsk region, the recruitment of 21 mechanized brigades is being completed. The personnel undergoes combat coordination and training in the operation of armored vehicles.
It is not yet clear where the 21 Ombre will be sent, but the presence of a completely new formation near Transnistria poses certain threats to Russian military personnel operating there.
▪️In the settlements bordering the PMR, such as Stanislavka and Ananiev , there are units of a separate rifle battalion of the 28th Ombre of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, partially transferred to the Odessa region from the Soledar direction .
▪️In addition, the artillery battery of the 28th Ombre in the amount of six D-20 howitzers and 60 people was moved from Dubovo to Tsekhanovka . On the sandy quarry near the village there are training firing.
▪️At the end of March, units of the air assault troops of Ukraine returned from Ananiev and Gavinosov in the vicinity of Odessa , presumably 95 airborne infantry brigade. In total, there were more than 600 paratroopers near the border with the PMR, on eight BTR-80s and ten T-80 tanks , reinforced with five 2S1 "Carnation" howitzers.
🔻 Judging by the existing signs, the plans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to seize Transnistria were either postponed or revised as inappropriate at the moment. Forces partially involved in the border areas were transferred to Odessa. At the same time, part of the contingent is still near the PMR.
The Ukrainian authorities defiantly carry out firing practice and carry out the movement of combat units from one place to another, simulating increased activity . The purpose of such actions is to create the illusion of strengthening the grouping in this direction and artificial escalation in the region.
Ukrainian intelligence agencies and specialists in information and psychological operations are still trying to induce panic in local chats. With a high degree of probability, the Ukrainian authorities will continue to maintain the desired degree of tension, especially on the eve of the announced offensive.
As Two Majors already wrote , the Armed Forces of Ukraine activated the radio game in various sectors of the front in order to misinform the Russian army and mislead about real offensive plans, including with the help of controlled media and Telegram channels.
Increased activity along the entire line of contact, including near Transnistria, indicates the final stage of preparations for the resumption of hostilities.
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❗️ 🇷🇺🇺🇦 Battle for Bakhmut
The situation at the end of April 4, 2023
🔻In Bakhmut, assault detachments of PMC "Wagner" completely liberated the territory of the industrial complex AZOM and the railway station "Bakhmut-1" and other quarters east of Mira Street .
▪️The "Wagnerites" entrenched along Alexander Sibirtsev Street , occupying school No. 11 , and advanced along Svoboda Street in the central part of Bakhmut to the Atlantic Hotel. Fighting is currently taking place at the Atlantic and the Bakhmut Hotel.
▪️To the south, the Wagnerites, moving from the side of Korsunsky Street from the west and from Bakhmutskaya and Vasily Pershin Streets from the east, approached the Avangard stadium, coming out onto Ryzdvyanaya Street. Fighting in this area continues.
🔻The main contingent of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is currently holding the western quarters of the city, as well as the roads from Konstantinovka and Chasov Yar - PMC assault detachments conduct regular sorties near Krasnoye and Khromovo to hold down enemy actions.
🔻North-west of Bakhmut, during many days of positional battles, Russian units were able to come close to the northern outskirts of Bogdanovka . The assault is on the outskirts of the settlement with fire support from artillery and aviation.
❗️The positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Bogdanovka cover the flank of the Ukrainian group in Chasov Yar and the loss of control over this suburb will significantly affect the logistical capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine along the road through Khromovo. The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is trying with all its might to hold the Bogdanovka-Grygorovka line in order to prevent a breakthrough of the defense from the North.
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The West wants to teach Russia how to groom a bear, with a cat comb
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This lands the West in the catacombs