“Ukraine – 4/7 Sitrep
Compiled by: Robert Homans
April 7, 2022
Good News Bees (Bad News Bees if You’re a Russian Soldier) –
Several hungry Russian soldiers decided to open a container of bees that had been dormant during the Winter. The bees were not amused, and they proceeded to sting the soldiers. 3 died from beestings. A Ukrainian friend of mine has recently gone into beekeeping. She is also active in territorial defense. Now I know the connection.
Great Britain announced yesterday
· Total block of new investments into Russia
· Total ban on a broad range of Russian imports
· Stop imports of Russian coal by the end of 2022
· Arrest of all Sberbank and Moscow Credit Bank assets in GB
The United States refuses to take part in future G-20 summits if Russia will be in attendance. In addition to this announcement Treasury Secretary Yellen announced these sanctions:
· Total block on all financial transactions by Russia’s Alfa and Sberbank
· Total block on two thirds of Russia’s financial sector
· Personal sanctions of Myshystina and Medvedev
· Personal sanctions of Putin’s children, Lavrov’s wife and daughter
· Total block of all investments in Russia
I am sorry that Patriarch Kirill, Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, was not among the individual Russians who were sanctioned. Kirill is a senior official of the Russian Government, and it is likely that he’s allowing the Church’s financial network to be used to launder money for individual Russians who have been sanctioned, likely moving money from Russia into the Western financial system where the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate has a presence.
Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State, said that the current Russian sanctions regime should give China reason to pause before considering providing Russia with military and financial aid.
NATO General Secretary Stoltenberg said yesterday that war in Ukraine may end in a couple of months or last for years.
The European Commission was unable to agree yesterday on the text of the new round of Russian sanctions. They will resume their efforts today. At the same time the commission approved a 3.5 billion Euro aid package to help EU members to accommodate Ukrainian refugees.
The hacker’s group, Anonymous, hacked the Kremlin’s security system. Anonymous displayed Kremlin staff walking, meeting and eating.
The Italian Corriere della Sera, reported that activist tried to burn Vladimir Soloviov’s villa on lake Como. Soloviov is an official Russian propagandist who makes almost daily appearances on Russian television justifying the Kremlin’s acts and words. Unfortunately, the blaze was extinguished before causing damage.
President of the European Commission stated that Russian soldiers that surrender their equipment and refuse to continue fighting will be granted refugee status in the EU.
Russia’s Ministry of Finance stated that a foreign bank refused its request to make a coupon payment for Russian sovereign obligation, on Russia’s behalf. Russia faces financial default if the payment is not made by May 4.
Pope Francis in his daily audience lifted a Ukrainian flag delivered from Bucha. The flag was given to him by a group of Ukrainian children refugees. The Pope prayed for peace.
Russian soldiers that retreated from Ukraine are sending looted goods from Ukraine home to their families using a Russian courier service SDEK. On the way to redeployment Russian forces are stopping in Mozyre, Belarus to send the loot home. A Belarus internet news site “Mediazona” has published countless photos. The most unexpected loot pictured was a heavy Renault transport truck.
The names and mobile numbers of Russian soldiers who have looted and re-sold their stolen booty in flea markets in Belarus have been posted on Ukrainian social media. The soldiers in question are getting numerous phone calls from Ukrainians. We assume that the soldiers in question will be hunted down by Ukrainian State Security and liquidated, in much the same way as Mossad hunted down and liquidated all those responsible for the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The same applies to the perpetrators of the mass murders of Ukrainians in Bucha, and other cities and towns in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Government has already given autorization for summary execution of Russian soldiers who fire artillery and multiple rocket launchers into Ukrainian cities.
