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Ukraine: WAR BULLETIN April 25, 6.00 pm EST

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04.26.2022 at 02:02am

Embassy of Ukraine in the USA

 

WAR BULLETIN

April 25, 6.00 pm EST

 

WAR ROOM

 

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 25.04 were approximately:

personnel – about 21900 persons,

tanks ‒ 884,

APV  ‒ 2258,

artillery systems – 411,

MLRS – 149,

Anti-aircraft warfare systems – 69,

aircraft – 181,

helicopters – 154,

vehicles – 1566,

boats / cutters – 8,

fuel tanks – 76,

UAV operational-tactical level – 201.

special equipment – 28.

mobile SRBM system – 4.

Russian enemy suffered the greatest losses (of the last day) in the Sievierodonetsk direction (30th independent motorized infantry brigade of the 2nd Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian federation).

Russian enemy is conducting offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone in order to defeat the Joint Forces, establish full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and secure a land route between these territories and the occupied Crimea.

In the Volyn, Polissya, and Seversky areas, Russian enemy did not take active action, no significant changes in the position and activities of enemy units that protect the Ukrainian-belarusian and Ukrainian-Russian sections of the state border of Ukraine were detected.

In the Slobozhansky direction, Russian occupiers continue shelling with artillery and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the settlements of Kharkiv, Karasivka, Prudyanka, and Kororbochkino.

In the directions of Izyum – Barvinkove and Izyum – Slovyansk, Russian enemy unsuccessfully tried to carry out assault operations and carried out shelling in the areas of the settlements of Velyka Komyshuvakha, Virnopillya, and Nova Dmytrivka.

In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, enemy carried out artillery shelling on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the city of Mariupol, Russian enemy launched missile and bomb strikes on the positions of Ukrainian troops on the territory of the Azovstal plant. Russian enemy conducts assault operations on the village of Popasna.

In the South Buh direction, enemy fired at the positions of our troops in the areas of the settlements of Knyazivka and Mykolayivka.

Ukraine’s Defense Forces inflict heavy losses on the enemy. In the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts only, seven enemy attacks have been repulsed in the past 24 hours, thirteen tanks, three artillery systems, seventeen armored vehicles, four armored combat vehicles, eighteen vehicles, and four tankers have been destroyed. Three Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by air defense units in the area.

The  enemy continues to carry out offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone in order to defeat the Joint Forces, establish full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and maintain the land route with the occupied Crimea.

Russian troops, including strategic bombers, ships, and submarines, are launching missile and bomb strikes on military and civilian infrastructure. They are trying to destroy the ways of supplying military-technical assistance from partner states. To do this, concentrate strikes on railway junctions.

The  enemy continues to strengthen long-range air defense by moving additional anti-aircraft missile systems from the territory of the Russian federation, trying to create stocks of ammunition, logistics, and special engineering equipment.

The Russian command does not stop searching for ways to replenish personnel losses in units directly involved in the war on the territory of Ukraine.

There were no significant changes in the Volyn, Polissya, and Siversky directions. No signs of enemy offensive formations were found.

In the Slobozhanshchyna region, Kharkiv is being partially blocked, its infrastructure is being destroyed, and the positions of the defenders of the Kharkiv region are being destroyed with the use of aircraft and artillery.

In the area of ​​the city of Izyum, the enemy tried to improve the tactical situation in the directions Andriyivka – Zavody and Dibrovne – Kurulka. Carries out measures of logistical support of the group of occupiers.

In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, Russian enemy, intensifying shelling with available means of fire destruction, tried to advance deep into the territory of Ukraine in the areas of the settlements of Koroviy Yar and Rubizhne, to develop an offensive in the direction of Zaporizhzhia. It was unsuccessful and suffered losses.

In Mariupol, including strategic bombers, ships, and submarines enemy continues to destroy the city, blocking locals and some of our defenders in the area of ​​the Azovstal plant.

In the South Bug direction, Russian enemy is concentrating its main efforts on the Kherson-Mykolayiv and Kherson-Kryvyi Rih directions. Conducts regrouping of troops, consolidates on the ground, strengthens the grouping of barrel and jet artillery, accumulates ammunition and fuel.

