Status: 05/01/2022 09:26 a.m
Ukraine is anticipating increasing military pressure in the east of the country. President Zelenskyy appealed to the Russian soldiers. According to their own statements, Ukrainian troops shot down fighter jets and drones.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia is strengthening its armed forces in the east of the country. “Russia is gathering additional forces for new attacks against our military in the east of the country,” said Zelenskyy in his regular video address. Russia is trying to increase military pressure in the Donbass. He appealed to the Russian military: “Any Russian soldier can still save his life. It is better for you to survive in Russia than to die in our country.”
According to the Unian agency, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych reported that no troop movements from Russia towards Ukraine have been observed for four days. On the other hand, “a large number of broken equipment, wounded and dead” will be brought back to Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities are reporting further Russian missile attacks on targets in southern and eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine: Russian fighter jets shot down
According to their own statements, Ukrainian troops shot down two Russian warplanes and several drones on Saturday. The Su-25 aircraft and four of the seven downed drones were hit in eastern Ukraine, the Air Force and Army said on Facebook last night. Furthermore, three anti-aircraft tanks, the Strela-10 anti-aircraft system and a radio vehicle were destroyed on the Russian-controlled island of Snakes in the Black Sea, according to the “South” task force on Facebook.
Shaded in white: advance of the Russian army. Shaded in green: Russian-backed separatist areas. Crimea: annexed by Russia.
Image: ISW/04/29/2022
Killed in attacks on villages in Kherson
According to Russian sources, Ukrainian forces shelled villages in the Kherson region. Civilians were killed and injured, the Russian news agency RIA reports with reference to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The ministry said Ukrainian forces shelled a school, a kindergarten and a cemetery in the villages of Kyselivka and Shyroka Balka. It gave no indication of the time of the attack or the number of dead and injured. Ukraine has not yet responded to the report. The information cannot be independently verified.
conflicting parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body.
Zelenskyy: 23,000 Russian soldiers killed
According to Ukrainian figures, 23,000 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. In addition, more than 1,000 Russian tanks and almost 2,500 other military vehicles have already been destroyed, Zelenskyj said in his video speech. Actual military casualties are difficult to estimate.
Moscow has so far admitted more than 1,000 fallen soldiers and, for its part, puts the number of fallen Ukrainian fighters at more than 23,000.
Ukrainian and US military agree on arms deliveries
According to Ukrainian sources, the Ukrainian and US military again agreed on the delivery of weapons, ammunition and other equipment. According to a phone call between the Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Saluschnyj and US Chief of Staff Mark Milley Saluschnyjs, the process is constantly being strictly controlled. He stressed that the Ukrainian army must switch from Soviet equipment to NATO models. “And the sooner we start this process, the sooner we will complete it,” it said.
US President Joe Biden had previously announced that he wanted to apply for another $33 billion for Kyiv. Much of this is earmarked for military aid.