News
The front line
According to an evening report from the Ukrainian General Staff, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka are in the epicenter of the fighting. The Ukrainian Armed Forces repulsed more than 40 attacks in the following directions:
- Lyman – in areas around the village of Nevskoye and Serebrianka forestry;
- Bakhmut – near Bohdanivka and Ivanivske. The storming of Bakhmut continues;
- Avdiivka and Marinka - in areas around Novokalynove, Avdiivka and Marinka.
In the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions, Russian forces are strengthening their defensive lines, the General Staff of the AFU says. There are no significant changes in the Volyn, Polissia, Siversk, Slobozhanske, Kupyansk and Shakhtarsk directions.
According to the pro-Russian project War Gonzo, in the Zaporizhzhia direction, the Russian Armed Forces attacked near Huliaipole from the direction of Dorozhnyanka after massive artillery and air strikes and managed to advance along the highway towards the town. The Ukrainian Armed Forces' positions in Kamianske, Novodanylivka, Mala Tokmachka, Bilohiria, Charivne, and Olhivske are under fire, according to the project.
On the Donetsk front, the Ukrainian Armed Forces counterattacked near Pobeda, south of Marinka, and managed to retake previously lost positions. Russian troops, supported by artillery, carried out an assault in the western part of Marinka, on the outskirts of Krasnohorivka and near Pervomaiske, the project reports.
Southwest of Bakhmut, the Wagner PMC, supported by artillery, again led offensives in the direction of Ivanivske, but no progress has been made in this direction, according to War Gonzo.
In the Luhansk direction, the Russian Armed Forces from the side of Shipilovka tried to advance in the Serebrianka wooded area and near Torske. They attacked with artillery support near Terny, Nevske and Makiivka, but without success.
Analyst Rob Lee posted a video on his Twitter account of an assault on a Russian trench by the Ukrainian 5th Airborne Assault Brigade. A Ukrainian tank fires at the trench at close range, after which the soldiers try to leave the trench, while an M113 series armored personnel carrier fires a machine gun at them.
Artillery and air attacks
Four residents of the Yasynuvata district of the Donetsk region were killed as a result of Russian shelling on April 4. Pavel Kirilenko, head of the local Regional Military Administration (RMA), says in his Telegram channel that three people were killed in the village of Lastochkyne and one person was killed in the village of Krasnohorivka. 11 people were injured.
A water release gate was partially destroyed near the Kramatorsk municipality, and as a result, three settlements ended up in the flood zone.
The telegram channel Podslushano Bryansk [Overheard in Bryansk] posted photos of the aftermath of a drone attack that dropped explosive devices on the military enlistment office and police department buildings in the Sevsky District. Locals report in the comments that they heard two explosions: the first around 8:40 pm and the second at 10:30 pm.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces fired mortars at the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka in the Belgorod region, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. There were no casualties. Private houses and cars were damaged.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces for the first time published a video of an artillery strike on Russian territory. Ukrainian artillery shelled Russian army positions near the village of Tsapovka, Belgorod Region. The Russian troops positioned themselves in a forest belt near a farm 1.3 km from the border with Ukraine. Their positions were discovered by Ukrainian reconnaissance officers from the 4th Kharkiv Border Guard Unit.
According to BILD military observer Julian Röpcke, this is the first time that the Ukrainian military itself made public a video of artillery shelling of Russian territory. The expert calls the strike a preventive one and suggests that the Russian army was planning to attack from these positions in the direction of Kharkiv.
Arms supplies and military training
Ukrainian soldiers are preparing to start training on M1 Abrams tanks soon, CNN reports. Citing a Pentagon spokesman, the publication reports that a total of 31 tanks are planned to be transferred to Ukraine. The official did not provide specific dates for the training but noted that it would happen “relatively soon.”
Poland will be transferring four more MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, President Andrzej Duda said.
Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev, commander of the United Forces of the AFU, demonstrated the American AN/TWQ-1 Avenger anti-aircraft missile system with Stinger missiles. The systems have been deployed in the Kyiv direction. The video was published by the Military Observer channel.
The shipment of six Leopard 2 tanks promised by Spain has been delayed, Reuters reports. According to the news agency, citing Defense Minister Margarita Robles, the tanks have not been used since the 1990s, so they need maintenance, readiness checks and re-equipment. Therefore, they can be sent to Ukraine only in the second half of April.
Light aircraft claimed to be Ukrainian by FSB crashes in Bryansk region
A light aircraft crashed in the Bryansk region. According to the regional border guards of the Federal Security Service, the plane was Ukrainian.
“The plane crashed for unknown reasons near the village of Butovsk in the Bryansk region. The pilot (a Ukrainian citizen) who tried to flee to Ukrainian territory was detained by the border guards,” says the report cited by RIA Novosti.
Baza and Mash published a video of the interrogation of the man who is alleged to be the pilot of the plane. The man in the video introduced himself as Alexander Morozov and said that he worked as a civilian pilot and had not flown since the beginning of the war. He had no documents with him. According to the detainee, he was performing a mission for 50,000 Ukrainian hryvnias, which was to follow another light aircraft at a height of 50 meters and to take a photo at the command of the lead pilot.
The purpose of the mission, according to the pilot, was to film the area and check the operation of the Ukrainian air defense system. Therefore, he said, he was carrying a bulletproof vest and a submachine gun. After the crash due to a damaged propeller, Morozov hid his weapon to avoid being shot by Ukrainian territorial defense fighters at the border.
The detainee claimed he did not know he had entered Russian airspace. He said he was supposed to fly to the south of Ukraine.
British Military Intelligence: Russia seeks investors to continue war
According to British military intelligence, Russia is seeking investors from “friendly” nations to help cover their national debt and offset the growing budget deficit. This move would involve selling debts to other countries in foreign currencies, likely with the aim of ensuring budget stability during a prolonged war against Ukraine. However, the British Defense Ministry doubts Russia's ability to attract “allies” to this plan.
On the main events of the war on April 4, see the previous report: “Russian flag over Bakhmut city council, US waits for AFU offensive, Shoygu “destroys” Paladin. What happened on the front line on April 4?”