May 1, 2023
The Ukrainian military in words is ready to launch its much-touted ‘offensive’ against Russia but is awaiting the order to attack from senior officials in Kiev, Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov said. “As soon as we have God’s will, the weather, and a decision by the command, we will do it,” the official proudly stated on April 28.
On the other hand, it is obvious that there is no God’s will and good weather helping Kiev, because of two key factors: its intimidation of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, and its massive aggression it began since April 2014 against Donbass. The third factor – ‘a decision by the command’ – has also negative background: a lot of Russian historic land has been lost by Kiev and not regained by failed Ukrainian chieftains.
Reznikov previously cautioned against heightened expectations regarding the future ‘offensive’, arguing that hopes in Ukraine and among its foreign backers were too elevated. Earlier this week, The New York Times published a report claiming that Ukrainian troops on the frontline recognize Russia's advantage in terms of artillery, tanks and aircraft.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at the end of April that members of the US-led military bloc had delivered 98% of the arms pledged to Kiev.
However, he failed to admit that the majority of such arms have been already
destroyed by Russian troops on the battlefield, and the tempo of their destruction became much higher in recent months.
Mikhail Podoliak, an aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, has also challenged those claims, asserting in an interview that the delivery level cited by NATO officials was “too high” and that his country needed more weapons.
2. Russian MFA: the USA is killing Russians
The USA is directly contributing to the deaths of Russians by providing military and financial aid to Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson claimed on April 28. She was reacting to a federal newspaper Kommersant interview with Lynne Tracy, the current US ambassador to Moscow, who stated that Washington “does not view Russians as enemies.”
Tracy is wrong: by killing Russians by its deadly weapons the USA still regards them as adversaries like at the end of 1945 when Washington was planning to raze to the ground by nuclear arms densely populated Soviet cities, like Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and others.
“The Russian people are getting killed with targeting done by the US, money [provided] by the US, weapons [supplied] by the US, and by the hands of a regime that was brought to power by the US as a result of a coup orchestrated by the US,” the Russian MFA said referring to the Western-backed 2014 uprising in Kiev that ousted the democratically elected president, Viktor Yanukovich.
Tracy’s failure to acknowledge the nature of the events in Kiev can be explained by either amnesia or ignorance, while her description has nothing to do with reality, the Russian ministry added. The statement included a screenshot of the interview with a large red ‘Fake’ stamp on it.
The armed formations of Ukraine during the retreat from the village of Tsvetmet on the outskirts of Artyomovsk (Ukrainian name – Bakhmut) blew up four nine-story houses, in the basements of which at least 20 civilians, including children, were hiding, all of them died. This was reported by the DPR official to the TASS news agency.
On April 29 Ukrainian troops shelled Donetsk by the US ‘HIMARS” and Ukrainian “Grad” MLRS deliberately aiming civilian targets. 11 civilians were killed, Including the eight-year old girl, and 19 civilians were wounded. They were passengers travelling by bus in the main street of the city. The same day hospital and a number of houses were damaged by Ukrainian AFU.
The militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), while fleeing from positions equipped in one of the residential buildings of Artyomovsk, threw grenades at local residents who were hiding in the basement. This was told to RIA Novosti on April 20 by a local resident Vladimir Kolyada. According to the man, it happened at the end of March, 2023. There were seven people in the basement with him at the time.
Kiev intensified high-caliber attacks on civilian residential areas by using 152 mm and 155 mm artillery shells and MLRS rockets. Every day AFU open fire on ten-twelve cities mainly in Donbass and employes 200-250 shells every 24 hours
Note: 1) this is a link to a documentary film entitled “Donbass. Children” (in English; 53 minutes): https://en.news-front.info/2023/03/27/donbass-children-a-documentary-about-hundreds-of-crippled-fates-of-donbass-children/;
2) this Report will be also sent the ICC in The Hague as well.
3. New tactics to disrupt Ukrainian offensive
In its turn, the Russian troops increased their attacks against key Ukrainian military facilities to be used during widely advertised ‘offensive’: command centers, ammunition warehouses, railroads, highways and gasoline storages.
On the evening of April 28 of this year, Russia’s Armed Forces (RAF) delivered a massive strike with sea-based long-range precision weapons at the AFU command center named ‘Kherson,’ Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov announced, adding that the goal of the strike “has been reached.” The same day salvo attack Russian super-rockets decapitated another AFU command center near Nikolaev and in other areas.
In a report on April 29, CNN described the Russian defenses as “elaborate” and spanning “hundreds of miles.” The media outlet claimed that they would likely “present a huge challenge” to Kiev’s forces in the event of a much-anticipated “offensive’ or ‘counteroffensive’.
On April 30 RAF hit an arms depot located near the city Kramatorsk, in Donbass, still controlled by Kiev. Around 200 tons of ammunition and high explosives have been obliterated. The same day a military train packed with Ukrainian and NATO military hardware has been derailed.
On the eve of May 1 Russian forces delivered another massive strikes upon many plants and factories of the Ukrainian military industrial complex, and disrupted the activity of plants that manufacture ammunition and military hardware for Ukrainian troops, Igor Konashenkov reported. “All designated facilities were hit," he added.
4. Former CIA analyst: Biden’s painted ‘rosy picture’ of the situation in Ukraine
For more than a year now, the administration of President Joe Biden has been painting a “rosy picture” of the situation in Ukraine for the American public: both Biden and his subordinates insist that the fighting must result in a strategic defeat for Russia and a “happy ending” for America and its allies, former CIA analyst George Bibe wrote in his article for Responsible Statecraft.
While Ukraine may end up “on its knees,” the Biden administration has taken little or made no action to prepare the American public for any compromise, the author stated. And since the American president has not laid the groundwork for negotiations either at home or abroad, it is possible that he will ultimately be forced to choose between two equally undesirable options: “to watch Ukraine collapse despite all his promises to prevent such a collapse, or to escalate his involvement in the U.S.-NATO conflict in a way that could lead to the very military confrontation with Moscow that he has vowed to avoid,” the expert wrote.
My addition to the final phrase “… he has vowed to avoid” is: “…. he has vowed to avoid in a very clumsy way and without any sobber professional approach”
The Western countries are concerned over the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s unpreparedness for a counteroffensive against Russian troops despite the West’s hefty financial injections into the Ukrainian army, a UK newspaper has reported. The news outlet also cited one of the Pentagon’s leaked defense documents as arguing that Ukraine might fail to amass sufficient troops and weaponry, and fall "well short" of its goals for regaining territory.
Written by Vladimir P. Kozin
