(Image by NEIVANMADE)
Today, 11-year-old Sofiyka and 17-year-old Kyrylo were buried in Uman, victims of a barbaric russian missile attack on the city's residential areas on April 28.
There were a total of 23 civilians killed at the time, with six of them being children. pic.twitter.com/gEBoTCHfCL— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 30, 2023
And Russia continues the bombardment of civilian infrastructure and civilians themselves:
⚡️Governors: Russia hits 9 regions, kills 1 civilian over past day.
Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have attacked nine out of Ukraine's 25 regions – Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts, according to the…
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 30, 2023
Here’s the entire text of The Kyiv Independent‘s tweet:
⚡️Governors: Russia hits 9 regions, kills 1 civilian over past day.
Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have attacked nine out of Ukraine’s 25 regions – Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts, according to the regional governors.
Pavlograd:
Russia attacked Pavlograd. Are you happy now Vladimir? You are scum of the earth. pic.twitter.com/OTPWVHhQtL
— NOËL 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) April 30, 2023
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump:
The invader will definitely not succeed in taking away our peace, which is a natural part of the Ukrainian character – address by the President of Ukraine
30 April 2023 – 16:31
Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!
Today we celebrate the professional day of our border guards in Ukraine.
They were the first to face the occupier in the east, they are holding the border firmly – from Volyn to Kharkiv region, and they will definitely return to all points of our state border in Donbas and Crimea. The day will surely come when Ukrainian border control for passengers at the international airports of our Donetsk and Simferopol will once again be quite commonplace.
The invader will definitely not succeed in taking away our peace, which is a natural part of the Ukrainian character… Peace and the desire for freedom for our entire state, for all our regions, cities, and communities. We will definitely gain it.
I would like to especially celebrate our border guards, who, together with all the defense and security forces of Ukraine, are defending our country and our people in the battles in Donbas… The most fierce areas… Maryinka, Bakhmut, Lyman… Thank you, warriors!
I would also like to mention the fighters of the Lutsk border guard detachment who are defending the Avdiivka direction… Very powerful! Thank you!
Southern directions, where the units of our border guards always effectively “subtract” the occupier… Thank you! Thank you to the servicemen of the Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv detachments who are defending our border with the terrorist state! Thank you to everyone who strengthens our border in Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr and Kyiv regions!
I spoke with French President Macron – as always, it was a long and meaningful conversation. We are coordinating our positions to give even more strength to our soldiers and to speed up the end of the war with our victory. I am grateful to France and to Emmanuel personally for supporting our country and our people. Now, in this conversation, Mr. President has confirmed the supply of exactly what I mentioned in the previous conversation. The speed and specificity of the response is very important, it is something that greatly enhances our capabilities. Thank you for this arms package!
It is very important that Russia receives ever stronger signals that the world will not forgive any of Russia’s acts of terror. And that as many global players as possible are absolutely principled in upholding the sanctions regime against Russia for terror.
I thank each and every person in the world who helps strengthen the isolation of terrorists and stop any supply of weapons and their components to terrorists, who works to block the Russian military-industrial complex and to strengthen the defense capabilities of the whole of Europe.
Following this week, I would like to especially thank our partners from Denmark for Caesars; Slovenia for armored vehicles; Spain for tanks; and Germany for additional defense intentions regarding armored vehicles and shells, and for air defense…
I am grateful to America for funding in the amount of USD 1 billion 250 million to support our budget and resilience.
I am grateful to the Netherlands for the parliamentary decision to train Ukrainian soldiers on advanced Western systems. I am grateful to Italy for its efforts to rebuild our country as soon as possible. I am grateful to Croatia for its new assistance in the treatment of our defenders after being wounded in combat.
Remaining as united as possible, maintaining the greatest principled stance to protect our common values and implementing defense agreements as fast as possible, all together in Ukraine, in Europe, in the world, we will be able to prevent Russia from protracting the war and restore a normal, just peace.
Glory to all who are in combat for Ukraine!
Blessed memory to all our heroes of different times who gave their lives for independence!
Glory to Ukraine!
There is no update today from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. There is a statement regarding investigating corruption, but I haven’t seen any reporting, so I’m not sure what it is specifically referring to.
PBS Newshour did an interview with MG Kyrylo Budanov, the Director of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence:
Bakhmut:
Yesterday The Kyiv Independent‘s Illia Ponomarenko tweeted:
So, Prigozhin says Wagner forces have advanced by between 100 and 150 meters in Bakhmut today — and lost 94 men for that.
Which in fact means each and every of the killed militants on average died so that they could redraw maps by a distance shorter than his own height.— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) April 29, 2023
Today the Ukrainian officer who tweets as Tatarigami provided some clarity to Ponomarenko’s tweet. First tweet from the actual thread, the rest from the Thread Reader App:
🧵Given the recent speech by Prigozhin, it is important to clarify the situation in Bakhmut. Based on compiled information that I am allowed to publish, it is true that Wagner is responsible for assaults and advances in Bakhmut. So why do things look grim on their end? pic.twitter.com/BtbwxvyKx8
— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) April 30, 2023
2/ Wagner convicts have limited value and only make advances when heavy artillery fire is present. If the artillery is suppressed or runs out of ammunition, they don’t make progress. Unfortunately, the lack of ammunition on our side hinders counter-battery fire.3/ Serious tensions exist between Wagner and the Ministry of Defense. These tensions exist not only at the top level but also at the regular level. Some Wagner units act as policing forces, commit crimes, and openly disrespect military commanders with impunity.4/ Poor cooperation between Wagner and MoD results in a lack of coordination between them. The MoD only establishes control over territories captured by Wagner, while Wagner continues to assault forward without proper coordination.5/ The emergence of multiple “PMCs”: Wagner, Potok, Veteran, Yenisey, Skif, Tigr, Irbis, Rys’ and Wolves have created additional coordination complexities, including logistical challenges, a lack of clear command chains, and insufficient intelligence exchange and coordination.6/ Example: A newly formed “Wolves” squad drove to Ukrainian lines without coordination, attempting to “gain reputation”. However, due to their lack of knowledge about the area and the situation, they drove into a landmine and died. The wounded members had to be evacuated.7/ In Bakhmut, Wagner manages to move forward by turning defensive positions into rubble with intense artillery, mortar, TOS, and air support fire. They are also aware of the Ukrainian forces’ lack of artillery ammunition and are not afraid of counter-battery fire.8/ However, Prigozhin himself admitted that without artillery ammo, Wagner is ineffective, and they can only move forward with huge losses that they cannot sustain. The MoD seems reluctant to provide more support, likely due to their fear of a counter-attack at any moment.9/ Without artillery superiority on the field, Wagner’s tactics don’t work and yield no results and lead to fruitless and unsustainable casualty ratios. We need much more ammo, artillery and other counter-battery means to nullify their assault capabilities.10/ Wagner troops lack both training and experience in preparing complex and organized defenses. Organizing defenses, establishing firing positions, and managing logistics in a well-structured manner is difficult, and Wagner is not designed or equipped for it.11/ While it’s unclear if our command will decide to counter-attack in the area, it’s quite possible that what russia was able to achieve in the course of 9 months will be reversed within a week and result in a breakthrough and encirclement of Horlivka and the rears of Donetsk.12/ While this is mere speculation on my part, considering the poor state of their troops in Bakhmut, launching a counter-offensive in this direction could cause a serious blow to russian morale. This is just one of many potential directions for such an attack.
Here is a follow on reply/answer to a question:
Correct. They do have a "core". Most of them right now in Africa, where Wagner generates cash for Prigozhyn – I recommend you to read my previous thread about their activities in Africa. As for Ukraine, they seem to engage less in assaults to avoid "costly" losses.
— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) April 30, 2023
We, our allies, and our partners must do better!
Kramatorsk:
⚡️ Governor: Russia launches 5 missiles at Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast.
One of the missiles targeted a residential area of the city, and the rest hit an industrial area and a field outside Kramatorsk. There were no casualties.
📷 Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko pic.twitter.com/Y3HPWyiQkQ
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 30, 2023
Kherson:
⚡️ Official: 2 injured in Russia’s overnight attack on Kherson.
Russia shelled the city of Kherson overnight on April 30, injuring two people, according to deputy head of Kherson Oblast Council Yuriy Sobolevsky.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 30, 2023
Kupiansk:
⚡️Russia shells downtown Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast.
Russian troops shelled the downtown area of Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, with multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) at around 6:45 a.m. on April 30.
No casualties have been reported.
📷: Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov. pic.twitter.com/w4GT6H8mgd
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 30, 2023
Nikopol:
⚡️Russian forces shell Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
At least seven private residences were damaged in the city of Nikopol after Russia targeted Dnipropetrovsk Oblast overnight on April 30 with artillery, regional governor Serhii Lysak reported on Telegram.
Photo: Serhii… pic.twitter.com/LGlagrl5ym
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 30, 2023
Mariinka:
Mariinka, Ukraine.
The hellscape of Russian liberation. pic.twitter.com/l782KIgM14— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) April 30, 2023
Professor Snyder’s assessment is correct:
Somehow, despite all the evidence of the last year, despite Ukraine taking back most of its territory, despite victories at Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, much of the American media has fallen back into the default that Ukraine can't do much against Russia. Very odd.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) April 30, 2023
Here’s more on Operation Polecat:
Ukrainian Defenders rescued a rare animal, listed in the Red Book of Ukraine – a marbled polecat. There were only about 100 animals of these species. But the war might make them vanish completely.
They live in parts of Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions – exactly where… pic.twitter.com/UBgoMgRn78
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 30, 2023
Here is the full text of Gerashchenko’s tweet:
Ukrainian Defenders rescued a rare animal, listed in the Red Book of Ukraine – a marbled polecat. There were only about 100 animals of these species. But the war might make them vanish completely.
They live in parts of Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions – exactly where active combat is.
Russian ecocide threatens to destroy the rare fauna in Ukraine. About 650 animal species (plus about 750 types of plants and mushrooms) are already at risk because of the war. The most vulnerable are the steppe eagle, steppe marmot and marbled polecat.
It will be a huge job for Ukrainians after Victory to evaluate the damage to nature, obtain compensation for it and make every effort to restore the population of animals and birds whose habitats have been invaded by the Russian aggressor.
📹 tania7g7
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
There are no new Patron tweets or videos at his TikTok, so here’s some adjacent material from the Ukrainian Army Cats & Dogs Twitter feed:
Ukrainian soldiers love animals.#Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar #UkraineWar #Leopard #CatsOfTwitter #CatsOnTwitter #RussiaisATerroistState #UkraineWarNews #UAarmy #Zelensky #UkraineRussiaWar️ pic.twitter.com/950qt3fZL0
— UkrARMY cats & dogs (@UAarmy_animals) April 29, 2023
☺️#Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar #UkraineWar #Leopard #CatsOfTwitter #CatsOnTwitter #RussiaisATerroistState #UkraineWarNews #UAarmy #Zelensky #UkraineRussiaWar️ pic.twitter.com/DWoHU0Qx0h
— UkrARMY cats & dogs (@UAarmy_animals) April 30, 2023
😀#Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar #UkraineWar #Leopard #CatsOfTwitter #CatsOnTwitter #RussiaisATerroistState #UkraineWarNews #UAarmy #Zelensky #UkraineRussiaWar️ pic.twitter.com/iHQGWrDw3u
— UkrARMY cats & dogs (@UAarmy_animals) April 30, 2023
War korgi#Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar #UkraineWar #Leopard #CatsOfTwitter #CatsOnTwitter #RussiaisATerroistState #UkraineWarNews #UAarmy #Zelensky #UkraineRussiaWar️ pic.twitter.com/RAcbtRifem
— UkrARMY cats & dogs (@UAarmy_animals) April 30, 2023
I think that’s actually a Shiba Inu, which would make him a Fella!
Open thread!
War for Ukraine Day 431: The Butcher’s Bill from UmanPost + Comments (38)