2023-04-28 20:57:58
The war in Ukraine He turns 428 days old this Thursday. Clashes continue between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region, where Russia is advancing in Bakhmut and north of the city of Advikia.
The intelligence services of the United Kingdom affirm this Thursday that Russian forces “have established fighting positions” on the roofs of several reactors at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plantlocated in southern Ukraine and controlled since March 2022, for which they have pointed out that these facilities would be “integrated” into “tactical defense planning”.
The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, claims that sooner or later the international community will “force” a counterattack by the Ukrainian troops in the framework of the invasion to “make an outlet for the funds” delivered now that they “control the Ukrainian regime from outside”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed on Thursday the delivery to Ukraine of 230 tanks from allied countries, ensuring that 98% of the promised combat vehicles have already been sent to kyiv for the upcoming offensive in the Donbas region.
On February 24, 2022, the President of Russia Vladimir Putinordered the Russian offensive in the country in what he called a “special military operation”.
Since then, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that more than 20.6 million people have fled Ukraine, since the beginning of the Russian military offensive, which he considers to be the fastest exodus in Europe since World War II. That is, up to 50.3% of the population –estimated at almost 41 million in 2021– would have left Ukrainian territory.
According to him last report of Institute Study of War (ISW) (1) stresses that Russian forces “make advances inside Bakhmut and north of Avdiivka“.
On the other hand, the ISW also claims that the Russian forces would not have carried out “no offensive operations along the line of the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna fronts“.
Also, the think tank American asserts that “Russian thousand bloggers continue to argue among themselves about Ukrainian activity along the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast“.
The United Kingdom Intelligence services have affirmed this Thursday that the Russian forces “have established combat positions” on the roofs of several reactors of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, located in southern Ukraine and which they have controlled since March 2022, for what they have pointed out that these facilities would be “integrated” in “tactical defense planning”.
“Satellite images show that, in March 2023, Russian forces established fighting positions protected with sandbags on the roofs of several of the six reactor buildings at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” they said, before holding which “is the first indication that the reactor buildings are being integrated into tactical defense planning.”
Thus, they have stressed that “it is likely that Russia has built these positions because it is increasingly concerned about the possibility of a great Ukrainian offensive.” “The move probably raises the possibility that the security systems of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant will be damaged in the event of fighting in the surrounding area,” they warned.
However, they have stressed that “direct and catastrophic damage to the reactors is unlikely in the most plausible scenarios involving infantry weapons, as the structures are very heavily reinforced,” the British Ministry of Defense has told through a series of messages on his official account on the social network Twitter.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly called for the establishment of a security zone around the plant to avoid possible risks arising from the fighting. Ukraine’s President Volodimir Zelensky considers that Russia is using its control of these facilities as “blackmail”.
The Zaporizhia plant is the largest in Europe and has six reactors commissioned between 1984 and 1995. It has been controlled by Russian forces since March last year, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, and has been the scene of constant offensive and coveted piece by both Kiev and Moscow.
The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, affirmed this Thursday that the international community “will force” sooner or later a counterattack by Ukrainian troops in the framework of the invasion to “release the funds” delivered now that they “control the Ukrainian regime from the outside.”
“Regardless of whether there is a counteroffensive or not, I am of the opinion that even if the Ukrainian regime does not want it and even if they fear failure, they will be forced. They will be forced because they are controlled from the outside, and every fund, every aid given not only by states United but by European countries, it has to have a way out,” he said in statements to the Rossiya 24 news channel.
Likewise, he has questioned whether Ukraine will carry out this counterattack in May, although he has said he sees signs of preparations in this regard in the Vugledar area. However, he has qualified that the Russian forces continue to advance in the vicinity.
“The Vugledar area continues to be difficult and tense, and the enemy periodically tries to carry out a counterattack and to better position itself. (…) But our units continue to move,” he pointed out.
On the possibility of dialogue and finding a solution to the conflict, he has qualified that kyiv “is not capable of it” and that his words “cannot be taken seriously.” “There can be no talk or serious negotiations. I think there is nothing to talk about with kyiv, nothing to talk about with the current leadership, and there will be no response,” she said.
On the other hand, he has announced that Russian troops have taken over a large part of the city of Marinka, in the Donetsk region, as they take over the entire town. “Obviously the possibility for them to recover Marinka has disappeared,” he added.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed this Thursday the delivery to Ukraine of 230 tanks from allied countries, ensuring that 98% of the promised combat vehicles have already been sent to Kiev for the next offensive in the region. from Donbas.
“More than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine have already been delivered. That means more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 battle tanks and other equipment, including huge amounts of ammunition,” the NATO political chief said in press conference after meeting with the Luxembourg Prime Minister, Xavier Bettel.
Stoltenberg has assured that, within the framework of supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion, the allies have trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian armored brigades. “This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue retaking the occupied territories,” he assessed.
In this sense, he has praised the work of the Contact group for Ukraine, known as the Ramstein group, which is led by the United States and brings together 50 Kiev allies who coordinate the supply of arms and military material.
The “unprecedented military support” includes modern anti-aircraft systems, armored vehicles, battle tanks, infantry tanks, the former Norwegian prime minister has listed, who has warned in any case that Russia “should not be underestimated” and has the capacity to mobilize large numbers of troops for the fighting in the coming months.
What the Russian forces lack in quality, they try to make up for in quantity. And we see that Russia continues to mobilize more troops. We have seen around Bakhmut how they are willing to send thousands and thousands of troops with a very high casualty rate. But that, of course, continues to pose a challenge for the Ukrainian troops”, he reflected.
These words come as the allies are confirming the delivery of tanks to Ukraine promised at the end of February. Specifically, Spain has announced that six 2A4 ‘Leopard’ main battle tanks will arrive this week in Ukraine to join its Army in the battle against the Russian military.
The number of refugees who have crossed the border from Ukraine into the rest of Europe it continues to grow since the start of the war in Ukraine, unleashed by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24.
He United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that more than 20.6 million people have fled Ukraine, since the beginning of the Russian military offensive, which he considers to be the fastest exodus in Europe since World War II. Up to 50.3% of the population –estimated at almost 41 million in 2021– would have left Ukrainian territory.
According to the latest UNHCR data (2), 20,636,096 people have left the Ukrainian territory as of April 18, 2023. By countries, 10.885.691 Ukrainian refugees have already arrived Poland (April 16th), 2.852.395 a Russia (October 3, 2022), 2.524.705 a Hungary, 2.240.464 a Romania (April 16th), 1.313.413 a Slovakia (April 16th), 802.705 a Moldavia (April 16) and 16.705 a belarus (April 11).
The High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 8.1 million Ukrainian refugees have already been registered on European territory, and that up to 5 million they would be in a situation of Temporary Protection, due to the Russian invasion of his country.
#Map #war #Ukraine #April