Small Wars Journal

Ukraine: WAR BULLETIN April 7, 10.30 a.m. EST - The forty-third day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a Russian military invasion

Thu, 04/07/2022 - 3:56pm
 
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 Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations

 

WAR BULLETIN

April 7, 10.30 a.m. EST

 

WAR ROOM

 

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 07.04 were approximately:

personnel - about 18900,

tanks ‒ 698,

APV  ‒ 1891,

artillery systems – 332,

MLRS - 108,

anti-aircraft warfare systems - 55,

aircraft – 150,

helicopters – 135,

vehicles - 1358,

boats / cutters - 7,

fuel tanks - 76,

UAV operational-tactical level - 111.

special equipment - 25.

mobile SRBM system - 4.

Data are being updated. The calculation is complicated by the high intensity of hostilities

 

The forty-third day of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to a Russian military invasion continues.

The Russian Federation continues to conduct full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine. The main efforts of the occupiers are focused on preparations for the offensive operation in eastern Ukraine, which aims to establish full control over the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

The Russian enemy continues to be active in the Slobozhansky, Donetsk, Pivdennobuzsky and Tavriya directions.

In the Slobozhansky direction, the Russian enemy continued to blockade the city of Kharkiv and carry out artillery shelling.

In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions the Russian enemy continues artillery shelling the settlement of Popasna. The goal is to set fire to units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and resume the offensive on Rubizhne, Nyzhne and Novobakhmutivka. The Russian occupiers also tried unsuccessfully to break through the defenses of our troops in the area of ​​the settlement of Novotoshkivske.

In the South Buh direction, the Russian enemy is defending previously occupied borders, taking measures to restore the combat capability of its units. Continues to carry out strict filtration measures in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region.

Some of the withdrawn Russian units are located in tent camps in a number of regions of the Russian federation bordering Ukraine. The Russian servicemen refuse to take part in further hostilities on the territory of Ukraine. The moral and psychological condition of this personnel is low and tends to deteriorate.

The Command of the Armed Forces of the Russian federation continues to look for ways to solve the problem of replenishing its units with human resources. Russia’s military commissariats have stepped up work with conscripts who have been discharged from military service since 2012 and have military specialties of driver, mechanic-driver, scout, and junior commanders. The official reason for the call to the military registration and enlistment offices is to hold a training meeting on the specified military specialties for a period of 3 months.

On the territory of the so-called Transnistrian-moldavian republic, appropriate propaganda work is being carried out with the population who has Russian citizenship.

The Russian occupiers continue to use violence against civilians in the temporarily occupied territories. The population of Mariupol is being forcibly deported to the temporarily occupied districts of the Donetsk oblast.

The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has hit three air targets in the previous day: a cruise missile, a UAV and a fighter jet. The Air Force continued to launch missile and bomb strikes on the occupying forces.

 

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine

Iryna Vereshchuk stated that as of April 7, 10 humanitarian corridors had been agreed. There will be evacuation of people from settlements affected by hostilities in Ukraine, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Donetsk regions.

The evacuation from the cities of Luhansk region will be carried out under the condition of observance of the ceasefire regime by the occupying forces, I. Vereshchuk added.

https://www.president.gov.ua/news/v-ukrayini-na-sogodni-zaplanovano-desyat-gumanitarnih-korido-74153

 

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights

As of 10 a.m. on April 7, 2022, according to the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations, as well as other sources that need confirmation, since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, 167 children have died and 297 children have been injured (+18 per day).

 It is impossible to establish the actual number of dead and wounded children due to the fact that the occupying forces are actively fighting in Ukrainian cities.

 It became known that as a result of the shelling of the city of Kharkiv on March 22, a 4-year-old boy was seriously injured.

 On the road near the village Yahidne, Chernihiv Oblast a 12-year-old girl was burned alive in a car during the shelling in March.

A woman died during the shelling of the Slobidsky district of Kharkiv.  Her three-year-old daughter is in intensive care.

 During the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, the aggressor damaged 928 educational institutions due to bombing and shelling, 84 of them were completely destroyed.

 The actions of the Russian occupation forces violate the right of children to life, which is enshrined in Article 6 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

https://bit.ly/3NRvNjP

 

There are more and more crimes against sexual freedom and inviolability on the part of the Russian army on the territory of Ukraine. The facts of rape by the occupiers mostly become known after the liberation of the occupied Ukrainian territories.

According to Art. 8 of the Rome Statute, sexual and gender-based violence - rape, forced prostitution, forced sterilization and other sexual violence - during the war are war crimes that grossly violate the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

Forms of sexual violence related to war crimes:

rape,

sexual slavery,

coercion into prostitution,

forced pregnancy,

forced sterilization or other forms of sexual violence.

https://bit.ly/3LEmsdk

 

The new day brings more and more reports from the liberated territories about the atrocities of Russian militants during the occupation.