In the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region, in the urban-type settlement of Velyka Oleksandrivka, the occupiers announced to the local population that it was necessary to leave the settlement by April 28. Forced evacuation will be applied to residents who do not comply with the order.

In the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia oblast, in the city of Enerhodar, employees of the Federal Security Service of the Russian federation continue to carry out filtration activities.

In the temporarily occupied territories of Kharkiv and Luhansk oblasts, the occupiers are engaged in looting, theft, and robbery of the local population. Particular attention is paid to the “removal” of alcoholic beverages and food.

 

Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

A series of explosions erupted in the capital of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR) on April 25 at about 5:45 p.m. They took place in the premises of the offices of the local “Ministry of State Security” and the branch of the Russian “Federal Security Service” in Transnistria.

However, this event was not a surprise to the PMR leadership. On April 22, Vadym Shmalenko, Secretary of the State Commission for Emergency Situations of the Transnistrian Region, wrote a letter to the head of the Kamensky district, Volodymyr Bychkov. It was about the urgent (until 16.00 on the same day) preparation of information on the availability and location of “protected point of civil defense of the city.”

Three days before the incident, the leaders of “PMR” were already preparing for it and took care of the installation of a secure and comfortable bunker.

It is obvious that this case is one of a number of provocative measures organized by the FSB to instill panic and anti-Ukrainian sentiments. According to the authors, they should justify the war on the territory of Ukraine or involve the Transnistrian region in hostilities. Either as a territory with a certain mobilization reserve, or as a territory from which Russian troops can carry out attacks on Ukrainian territory.

On April 22, Deputy Commander of the Central Military District of the Russian Federation, Major General Rustam Minnekayev announced plans for an unrecognized “Transnistrian region”. He said that the Russian army has the task of “establishing full control over Donbass and southern Ukraine.” After that, the occupiers must break through the corridor to the unrecognized “Transnistrian region”, where “the facts of oppression of the Russian-speaking population are noted.”

According to available information, the FSB will continue a series of provocative terrorist attacks on the territory of the Transnistrian region.

https://gur.gov.ua/content/vybukhyvpmrsplanovanaprovokatsiiarosiiskykhspetssluzhbdokument.html

 

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

Since the beginning of the military aggression, investigators of the National Police of Ukraine have launched more than 8,000 criminal proceedings on the facts of crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine by servicemen of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. 152 people were detained, 192 were declared suspects. With the help of the unique Clearview AI software, National Police identifies Russian servicemen who have been killed or taken prisoner, check people at checkpoints and search for missing persons. Although the Russian authorities deny the presence of their conscripts on the territory of Ukraine and send them without documents – this technology still helps to identify them.

Since the beginning of the war, the pyrotechnics have neutralized more than 75,000 and about 2,000 air bombs. More than 13,000 hectares of the country’s territory have been inspected and cleaned.

https://mvs.gov.ua/

 

Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine

On the morning of April 25, Russian armed forces personnel launched several missile strikes on a railway station in Rivne region. This damaged the traction substation and disrupted the train schedule. In addition, private houses located near the rocket struck facility were damaged.

https://www.facebook.com/pgo.gov.ua/posts/357151809780992

 

In the morning of April 25, Russian occupation troops fired rockets at transport infrastructure near Zhmerynka and Koziatyn, Vinnitsa Region. According to preliminary reports, five people were killed and 18 injured. Rescue efforts continue, and investigators, prosecutors, and other services are working at the scene.

https://www.facebook.com/pgo.gov.ua/posts/357189153110591

 

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights

In Luhansk Region, the Russians have practically destroyed all health care facilities. Since the start of the full-scale war, the Russian army has destroyed 347 health care facilities, 36 of which cannot be rebuilt. In Luhansk Region, all medical facilities and hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. This situation threatens the lives of thousands of people in occupied cities.

The World Health Organization stated that the health care system in the East of Ukraine is practically destroyed. The WHO confirmed 162 attacks on medical facilities and personnel, which resulted in at least 73 deaths. The health care situation in Ukraine is becoming more difficult every day. The risk of infectious diseases, as well as increasingly common waterborne diseases, is significant.