List of EU countries that expelled Russian diplomats
· Poland 45 expelled
· Germany 40 expelled
· France 35 expelled
· Slovakia 35 expelled
· Slovakia 35 expelled
· Slovenia 33 expelled
· Italy 30 expelled
· Spain 25 expelled
· Belgium 21 expelled
· EU 19 expelled
· Netherlands 17 expelled
· Denmark 15 expelled
· Estonia 14 expelled
· Latvia 13 expelled and ambassador expelled
· Bulgaria 10 expelled
· Romania 10 expelled
· Lithuania 10 expelled and ambassador expelled
· Northern Macedonia 5 expelled
· Ireland 4 expelled
· Austria 4 expelled
· Sweden 3 expelled
· Czech 1 expelled
Two Belarusians were arrested in Poznan and charged with Espionage. The men were gathering information regarding critical military and civilian infrastructure and sending it to Belarus.
Polish President Duda said there is no sense in trying to dialogue with Russia. Instead, Russia should be presented with ultimatums and told that if they don’t accept them then there is nothing to talk about.
A survey of Finnish military officers found a spike in support for joining NATO. In 2021 65% of the officer corps supported NATO membership, in March 2022 support leaped to 91%. Russia threatened Finland with an adequate reaction if Finland continues to seek NATO membership.
The United States senate voted unanimously in support of Biden activating the World War II Era Lend lease Law to speed up delivery of US military equipment to Ukraine. The lend lease law provided Great Britain and the Soviet Union with the military backbone to confront Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
Belgium blocked 196.4 billion Euro of Russian financial transactions and froze 2.7 billion Euro of Russian financial assets.
The EU Minister of Foreign Affairs said it is unconscionable that EU has paid Russia 35 billion Euro for energy resources but has only given Ukraine 1 billion Euro in aid. After all, the Ukrainian Armed Forces has effectively become the Armed Forces of the EU
NATIONAL
Pres. Zelensky said yesterday that the United States, Germany, Great Britain, Turkey, Poland, France and Israel are ready to provide Ukraine with security guarantees as part of a Ukraine/Russia peace deal. However, the countries named have not agreed amongst themselves what the security guarantee would entail. Work on details is ongoing.
The commander of the Georgian legion fighting for Ukraine said they will not take Russian prisoners.
Before retreating from Vorzel, in Kyiv Oblast, Russian soldiers were crucifying dogs and skinning them alive.
Ukraine’s parliament adopted in first reading a law requiring Ukraine’s government to pay for reconstruction and or construction of housing destroyed by the war.
Ukraine’s government changed regulations governing territorial self-defense forces and now allows them to use artillery and ballistic rockets.
An investigative report by the BBC found that every fifth killed Russian soldier in Ukraine was an officer. The journalists used official Russian military bulletins for their investigation.
Russian forces that retreated from Ukraine have been relocated near the eastern Ukrainian Russian border in field camps. Reports from these camps indicate that the soldiers there refuse to continue fighting in Ukraine.
Russia has relocated its attack helicopters from Belarus to Briansk. Briansk Oblast borders Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv Oblasts.
Ukraine’s military has completed training in the United States on how to use American Switchblade attack drones
Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs said they are uncovering Russian military abuse of the civilian population in every community that has been liberated.
NORTHERN UKRAINE
Taking a page from former U.S. President Donald Trump’s playbook, as well as Israel’s playbook, the governor of Sumy Oblast said yesterday that after the war Ukraine must build a wall on the border with Russia. He said that defensive positions should also be established on the Ukrainian side of the wall. I am sure that over the next several months there will a number of delegations of Ukrainian security experts visiting Israel.
The Russian general that commanded the troops in Bucha, Vitali Shchkolenko, is from Ukraine.
Kyiv’s mayor said that after 40 days of war 89 civilians were killed, of which 4 are children, 398 were wounded of which 20 children.
The mayor of Borodianka, Kyiv Oblast, said that Russian soldiers shot civilians who were trying to rescue people buried under rubble. The buried were in the rubble of apartment buildings destroyed by rockets or artillery fire.
KHARKIV – I will use separate maps for Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts until the situation there is less intense.