In Gostomel, police found 11 civilians killed in a graveyard on Sviatopokrovskaya Street.  Russian snipers "trained" on them, shooting people, after which the dead were put in the garage.

The bodies of people tortured by Russian invaders continue to be found in the village of Boromlya in the Okhtyrka district of Sumy region.  One of the men had his face bandaged and his hands tied, and his right leg had lacerations.  The identity of the deceased has not been established yet.

In the Chernihiv region, in the villages of Golintsi, Haivoron, Tereshis and Rubantsi, facts were revealed that Russians had shot people and taken children to dig trenches.  In Hryhorivka, Russians shot a farmer.

In the village of Novyi Bykiv, where, according to locals, there were military unit “kadyrovs” who took absolutely all food from the villagers.  The occupiers placed military equipment close to the houses.

Peasants in the Chernihiv region under occupation were forced to drink technical water and bake cakes from animal feed.

Terror, cruel and degrading treatment of civilians in the occupied territories is a war crime under the Statute of the International Military Tribunal and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and a violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

https://bit.ly/3ukg6dq

 

The occupying power of the Russian Federation violates the right to freedom of religion in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The so-called "Armyansky and Yalta City Courts" controlled by Russia have launched lawsuits for "organizing and financing extremist activities" against members of the religious organization "Jehovah's Witnesses" - Taras Kuzio, Daria Kuzio, Petro Zhiltsov, Serhiy Lyulin, Tadevos Manuvenky, Alexander Dukan  and Alexander Litvinyuk.

The trials of Kuzio couple, Serhiy Lyulin, Petro Zhiltsov and Tadevos Manukyan began on April 4 in the so-called “Yalta City Court” in the temporarily occupied Crimea.  They are charged under Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation (Financing an extremist organization), the maximum penalty can be up to 8 years in prison.  Tadevos Manukyan will be tried in absentia, as the investigation did not reveal his whereabouts.

The trial of Oleksandr Dubovenko and Oleksandr Lytvynuk began on April 5 in the so-called "Armyansky City Court".  The men are charged under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation (organization of extremist activities).  The investigation claims that they "used the software for video conferencing" Zoom "to attract new members of the banned organization."

The persecution of members of religious organizations in the occupied Crimea is a gross violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, according to which everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.  In addition, the Geneva Convention prohibits the application of the laws of the occupying country in the occupied territories.

https://bit.ly/3O5kZii

 

 

POLICY

 

President of Ukraine

Speech by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Parliament of Greece

For more than a month now, my every morning begins with Mariupol. With what is happening in this Ukrainian city, which Russian troops are simply destroying. This has never happened in the history of Europe in all the years after World War II that a city is destroyed to ashes, destroyed completely. That it is under blockade and its inhabitants are killed with starvation and thirst.

It was a city of half a million people! About a hundred thousand people still remain in it. But there are virtually no undamaged buildings, the vast majority of buildings in the city are completely destroyed.

The Russian military destroyed everything. They blew up hospitals, maternity hospitals and apartment buildings. They even blew up the city theater where civilians were hiding from bombs and next to which were inscriptions that everyone saw - the inscriptions "children". The inscriptions seen by Russian pilots, which did not stop them from air strikes.

Mariupol is almost destroyed. I'm sure each of you has already seen what the city looks like now. After it was approached by the Russian Federation. Just ruins. This is what Russia has done with our peaceful Mariupol. But also with your peaceful Mariupol. This city has always been home to a large Greek community. The Ukrainian Greek community is one of the largest in the world. For centuries, our people have lived side by side, raised children and built the future.

The ties between Ukraine and Greece are so old that it is now impossible to find their origin. Greek poleis on our Black Sea coast, cultural exchange and trade, community coexistence - all this is thousands of years of history. Greek Chersonesus was even depicted on our national currency - hryvnia.

It is with Greece that the development of Christianity is tied not only in our country, but also in our region in general. Ukraine is one of the largest Orthodox countries, and the light of Baptism was brought by the Greeks. If someone tried to snatch Greek roots from Ukrainian history and culture we would lose a fundamental part of ourselves.

In the same way the basic things of your history, your national self-perception are tied with the Ukrainian land. "Freedom or death!" - these words now reflect not only our struggle against Russia's attempt to conquer Ukraine. This is a part of your identity that comes from our Odesa. Another southern city of Ukraine that Russia may try to destroy, as well as Mariupol.

When your foreign minister was in Odesa last week, the city was experiencing the consequences of Russian shelling, another missile attack. There are no gunshots in Odesa today. But why? Only because the Armed Forces of Ukraine are deterring Russian attacks and repelling barbaric Russian troops from their direction of attack on Odesa long-agreed by Russian leadership.

Russian troops have now brought death and destruction to where Ukrainians and Greeks have enjoyed peace and prosperity for centuries. Moreover, Russia has begun a new deportation of people from the south of Ukraine. At least tens of thousands of our people have already been deported to Russia and to the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia. These are residents of Mariupol and other cities and communities that came under attack by Russian troops.