The occupiers do not grant WHO permission, even for two days, to enter Mariupol and other besieged areas to assess the needs of the healthcare system and provide life-saving medical services to the sick and wounded.

https://www.facebook.com/denisovaombudsman/posts/528016752012935

 

Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the aggressor has been purposefully shelling and destroying sites of cultural heritage and cultural values of Ukrainians.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine 242 episodes of occupants’ war crimes against Ukrainian cultural heritage have already been documented. Numerous architectural monuments, historical buildings, religious sites, theaters, and memorials have been damaged or completely destroyed. Sacred architectural monuments are also being destroyed.

Recently, the occupiers shelled the island of Khortytsa in Zaporizhzhia, which is the center of the Ukrainian Cossacks.

In the Kyiv region, an early twentieth-century building, the Makariv Public Library, was damaged.

In the Kharkiv region, shelling damaged the old Teacher’s House of 1925 and many historical monuments.

In Luhansk Region, the Russians destroyed at least seven Orthodox churches.

The Islamic cultural center in Severodonetsk and the Baptist prayer house in Metiolkino were also destroyed.

https://www.facebook.com/denisovaombudsman/posts/528022608679016

 

After the liberation of towns in the Kyiv region, new atrocities by russian troops are being uncovered. Forensic experts found sharpened steel flechettes, similar to “darts” in the bodies of residents of Bucha and Irpin. These were used by the Russians to fill the shells used to bomb homes in and around the city from airplanes.

In Bucha, liberated from the Russian occupation, locals found hundreds of these small “darts” in their private homesteads. Shells exploded over residential houses, and thousands of flechettes flew several meters away in the surrounding countryside. Warheads filled with metal shrapnel exploded over the city as the Russian troops withdrew from the area.

https://www.facebook.com/denisovaombudsman/posts/528075462007064

 

The Russians fired missiles at several regions of Ukraine, targeting railroads and infrastructure.

Today the Russian army struck five railroad stations in central and western Ukraine. At least 16 passenger trains were delayed.

As a result of the rocket attack there was an explosion at the traction substation of the railway station “Chervone” in the Lviv region. The structural subdivisions of the State Emergencies Service are working at the scene of the explosion; the fire is still being extinguished.

Nine Russian missiles struck the infrastructure of Kremenchuk, Poltava region – the Kremenchuk thermal power plant and again the Kremenchuk oil refinery in the evening of April 24. This was the worst shelling of the region since the full-scale Russian invasion. There is considerable damage to buildings, but all fires have been localized. There is no hot water in almost all districts of the city due to the shelling of the thermal power plant. One person was killed and 7 others were injured.

https://www.facebook.com/denisovaombudsman/posts/528094038671873

 

According to the Luhansk Regional State Administration, the Russian army has today de-energized a 500 kV power substation built recently near Kreminna. This substation supplied power to most towns and villages in the region during peacetime.

Previously, electricity was supplied from the Luhansk thermal power plant in Schastia, but its transformer units were destroyed due to Russian military aggression. Therefore, ALL settlements in Luhansk Region were left without electricity. The Russians continue to turn Ukrainian cities and villages into uninhabitable areas.

https://www.facebook.com/denisovaombudsman/posts/528105402004070

 

 

POLICY

 

President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin who arrived in Ukraine on a visit.

At the beginning of the talks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed the importance of the visit of American high-ranking officials to Kyiv at this crucial and important moment for the Ukrainian state.

“We appreciate the unprecedented assistance of the United States to Ukraine. I would like to thank President Biden personally and on behalf of the entire Ukrainian people for his leadership in supporting Ukraine, for his personal clear position. To thank all the American people, as well as the Congress for their bicameral and bipartisan support. We see it. We feel it,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.

The President of Ukraine discussed with the United States delegation the current priorities for the belligerent state – defense assistance, strengthening sanctions on Russia, financial support for Ukraine and security guarantees.

The Head of State noted that the $ 3.4 billion in defense support already provided by the United States is the largest contribution to strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities. The President of Ukraine stressed that this assistance already helps in bringing Ukraine’s defense capabilities to a qualitatively new level, which is extremely important for our defenders who are defending their homeland on the frontline.