Russian forces continue trying to encircle Kharkiv and continue shelling the city with artillery fire, mortars, and ballistic rockets. The shelling is mostly at night.
Kharkiv Oblast military administration recommends that civilians in Barvenko and Lozova evacuate as they expect these communities will be in the line of fire. Ukraine military and civil authorities expect that Russian forces will be attempting to move south from Izium in an attempt to create a pincer around Ukrainian forces in the Donbas.
Russian forces shelled the communities of Kozakovi Lopany, Lozova and Barvenko yesterday.
Street to street fighting and shelling continues in Izium.
Personally, I don’t see how Russia has enough troops to: Surround Kharkiv; launch an attack from Kharkiv toward Izium; transition troops fighting in and around Mariupol and move north to Izium, and thereby encircle Ukrainian troops along the Line of Contact with the people’s republics. This may be an excellent opportunity for Ukraine to wipe out Russian formations operating out in the open, without air cover, just as Ukraine did around Kyiv, to devastating effect.
DONBAS
Head of Luhansk Regional State Administration, reported that Russian troops shelled Zolote, Popasno, Rubizhno and Hirske in the region, occupiers shelled hospital in Severodonetsk and houses in Lysychansk. Entire blocks of housing have been levelled in Popasno, Rubizhno and Lysyschansk.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense advised that Russia will be focusing its attacks on Popasne, Rubizhno and Mariupol today. Ukraine’s Office of the President indicated that Russian forces are moving from Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, in the direction of Slaviansk and Kramatorsk in neighboring Luhansk Oblast. They added that this advance is being supported by artillery, ballistic rockets and air support. The Luhansk administration expects them to arrive in the next three to four days.
Drunk Russian soldiers attempting to cross Severo Doentsk river in an armored personnel carrier drove it into the river and drowned.
Ten apartment buildings were hit by fire in Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, overnight and damage is extensive.
Marianka, Novomykhailivka, Avdiivka, Ocheretnoi, Uhledar, and Toretsk, in Donetsk Oblast, were hit by artillery and aerial fire overnight. Russian ground forces attacked on three directions overnight but were thrown back. The shelling of Uhledar took place while humanitarian aid was being distributed. Four were killed and seven wounded.
Russia bombed Mariupol 118 times in the last twenty four hours and continues trying to advance into the city. In street battles in Mariupol Ukrainian forces destroyed two tanks and a truck with munitions.
The mayor of Mariupol issued a statement yesterday that from the start of the blockade approximately 5,000 killed of 210 were children. The worst incident was a phosphorus bomb that burnt 50 people to death.
Russian forces continue forcibly deporting civilians from Mariupol.
SOUTHERN UKRAINE
Ukrainian forces have pushed Russians out of Mykolaiv Oblast and retook half of Kherson Oblast on the right bank of the Dnipro River. Explosions and fighting are heard in Kherson city.
Although Mykolaiv and Odesa do not face immediate ground threats Russia continued sending surveillance drones. Both cities continue facing sporadic rocket and cruise missile attacks.
The mayors of Skadovsk and Kakhovka on the left bank of Kherson Oblast fled the city as he was warned that he would shortly be placed under arrest.
Russian forces in the occupied parts of Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts are starting to round up and press civilian men into their army.
Russia is maintaining a force of 500 soldiers and 50 units of military at Ukraine’s Nuclear station in Enerhodar, Zaporizhia Oblast. Civilians in Enerhodar have run out of food and are facing shortages of medicine.
CENTRAL UKRAINE I
Comparing Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to Russian invasion of Ukraine using Wikipedia and Ukraine Ministry of Defense Daily Bulletins. Soviet and Russian military losses not including captured equipment.
SOURCES
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/
https://invite.viber.com/?g2=AQBD3wxTrZ6XUU7IdXeHUfjVCydekezQCCGuwYnT6qPd1r7n1aVbFIewa6ng6Lis
7 April Situation Report For Ukraine
That's a lot of news aggregation. Thank you.