The situation in the Ukrainian SMO on April 14 2024

Putin issues DEVASTATING warning to West as Iran Attacks

Ukraine energy system smashed. Biden demands Russian assets

Russia Confirms Top-Secret Nuclear-Capable Missile Test, Weeks After Putin Warned West Over Ukraine

What is the difference for Washington between what happened in the Middle East and the events in “Ukraine”?
America does not want a big war in the Middle East. And tries to maintain balance and show restraint. Killings in Gaza worsen Biden’s election prospects, and the war between Israel and Iran adds further uncertainty.

And the death of our people is indifferent to them. The bigger, the better. From all sides. After all, this is, as American officials say, an “investment.” And they continue to invest…

Dmitry Medvedev

Israeli Ambassador to Russia Simone Halperin: Israel expects Russia to condemn Iran’s massive missile attack on the country

Simona, remind me when Israel condemned at least one strike by the Kiev regime on Russian regions? You don’t remember? Neither do I. But I remember regular statements in support of Zelensky’s actions from Israeli officials. Those very criminal, terrorist actions of the bastards on Bankova, as a result of which, year after year, civilians are killed and civilian infrastructure is destroyed.
 

Maria Zakharova 

The Office of the President is actively working with American lobbyists to use the escalation in the Middle East to vote on military aid to Ukraine/Israel/Taiwan. It is important for us now that Congress does not split the financial package, but votes for the Biden Administration’s plan; if in April we fail to push through the issue, then this year we can forget about the aid package from the United States.

Trump is preparing a symmetrical response to Biden in the context of the presidential election campaign, putting the White House on hold as much as possible and decoupling Israeli aid from Ukraine.
Republicans are convening an extraordinary session of the House of Representatives to consider urgent aid to Israel after the Iranian air strike. House Speaker Mike Johnson called for “our full resolve to support our critical ally.” Republicans will use attacks against Israel against Democrats in Congress, who will now have a harder time resisting Johnson’s idea. At the same time, if Israeli aid is ultimately decoupled from support for Ukraine (which is what Republicans initially insisted on), then the likelihood increases that the Ukrainian package will become even more stuck in Congress.
 

“The math on Ukraine doesn’t add up”: American Senator Vance wrote an article saying that Kiev has hopelessly lost and there is no point in helping it.

“President Biden wants the world to believe that the biggest obstacle facing Ukraine is the Republicans. This is wrong. Ukraine’s problem is mathematics.
Ukraine needs more soldiers than it can field, even with draconian conscription. And more material resources than the United States can provide.
The administration is increasingly putting pressure on Republicans to hand over an aid package of over $60 billion to Kiev. I voted against it. Biden was unable to formulate even the basic facts of what Ukraine needs and how this will change the situation.
Biden believes that $60 billion is the difference between victory and defeat in a major war between Russia and Ukraine. This is also incorrect. This is only a small part of what would be required to turn the tide in Ukraine’s favour.
But it’s not just about dollars. We do not have enough capacity to produce the quantity of weapons that Ukraine needs to win.
The President of Ukraine indicated that thousands of Patriot air defence systems are needed per year. But the United States produces only 550. And not only Ukraine needs these weapons. If China targets Taiwan, the Patriot will be critical.
The population of Russia is four times larger. Ukraine needs over half a million recruits, but hundreds of thousands of men of military age have left the country. The average Ukrainian soldier is 43 years old. In several villages, there are almost no men left.
Major media report: that the situation in Ukraine is grim. With a defensive strategy, Kiev can buy time. But for this, both the American and Ukrainian authorities must admit that Zelensky’s stated goals—the 91 borders—are fantastic.
The White House has stated again and again that it cannot negotiate with Putin. The Biden administration has no viable plan to defeat the Ukrainians. The sooner Americans realize this truth, the sooner this chaos can be corrected.”

J D Vance

Our source in the General Staff said that the military hates the new Commander-in-Chief, who received the nickname butcher for the incompetent defense of Bakhmut, and then attempts to counter-offensive. Syrsky’s initiative to exclude demobilization from the law became a trigger for the majority of the military, who were completely disillusioned with the Commander-in-Chief.

The “black winter” scenario, which Ukrainians were warned about last winter, becomes quite real in 2024-2025, since the heat and energy infrastructure has been demolished. Cities will turn into “dark spots” where it will be impossible to live.