Particular attention was paid to the sanctions policy, which should be further strengthened and become an important element of influence on the aggressor. “We understand what the next steps on this track should be. And we count on the support of our partners,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, handing over to the American side the Action Plan to strengthen sanctions on the Russian Federation developed by the Yermak-McFaul international expert group.

Discussing ways to increase financial support for Ukraine, both to promote the economy and to further rebuild our country, the President of Ukraine stressed the importance of expanding the opportunities for Ukrainian goods to access the American market.

The parties also discussed the peace process and prospects for strengthening the anti-war coalition. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine sees the United States as a leader among the future guarantors of our country’s security.

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/prezident-ukrayini-proviv-zustrich-z-derzhavnim-sekretarem-t-74537

 

Ukraine has prepared the necessary documents for the launch of a special tribunal on the crime of aggression as soon as possible – Deputy Head of the President’s Office Andriy Smyrnov

Ukraine has promptly prepared the relevant legal framework, draft statutory documents for the earliest possible launch of a special tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against our state.

The Deputy Head of the Office of the President noted that the idea of establishing a special tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine was supported by hundreds of European and world intellectuals, leading international lawyers, public figures who signed a statement on the need to establish it.

According to Andriy Smyrnov, daily work on the Book of Executioners is being carried out in coordination with the President’s Office together with the Ukrainian pre-trial investigation bodies, intelligence agencies and the Ministry of Digital Transformation. This is a set of information about every Russian war criminal involved in the war and atrocities committed and being committed in Ukraine.

“A huge amount of information is being researched and verified, which will later be available to our citizens and the entire civilized world,” said the Deputy Head of the Office of the President.

In addition, the Office of the President together with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine have developed mechanisms to recover funds from the Russian Federation frozen abroad to compensate for losses.

“We have several plans to achieve this. The main one is the signing of an international agreement, which will provide for the lifting of immunity from the funds of the Russian Federation and directing them to the affected citizens and legal entities, as well as the restoration of infrastructure. Plan B is the enactment of the relevant law in each jurisdiction where funds have been frozen. In some countries, such bills have already been registered,” said Andriy Smyrnov.

He noted that the relevant talks with international partners will be held this week.

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/ukrayina-pidgotuvala-neobhidni-dokumenti-dlya-yaknajshvidsho-74557

 

50 pupils of the Kramatorsk Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of Children were evacuated to Switzerland

50 pupils of the Kramatorsk Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of Children were evacuated to the Swiss Confederation. This is the second group of orphans, children deprived of parental care and children in difficult life circumstances who are evacuated to this country at the initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska and at the invitation of the Swiss Migration Office.

Children aged 4 to 16 and their educators first went to Ivano-Frankivsk, then to Budapest. There they were met with equipped buses by pediatricians and social workers from Switzerland.

Children will be accommodated in the canton of Bern. For them, the local representatives will organize the study of the German language, common in this region of the country, provide rehabilitation and education in local schools.

“Every year in their native Kramatorsk, these children have been finding new families who love them. Just before the war, one of the little pupils found a new family. But they did not have time to take her away – the adoption procedure was suspended for the duration of the hostilities. But we promise her that she will meet with her chosen parents immediately after our victory. Meanwhile, this girl and other children will fall asleep and wake up without sirens and alarms in the Swiss Alps,” said Olena Zelenska.

Prior to that, 25 children from the Kamyanka Specialized Orphanage have already settled in Switzerland.

The evacuation program is implemented thanks to the Embassy of Ukraine in Switzerland, the National Social Service of Ukraine, regional military administrations, the Swiss Migration Office (Staatssekretariat für Migration, SEM), the administrations of the cantons of Vaud and Bern.

It is expected that the evacuation of children from Ukrainian orphanages to safe countries will continue in the near future.

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/50-vihovanciv-kramatorskogo-centru-socialno-psihologichnoyi-74553

 

Address of President Zelenskyy to Ukrainians

Unbreakable people of the bravest country in the world!

Today the third month of our war for our independence began. Russian-Ukrainian war. The third month!

On February 24, most in the world did not even believe that we would withstand more than a week. Someone said – three days. A month ago, we still had to convince different countries that betting on Ukraine means winning. And now… Now everyone knows it.

Thanks to the courage, wisdom of our defenders, thanks to the courage of all Ukrainian men, all Ukrainian women our state is a real symbol of struggle for freedom. Everyone in the world – and even those who do not openly support us – agree that it is in Ukraine that the fate of Europe, the fate of global security, the fate of the democratic system is being decided. And above all, it is being decided what life in the center and east of our continent will be like and whether there will be life at all.

Bucha, Borodyanka, Hostomel, Okhtyrka, Chernihiv and Sumy, Izyum, Kharkiv, Volnovakha, Zolote, Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Popasna and Mariupol… Missiles aimed at Odesa and Kramatorsk, Zhytomyr, Lviv, Kremenchuk and Kryvyi Rih… In all Ukraine’s cities and communities, Russia has shown what it really wants and can bring to Europe. What it can bring to Chișinău, Tbilisi, Helsinki, Vilnius, Warsaw, Prague, all the cities and countries that Russian state propagandists have long openly identified as alleged enemies for Moscow.

Russia has launched an offensive against Ukraine in many directions. Missile strikes, air raids, artillery, tanks – everything! Russian troops did not spare anything, any means to kill us, kill Ukrainians and destroy our land.

In two months, they used more than 1100 missiles against us. Countless bombs and artillery. They tortured, robbed, executed. They mined our land. Peaceful cities and villages were turned into hell. Some Ukrainian cities and communities were destroyed to the ground. But they did not achieve anything. And they will not achieve.

Russia wants to play a sham “referendum” somewhere on our land? Even if they try, it will be as shameful as everything else that was “created” in Moscow for the occupation of Ukraine.

In two months of hostilities 9 thousand 781 defenders of Ukraine were awarded state awards. The title of Hero of Ukraine was awarded to 142 of our defenders.

Ukrainian men and women have shown a truly massive readiness to defend Ukraine. At any age, any property status, with any education – Ukrainian men and women equally stood up for the state.

This war has truly become a people’s war for Ukraine. And it showed that throughout our territory – from east to west, from north to south – the Ukrainian idea is equally strong, equally national.

As of this time, 931 settlements have already been de-occupied. Many cities and communities are still under the temporary control of the Russian army. But I have no doubt that it is only a matter of time before we liberate our land.

Russia can spend enormous resources to support the war. To oppose even the whole free world. It can take away from its people everything that could develop Russia itself, and direct this potential to destroy the lives of neighbors.

But the lessons of history are well known. If you are going to build a millennial Reich, you lose. If you are going to destroy the neighbors, you lose. If you want to restore the old empire, you lose. And if you go against the Ukrainians, you lose.

A global anti-war coalition was formed in two months. Sanctions have already been imposed on Russia, which have taken away its future. Ukraine receives assistance from dozens of countries. This is support in the form of weapons, finances, necessary goods, political support directly.

We are accelerating our movement to the European Union as much as possible. We have already passed a historic moment, an important stage – with the receipt and answering a special questionnaire, which was provided to each country before they acquired the status of a candidate for EU membership.

Even now, when the war is still going on, we are creating the necessary base for the reconstruction of Ukraine. These are international agreements of various levels; this is the creation of special funds for the reconstruction of our state.

There is and at the same time there is no simple answer to this question. When we gain a victory, everyone will feel it. When peace comes, everyone will see it. But for this to happen – and happen faster – we need to think not about when and what it will be. We must think every day about how to make the stay of the occupiers on our land even more unbearable.

Ukraine is ready for peace. It was ready even when the war was going on in Donbas. It is ready even now, when the Russian invasion has become full-scale.

But for Russia to seek peace, every Ukrainian must still fight. They must defend freedom. Because every day of struggle now adds years of peaceful life after this war. After our victory.

As always, before delivering the address, I signed decrees awarding our heroes. 269 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and 9 servicemen of the Main Intelligence Directorate were awarded state awards.

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/ukrayina-ce-spravzhnij-simvol-borotbi-za-svobodu-zvernennya-74569

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