The Russian offensive has failed. They continue to attack Bakhmut, and elsewhere the occupiers are on the defensive. The situation at the front on the 420th day of the big war.

The Russian army continues to advance in Bakhmut, but over the past 10 days has managed to capture only a few neighborhoods. The occupiers have also stopped trying to surround the city - for two months they have been trying to cut off the roads to Bakhmut. Ukraine remains in control of a military unit and blocks with high-rise buildings in the western part of Bakhmut. The occupiers have already captured the north, south and east of the city. The Russians have failed to advance in the remaining areas and are stopping their attacks. They are moving to defense and preparing for a counteroffensive by the Ukrainian army. Meanwhile, Slovakia has handed over all of its Soviet MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine

The Russian winter-spring offensive has completely failed

This was stated by the head of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov. The situation at the front also confirms this - the occupiers are advancing only in Bakhmut, seizing building after building. They are also still trying to advance around Avdiivka in Donetsk region, but have hardly seized any new positions over the past week. In all other areas, the Russians have not advanced and have stopped major attacks. Budanov says that the occupiers are now moving to strategic defense, and the owner of the Wagner PMC, Yevheniy Prigozhin, calls on the Russian authorities to declare victory, stop the "SMO" and gain a foothold in the already captured territories. Meanwhile, Putin visits Russian military headquarters in the occupied territories of Luhansk and Kherson regions.

The front line has almost stabilized. At the beginning of the year, the Russians launched their "big" offensive, but since then they have only managed to capture Soledar and almost completely take Bakhmut. In other areas, the occupiers' attacks were repelled.

Western media continue to discuss Ukraine's upcoming counteroffensive, communicate with experts and sources in the military and political leadership of Ukraine's partner countries, and try to guess when and where it will begin. The Washington Post reported that the counteroffensive was delayed due to bad weather, leaked Pentagon documents, and slow supplies of weapons and ammunition. Analysts emphasized that the Ukrainian offensive will be extremely difficult, as the Russians have managed to dig in and build several lines of defense. This could lead to a collapse of the frontline like the one in Kharkiv region in the fall of 2022, and Ukrainian troops will advance only a few tens of kilometers. However, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin noted that Ukraine has an "excellent plan" for a counteroffensive, and its army has received a significant part of the capabilities to implement it. National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov explained that the decision to launch a counteroffensive would be made at the last minute.

For the second week in a row, Western media continue to publish various details from the leaked Pentagon documents.

The culprit of the leak has already been identified - 21-year-old National Guard officer Jack Teixeira from Massachusetts. He worked in the intelligence wing and maintained an electronic system in which classified documents are distributed, so he had access to classified information, which he then published in a closed Discord channel. One of the documents states that the US sees no possibility of ending the war until the end of 2023. They believe that the fighting will reach a stalemate and will continue next year.

Meanwhile, in Russia, on April 11, the State Duma passed a law on electronic subpoenas. From now on, Russians will be able to receive summonses to military commissariats in their electronic accounts on the state website "Gosuslugi".

Even if you do not visit the website, after 7 days the authorities will consider that the summons has been received and read. After the summons is sent, the Russian will be banned from traveling abroad. If they fail to report to the military enlistment office, their driver's license will be revoked, they will be banned from selling their home, getting loans, etc. The State Duma also allowed Russians to enlist in the army immediately after high school.

Moreover, from now on, Russians can be enlisted in the military reserve even without their knowledge and without a visit to the military enlistment office. This may indicate that the Russian authorities are preparing for a second wave of mobilization.

For more than a month now, the Russians have not organized massive missile strikes. Over the past 10 days, they have hardly used Shahed-136 kamikaze drones. They have only launched them at targets near the front line. However, they continue to use guided aerial bombs, which cause extensive damage to frontline and border towns and villages.

In Kharkiv region, the front line has not changed.

Russians still control a small area in the northeast, near the Russian-Ukrainian border. The occupiers are trying to advance toward Kupiansk and along the Oskil River to push the Ukrainian army back beyond it.

Russians are not advancing in Luhansk region either.

The biggest battles are taking place near the village of Dibrova and in the forests south of Kreminna. The main goal of the Russians is to push Ukrainian troops away from the towns of Kreminna and Svatove, as well as from the highway between them. But in more than two months, they have advanced only a few kilom

On the southern bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, the administrative border of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, Russians continue to advance on the town of Bilohorivka and the villages of Verkhnokamianske and Spirne. Near Bilohorivka, they managed to capture several Ukrainian positions and move closer to the town. These settlements cover the flank of the Ukrainian military, who are holding back the Russians behind Soledar, and prevent them from reaching Siversk quickly and simultaneously from several sides. The occupiers will pay less attention to this direction until they capture Bakhmut.

The Russians are advancing slowly in Bakhmut, they have been completely stopped around the city.

Ukrainian troops are trying to hold the front line along the railroad line, but in the north and south, the Russians have crossed it. Currently, Ukraine controls the territory of a military unit and several high-rise neighborhoods in the west of Bakhmut, which is about 20% of the city. Ukrainian troops are also actively mining buildings as they retreat, and remotely detonating them when Russians enter and take up positions.

In all other areas of Donetsk region, the situation has hardly changed. The occupants are slowly advancing east and north of Avdiivka, destroying the city with air strikes. However, it is still far from being surrounded. To the south of the city, Russians have not been successful for several weeks. Currently, the main fighting is taking place west of the village of Novobakhmutivka along the Konstantinovka-Donetsk road.

Fighting is also taking place in the town of Marinka, but Russians are not making any headway there. Instead, the situation has stabilized near the town of Vuhledar, and the occupiers are not trying to actively advance.

In Zaporizhzhia region, the front line is not changing.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine is attempting a large-scale attack in this area, but they continue to exchange fire.

In Kherson region, the front line is not changing either - it has stabilized along the Dnipro River.

Mutual fire across the river continues there. Most likely, the front line along the Dnipro River will remain unchanged until the occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region is liberated.

On April 17, Slovakia announced that it had handed over all 13 of its Soviet MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Four of them were shipped on their own at the end of March, and now the remaining 9 have been delivered by land. This could mean that a significant number of these aircraft are in poor condition and need to be repaired or become a donor of spare parts for other Ukrainian fighters.

The leaked Pentagon documents contain information that Egypt planned to secretly export missiles for multiple launch rocket systems to Russia. But the plan stopped in March 2023. This was preceded by negotiations with senior US officials. After that, Egypt approved the sale of 152- and 155-mm artillery shells to the United States, which would then be transferred to Ukraine. The documents indicate that Cairo allegedly planned to use its weapons production facilities for Ukraine as a lever to obtain modern US military equipment, including F-35 fighters and Patriot air defense systems.

On April 13, the Council of the European Union approved the allocation of one billion euros under the European Peace Facility for ammunition for the Ukrainian Defense Forces. This amount will allow the EU to reimburse member states for the cost of ammunition they transfer to Ukraine from their stockpiles or purchase from manufacturers.

Source: babel.ua

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