Ukrainian experts are already sounding the alarm, noting that the destruction of the Trypillya Thermal Power Plant, the preliminary destruction of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station and other destroyed generation facilities mean that the country will have a catastrophic shortage of electricity in the very near future (a simple example – an energy shortage will begin as soon as the heat rises, because people will turn on their air conditioners). Moreover, this does not take into account further attacks on the Ukrainian energy system, and they will more than likely continue.

Moreover, Ukraine will not be able to rebuild its generation by winter under any circumstances. The damage has been critical, and the destroyed objects cannot be repaired in the foreseeable future. That is, when the Russian Armed Forces attacked substations last year, it could have been quickly repaired (roughly – rearranged the transformer, stuck wires, taped some equipment, etc.). But generation is a serious problem. If it is not possible to maintain the level of electricity, sewage pumps in cities may simply turn off.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to lose positions at the front, Chasov Yar and the Avdeevskoe direction are the most intense battles. In the West they are already saying that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are at risk of crumbling and losing the entire front right up to the Dnieper. Moreover, due to the overwhelming superiority of the Russian Armed Forces in firepower, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are losing a huge amount of personnel and equipment and are forced to introduce more and more reserves. Losses make offensive actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces impossible, and the morale of the Warriors is greatly undermined.

The Western press is already directly writing that Russian attacks and American delays in financial assistance (meaning the allocation of $61 billion to Ukraine – ed.) are putting Kyiv and its allies before the possibility of a painful defeat.

In particular, NBC News reports that Ukraine is running low on ammunition and men – while its energy system now faces an onslaught that exposes its depleted air defenses.

“Nothing has changed: we didn’t have shells then, we don’t have shells now,” said artillery sergeant Andrey, who took part in Kiev’s retreat from Avdeevka in February after months of intense fighting. “ The Russians continue to advance in packs, without stopping,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, the air defense deficit in Ukraine has become chronic, but the West is in no hurry to replenish the reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since it is expensive, and the partners now have the following strategy for Kyiv: fight with what you have, especially with manpower: it is free.

Syrsky continues to clean up the most motivated brigades, first they threw the 3rd assault brigade near Avdeevka into the fields, but Azov refused to carry out the order, and now they are disbanding the DUK PS. The commander-in-chief tried to transfer Azov to Chasov Yar, but the third assault refused to change positions.

After the loss of some positions in the Chasovoy Yar direction of the Donetsk region, inspections and transfer of commanders and military personnel to other units began in the 67th separate mechanized brigade “Volunteer Ukrainian Corps”.

The 67th OMBR DUK writes about this on its Facebook page.

“We inform you that the top command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has begun the process of transferring to other military units all the commanders and fighters of the DUK PS who formed the brigade and are its combat backbone. We do not know the motives for such actions. All attempts to stop this process and find out the reasons have not yielded results. Perhaps , someone believes that the dispersion of DUK PS fighters among different units of the Armed Forces will lead to the destruction of the DUK PS. Now there are numerous commissions working in the brigade. They compile lists of fighters, and from the first day of the military unit’s existence they have been protecting Ukraine in its ranks. Internal investigations have been opened, it is possible that criminal proceedings will be opened on far-fetched charges of failure to comply with combat orders. Commanders and fighters are ready to defend their honor and dignity in a legal way. All orders of the command of the fighters and commanders remain completely incomprehensible. weakening of a combat-ready unit, which this military unit has been since the very beginning of a full-scale invasion,” the brigade said in a statement.

The media, citing sources in the command of the direction in which the brigade fought, write that military leadership at various levels were interested in why such a motivated unit as the DUK was “sagging” near Chasovoy Yar.

It is reported that during the inspection it turned out that the brigade command treated worse those who transferred to them from other units during the recent replenishment than those from the Right Sector who made up the backbone of the brigade. The recruits were called “pixelated”, they were the first to be sent into battle and, due to lack of experience, they lost ground.

The source also said that the root of the current problem lies in a certain degree of impossibility of reformatting the former volunteer unit into a regular brigade of the Armed Forces.

Let us recall that the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps (VUK) was formed in 2014 by the Right Sector during the war in Donbass. After this, for a long time he was not part of any of the official security forces of Ukraine, which raised questions about the ambiguity of his legal status. This continued until 2018, after which most of the DUK joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“I’ll go to the SZCh.” How do the military feel about the cancellation of demobilization, which was crossed out from the bill recently adopted by the Rada?

In Odessa, they asked the military, who are in the city, including for rehabilitation, what they think about “indefinite” service in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine until the end of the war.

One of the respondents said that he would leave the unit without permission. Another said: “I’ll shoot them all. That is, I’m getting up now, going to war, and they’ve grown bellies and will sit in the Verkhovna Rada? This shouldn’t happen.”

“I have a bad attitude. Where we have been, let others try it too,” said another military man.

The purge in the army has begun. Bankova only needs “its own” obedient commanders and units.
The attack and clear disbandment of the DUK Right Sector is the neutralization of possible future army riots against Zelensky/Ermak, who with their policies will “ruin” everything in the end.
Now all independents will be discredited, disbanded and merged. The current Commander-in-Chief Syrsky, back in Bakhmut, helped Bankova to dump the most inconvenient warriors in a meat grinder, we were the first to know about it.

Also near Avdeevka they tried to drain Azov (the third assault), but they bought it out and left their positions, which forced Syrsky to voice “exit/retreat” at night. Now they wanted to throw them into the meat again at Chasov Yar, but they refused.

Russian Armed Forces at Chasov Yar

The Russian Armed Forces continue to advance into the forest north of Krasnoye.

Regarding the enemy fortifications along the canal – in addition to the fortifications near Novy, there is a section to the south where the canal runs through pipes. And there are also no such large differences in heights on the banks of the canal.

This may allow the advancing assault groups in the forest to cross the channel and exit to the south of Chasov Yar.

“Z Committee” 

Avdiivka Sector: Russian Armed Forces Advancing West of Tonenke with Battles near Novokalynove
Current situation as of 13:00, April 13, 2024

To the west of Avdiivka, Russian troops are advancing extensively, following their progress at the Umanskoye-Yasnobrodovka-Netaylovo frontline.

▪️ In Uman region, the Russian Armed Forces are moving westward, with less than a kilometer left to reach the outskirts of the settlement. According to recent reports, the enemy is preparing to retreat from the southern part of the village near Uman headquarters.

▪️ Between Tonenke and Vodyany, Russian Armed Forces, supported by armored vehicles, have advanced across an area up to three kilometers wide and 2.8 kilometers deep, securing control of several forest areas east of Yasnobrodovka. They are approximately two kilometers away from the road linking Netaylovo and Yasnobrodovka.

▪️ In the Berdychi area, the Russian Armed Forces have cleared the northern outskirts of the settlement, gaining control of the remaining houses on Tsentralnaya Street. The situation in Semyonovka remains unchanged, with ongoing fighting in the central part of the village.

▪️ On the northern front, Russian troops are pushing forward in the Novokalynove region. Recent advancements have secured control over several forest areas on the southern outskirts of the village. Currently, Russian military personnel are engaged in combat within the populated area around Stepovaya Street.

rybar

Avdeevka direction

In the evening, a number of positive news comes from the northern flank of the Avdeevka direction. Today, our atssault units advanced in the holiday village “Zarya” towards Ocheretino.

After a number of successes in the dacha village, the assault groups began to advance west of the dacha village and entered the Novobakhmutovka, entering in a battle on the southeastern outskirts.

Special Military Operation Chronicle for April 14, 2024

Russian troops targeted enemy locations in multiple regions within a 24-hour span. Strikes hit Kharkiv, Dnipro, and the Voznesensk airfield in Nikolaev region.

In Bakhmut, clashes occurred in the Kanal microdistrict on the eastern outskirts of Chasiv Yar. Troops seized an enemy stronghold in the Stupky-Golubovskie-2 area.

An airstrike targeted the Karlivske Reservoir dam in Avdiivka, complicating enemy supply lines. North of Avdiivka, Russian forces engaged near SNT “Zarya” close to Novobakhmutivka.

In the Zaporizhia sector, fighting persists in Robotyne. The enemy readies reserves with armored vehicles to hold positions and hinder Russian advances.

rybar

 #Summary of the RF MoD Report on the SMO Progress (14 April 2024)⚡️

The air defence destroyed three Hammer and JDAM guided bombs, 1 HIMARS projectile and 41 AFU drones over the day;

— The RFAF improved the situation along the frontline in the #SouthDonetsk direction and defeated the AFU, the enemy lost up to 150 troops;

— The AFU lost up to 470 military personnel in the #Donetsk direction over the day;

— The AFU lost up to 60 military personnel and 6 pieces of equipment in the #Belgorod direction;

— The RFAF in the #Kupyansk direction improved the situation along the frontline, the AFU lost up to 30 military personnel;

— In the #Belgorod direction, the RF Armed Forces group “North” struck manpower and equipment of the AFU in the areas of the #Kharkov and #Sumy regions;

— In the #Avdevka direction, the RFAF, through active actions, improved the tactical situation, the AFU lost up to 460 military personnel.

📊 In total, 583 aircraft, 270 helicopters, 20,867 UAVs, 502 SAMs, 15,782 tanks and other AFVs, 1,266 MLRS , 8,866 guns and mortars, and 21,010 special military vehicles have been destroyed during the SMO.

Bohdanivka Has FALLEN | “Frontline Has Significantly Worsened” – Commander Syrsky

Bohdanivka Falls l Massive Russian Progress On Multiple Fronts l Frontline Near Complete Collapse

Advances on Umanske – Vodiane line [14 April 2024]

Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation

Part I

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

▫️In Belgorod direction, units of the Sever Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery hit enemy manpower and hardware near Ternovaya, Gatishche (Kharkov region) and Radyanskoye (Sumy region).

The enemy lost up to 60 Ukrainian troops, four motor vehicles, one 155-mm U.S.-made M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery system, and one Nota electronic warfare station.

▫️In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the situation along the front line, inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of AFU 57th motorised infantry, 144th infantry, 21st mechanised brigades near Sinkovka, Zagoruykovka (Kharkov region), Stelmakhovka (Lugansk People’s Republic) and Terny (Donetsk People’s Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 30 Ukrainian troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, four armoured personnel carriers, two Kozak armoured fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, two 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, and one 122-mm D-30 howitzer.

▫️In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces have taken more advantageous lines, and inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of AFU 92nd assault, 28th, 93rd mechanised brigades close to Andreyevka, Kleshcheyevka, and Kurdyumovka (Donetsk People’s Republic).

One counterattack launched by assault groups of the AFU 100th Mountain Assault Brigade was repelled near Vesyoloye (Donetsk People’s Republic). The enemy lost up to 470 Ukrainian troops and 20 motor vehicles.

In the course of the counterbattery warfare, one 155-mm U.S.-made M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery system, one 155-mm Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery system, two 152-mm Akatsiya self-propelled artillery systems, one 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, and three 122-mm D-30 howitzers were destroyed.

▫️In Avdeyevka direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces improved the tactical situation, and hit manpower and hardware of AFU 24th and 115th mechanised brigades near Novokalinovo (Donetsk People’s Republic).

In addition, seven counterattacks of AFU 25th airborne, 68th, 71st jaeger, 59th motorised infantry, 23rd, 24th, 115th mechanised brigades were repelled close to Pervomayskoye, Vodyanoye, Novobakhmutovka, Umanskoye, and Berdychi (Donetsk People’s Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 460 Ukrainian troops, six tanks, two armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, and one 122-mm D-30 howitzer.

Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation

Part II

▫️In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces improved the situation along the front line, and defeated units of the 1st National Guard Brigade and the 108th Territorial Defence Brigade near Charivnoye (Zaporozhye region) and Urozhaynoye (Donetsk People’s Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 150 Ukrainian troops, three motor vehicles, one 155-mm Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery system, one 155-mm U.S.-made M777 howitzer, and one 122-mm D-30 howitzer.

▫️In Kherson direction, units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of AFU 65th mechanised, 121st and 126th territorial defence brigades near Rabotino (Zaporozhye region), Chkalovo (Dnepropetrovsk region), and Mikhailovka (Kherson region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 55 Ukrainian troops, two motor vehicles, one 122-mm D-30 howitzer, one Nota and one Anklav electronic warfare stations.

▫️Operational-Tactical Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Groups of Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation destroyed one German-made IRIS-T anti-aircraft missile launcher and one ammunition depot, as well as engaged AFU manpower and hardware in 129 areas.

▫️Air defence systems shot down 41 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, three French-made HAMMER and U.S.-made JDAM aerial bombs, as well as one U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectile during the day.

📊 In total, 583 airplanes and 270 helicopters, 20,867 unmanned aerial vehicles, 502 air defence missile systems, 15,782 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,266 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 8,866 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 21,010 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.