This forced relocation of people by Russia is not the first one for both Greeks and Ukrainians. But the Russian state is carrying it out now as if deportation is not the last one. Russia is absolutely convinced of its impunity for everything it does.

We have to stop it! We must bring Russia to justice. We must save Odesa from the same destruction that Mariupol suffered. We must find everyone, all the people deported by Russia. We must save at least those in Mariupol who are still alive and who can be saved!

Filiki Eteria, founded in our Odesa, has played a role in the history of your country, which cannot be overestimated. And I urge you now, openly, to create such a new union of friends, which will be able to save the Ukrainians and Greeks of the south of our state. Which will be able to help Mariupol.

The city needs humanitarian aid! The city needs its people - survivors and wounded - to be saved. Russia has been blocking Mariupol since the beginning of March, blocking on land and at sea. It does not allow even basic humanitarian cargo into the city. I am convinced that the strength of Greece can help carry out this mission. Days are numbered.

And now I ask you to listen not only to me. Regarding the fate of this city. Please listen to the two defenders of Mariupol who are now there, right there, and together with their colleagues are trying to stop the Russian offensive. Listen to two Ukrainians, but also two Greeks as well.

One of them is forced to wear a mask, not to show his face. Because his family, his parents are in one of the Russian-occupied towns. I hope you understand.

I am grateful to Greece for the humanitarian and defense support already provided to Ukraine. I am grateful for the support of the general sanctions policy of the democratic world. But the war continues. The destruction of Mariupol continues. You have heard these heroes. The deportation of people from the territories where Russian troops came continues.

I urge you to use the influence of your state and your opportunities, as a member of the European Union, to organize the rescue of Mariupol. I urge you to do more to make Russia seek peace and even give up its dreams of conquering Ukraine. Because this war that Russia has started against us is actually destroying everything that Ukrainians and Greeks have created together in a long time. What will be left after the Russian artillery and Russian bombs? I will tell you: they will destroy all our common history, our common heritage.

And we will not be comforted saying about Mariupol in the future: "These are new Thermopylae". When the heroes died, stopping a large enemy army. Now we can save our heroes.

And we can also drive the enemy Russian army out of Ukrainian land. We can teach Russia and any other potential aggressors once and for all that whoever chooses war always loses. He who tries to deprive of independence and destroy the territorial integrity of states always loses. Anyone who blackmails Europe with an economic or energy crisis always loses.

Let's be honest, Russia's actions from the beginning were aimed not only at Ukraine, but at Europe as a whole. Russia is doing everything to keep Europeans without available energy. And to make energy poverty a new reality on the continent. Russia is doing everything to provoke an outbreak of inflation for many nations. Russia last year artificially created a deficit in the European gas market. And now it is doing everything to artificially create a deficit in the world food market.

It is a matter of honor for Europeans to respond to such a policy of the Russian Federation. As long as Russian troops block peaceful cities and deport people, no Russian bank has the right to make money from the world's financial system. They all must be blocked! All, not just part.

As long as this pointless and brutal war continues, no Russian vessel has the right to enter the ports of the democratic world. Why help them? For them to earn even more money for missiles and bombs to destroy not only Mariupol, but also Odesa and other Ukrainian cities?

And first of all - no support for Russian tankers, these oil carriers, which provide Russia with a constant flow of money for the killings.

Ukraine needs weapons to force Russian troops to leave our country. In particular, air defense systems, artillery systems and shells, armored vehicles and other things that everyone in the West is well aware of. The sooner Ukraine receives this assistance, the more lives we will be able to save in Ukraine.

And one more thing. Historical. Our nations have always been and will always be closely bonded. I believe that we will be able to bring peace to our Ukrainian land. We will be able to bring to justice all those responsible for these war crimes against Ukrainians, against Greeks and against all other people who fell victim to the Russian military.

We will be able to rebuild Mariupol and all other Ukrainian communities where Ukrainians and Greeks will live just as peacefully and with respect for each other as it was before.

But I also believe that Ukraine and Greece will soon live on an equal footing in our common European home, the European Union. I believe in this! I know it!

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/promova-prezidenta-ukrayini-volodimira-zelenskogo-v-parlamen-74157

 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

April 7, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba pays a visit to Brussels.

The meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has already taken place.

The Minister is scheduled to attend the G7 Ministerial Meeting, the NATO Ministerial Meeting and a series of bilateral meetings.

https://bit.ly/3Jh6WlR

 

Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Twitter

Took part in the NATO Foreign Ministerial. Strong sense of unity behind Ukraine among allies and partners. More importantly, a strong resolve to take very concrete steps to support us. I laid out priorities and stressed the urgency. Follow-up from a number of allies are coming.

https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba

 

Grateful to G7 ministers for inviting me. We discussed ways to take the military, economic, and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine to the new level. Ukraine proposes a fair deal: the world provides us with all the support we require; we fight and defeat Putin in Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba