We are looking for opportunities to provide Kharkiv with greater air defense – address by the President of Ukraine

7 April 2024 – 20:42

Dear Ukrainians!

Today’s key points.

The frontline and the defense of our cities. I was in touch all day with the military – with the Commander-in-Chief, the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Minister of Internal Affairs. We discussed the situation on the frontline and Russian attacks on our country. Special attention, of course, was paid to Kharkiv. The situation in the city is very tough, there is constant Russian terror, now with aerial bombardment virtually on a daily basis. We are looking for opportunities to give Kharkiv greater air defense, and this is a task for both the military and all diplomats of Ukraine – for everyone who is responsible for international communication, who has to be in dialogue with partners on a daily basis. It is quite obvious that the air defense capabilities available to us in Ukraine are not enough, and this is obvious to all our partners as well. And the world must finally hear the pain that Russian terrorists are inflicting on Kharkiv, on Kupyansk, on cities in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy regions, and many other Ukrainian communities… There are air defense systems in the world that can help. The only thing needed is the political will to transfer these systems to Ukraine. I am grateful to those countries that have already helped. And being active in fulfilling this task is the personal responsibility of our diplomats who work in the areas and countries where the necessary systems are available. Patriots should now be deployed in Ukraine, so that later on they will not have to be used at least along the entire eastern flank of NATO.

Second. We are already actively preparing our international activities for the coming weeks and months. In particular, we are planning the annual summit of the Ukrainian charity platform United24. I spoke with United24 ambassadors. I thanked them for their activity, both now and last year. Now everyone sees that much more personal energy and much more effort is needed to keep the Ukrainian issue in the focus of global attention alongside many other problems and conflicts. This is not an easy year. A year of elections in different countries and in the European Union. Conflicts and instability keep spreading around the world – in particular due to Russian investments in violence. And I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine after these years of war. I am grateful to everyone who believes in us and helps us. Ukraine has every opportunity to achieve its goals. The key is to stay united with everyone in the world who values life – life safe from terror.

And third. Our warriors, our brigades. Our gratitude to everyone who is now in combat, who is on the frontline, who is defending Ukraine from Russian evil with their courage. The 35th separate marine brigade operating in the Prydniprovya direction. Thank you guys! Pokrovsk direction – the 71st separate jaeger brigade and the 47th separate mechanized brigade. Thank you! Lyman direction – the 95th separate air assault brigade. Well done! Kupyansk direction – the 57th separate motorized infantry brigade. Thank you! Thank you to everyone who gives Ukraine the opportunity to stand up to terror, the opportunity to protect Ukrainian lives.

Glory to Ukraine!

Zelensky pleads with western partners to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems ASAP. “Russians began using guided aerial bombs against the city almost daily,” he says. These bombs are devastating and a weapon for which Kyiv’s forces have “practically no countermeasures,”… https://t.co/jcw3M9C53L

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) April 7, 2024

Zelensky pleads with western partners to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems ASAP. “Russians began using guided aerial bombs against the city almost daily,” he says. These bombs are devastating and a weapon for which Kyiv’s forces have “practically no countermeasures,” Ukrainian analysts say. More about these Russian bombs here: https://on.ft.com/4aBzPYo

From The Financial Times:

The Russian air force is stepping up its use of Soviet-era weapons that have been retrofitted for 21st-century warfare and are pounding Ukrainian forces, pulverising towns and giving Moscow an advantage on the battlefield.

“The experience of the past months and weeks shows that the enemy has significantly increased aircraft activity, using guided air bombs that destroy our positions,” Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said in March.

The guided weapons are commonly referred to as “glide bombs” and consist of decades-old projectiles that would typically be dropped from Su-34 and Su-35 warplanes directly over targets. By adding cheap pop-out wings and a satellite navigation system, these former “dumb bombs” can now be launched by Russian bombers deep behind the front line and out of reach of Ukraine’s air-defence systems.

“For them, it is much cheaper than using hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, when one of these bombs will demolish several buildings,” said Vlad, a 27-year-old soldier serving in the eastern Donetsk region.

The glide bombs can carry between 500kg and 1.5 tonnes of explosives for over 60km, leaving craters up to 20m wide and 6m deep.

“They are very scary, very lethal,” said Bohdan, another soldier in Donetsk. “Even a kilometre away, the blast rips the doors of buildings off their hinges.”

They are so destructive that Ukrainian analysts with Deep State, a group close to the defence ministry, have called them a weapon for which Kyiv’s forces have “practically no countermeasures”.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told the Financial Times that his country’s soldiers “are being massively and I would say even routinely attacked by guided aerial bombs that wipe out our positions”.

The Russians have attacked Ukraine with around 3,500 such guided aerial bombs just this year, according to Ukrainian defence officials, a 16-fold increase over 2023. In the third week of March alone, Russia “launched over 700 guided aerial bombs,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

“They are very simple in essence, so you cannot jam them, you cannot hide from them — the only way to protect yourself from them is to shoot down the bomber that carries this bomb,” explained Kuleba.

Yet to achieve that, Ukraine needs significantly more modern air defence systems.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think-tank, said in a report published this month that “the growing number of glide-bomb attacks are indicative of the scarcity of air defence weapons”.

This shortage is in part due to delays in European military aid and the US Congress holding up a $60bn package for Kyiv, it added.

US-made F-16 fighter jets which have been promised by allies could also help Ukraine fend off Russian bombers. But they are unlikely to be delivered before midsummer, according to Kuleba.

These delays are hurting Ukraine. Zelenskyy said last month that Russia could launch a new major offensive in late spring or early summer. And Ukrainian officials told the FT that Moscow’s glide bombs would probably be used to blast paths through the new fortifications Kyiv is rushing to build to stave off the advance of Russian forces.

In the last week of March, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was hit by two “unified multipurpose” gliding bombs which have a range of up to 90km. It was the first time Kharkiv had been hit by aerial bombs as opposed to missiles and drones since the full-scale invasion.

Much more at the link.

This is what FAB bombs look like when they hit. https://t.co/vMAMGyOLzm

— Dara Massicot (@MassDara) April 7, 2024

Russia is also using chemical weapons against the Ukrainians. The Telegraph has the details:

Russian troops are carrying out a systematic campaign of illegal chemical attacks against Ukrainian soldiers, according to a Telegraph investigation.

The Telegraph spoke to a number of Ukrainian soldiers deployed in positions across the front line who detailed how their positions have been coming under near daily attacks from small drones, mainly dropping tear gas but also other chemicals.

The use of such gas, which is known as CS and commonly used by riot police, is banned during wartime under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Ihor, the commander of a Ukrainian reconnaissance team who is deployed near the front line city of Chasiv Yar, in Donetsk Oblast, told The Telegraph: “Nearly every position in our area of the front was getting one or two gas grenades dropped on them a day.”

He said that because of how embedded many Ukrainian troops are now it was difficult for the Russians to attack with conventional artillery or drones firing missiles, adding: “The only way for them to successfully attack us was with gas.”

Even when not lethal or immediately incapacitating, these gas attacks usually cause panic. “Their first instinct is to get out,” Ihor said. They can then be attacked with more conventional weapons.

Two other Ukrainian soldiers, deployed on opposite ends of the front line, spoke of similar experiences.

Mikhail, the commander of an infantry unit deployed in Robotnye, in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where a Russian offensive is currently under way, said: “Gas masks saved more than one of our lives.”

He said his soldiers were now required to carry their masks with them at all times.

Slava, a senior lieutenant whose unit is deployed near Lyman, in Donetsk Oblast, said some Ukrainian units in his area were coming under “almost daily” gas attacks.

One of these CS gas grenades was provided to The Telegraph for verification by Rebekah Maciorowski, an American combat medic and a qualified nurse serving in the Ukrainian army.

She has been routinely called to provide medical aid to Ukrainian soldiers in the three brigades she works with in Donetsk Oblast after chemical weapon attacks, which she described as “systematic”.

The grenade was originally retrieved by soldiers in the 53rd Mechanised Brigade, one of the brigades with which she works. “My guys retrieved it whilst under fire because nobody believed they were being attacked with chemical weapons,” she said.

Marc-Michael Blum, a chemical weapons expert and former head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons laboratory, confirmed the recovered munition was a K-51 gas grenade, which are typically filled with tear gas.

Other types of chemical gas have also been reported, although the reports could not be independently verified by The Telegraph.

Ms Maciorowski said that she attended one incident last year caused by what she suspected was hydrogen cyanide, a deadly, colourless gas used as a chemical weapon by the West in the First World War.

A Russian drone dropped two munitions containing an unknown gas that had a “crushed almond aroma” on soldiers in Donetsk Oblast, she said.

Two people were killed and 12 required hospital treatment. In an interview with Le Monde in JanuaryYuriy Belousov, the head of investigations for Ukraine’s prosecutor general, referred to one of the deaths as being caused by an “unknown gas”.

There have also been reports of the use of chlorine and chloropicrin – a substance typically used as a pesticide that was deployed by the Germans as a chemical weapon in the First World War.

Officially the Ukrainian military has claimed that 626 gas attacks have been carried out by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale invasion.

But Ms Maciorowski believes this is almost certainly a gross underestimate, saying: “Sadly, as it stands right now, the causes of deaths of many Ukrainian soldiers are not properly investigated. There are just so many of them.”

The attacks have become such a feature of Moscow’s tactics that Ukrainian soldiers now have specific training to deal with them.

One training document supplied to The Telegraph detailed a Russian attack on Ukrainian positions close to the city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, late last year.

Russian drones dropped three chemical grenades, believed to have been filled with CS gas, directly into their dug-in positions. As the soldiers attempted to flee, they were attacked with shells and drones dropping conventional grenades.

The training manual tells soldiers to stay where they are and suffer through the first few minutes of tear gas exposure instead of fleeing their fighting positions. After the first few minutes of exposure, the document says, the effect of the gas weakens.

Compounding the problem is the fact that protective equipment provided is not always provided to Ukrainian soldiers and, when it is, it is often of poor quality.

“We have gas masks, but in almost all cases they’re very old, ex-Soviet models, and they’re not very effective,” said Ihor. Some even have filters that contain asbestos.

Ms Maciorowski said some of the soldiers in her brigades are given no protective equipment at all and have to rely on donations from volunteers or source their own.

The Russians have made little effort to conceal their use of chemical attacks. The Black Sea Fleet’s 810th Naval Infantry Brigade boasted about the deployment of chemical weapons in a post on Telegram in December, posting a video of what it claimed were K-51 gas grenades being dropped on Ukrainian positions.

“Thanks to the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defence troops… for the weapons provided and their timely delivery,” the caption read.

Similarly, a news report aired on the Russian state television station Channel One in May 2023 contained explicit discussion of the issue. One Russian soldier said: “The enemy decided that using gas masks would help. The gas masks don’t help.”

Pics and links at the link to the reporting.

As we’ve repeatedly discussed, one of the reasons that the House GOP majority refuses to move any additional aid for Ukraine is because Russia’s information warfare, as part of their overall political war against the US, the EU, NATO, and other allies and partners, has been successful for far too many members of the GOP and the conservative movement in the US. As I’ve highlighted over and over since 2015, the Russians have done an amazing job infiltrating and then influencing major Republican sources of support. From the white Evangelical Christian churches and organizations, to the traditional Catholic ones including Opus Dei, to the international Chabad movement, to the National Rifle Association, to major conservative thought leaders and influencers like Tucker Carlson. So it is no surprise, even if it is unfortunate, that the GOP of 2024 is far more aligned with Putin and his interests. This is, as I’ve written here before, part of Russia’s doctrine for setting a theater of war. Specifically, to control, dominate, and set the information environment prior to doing anything in the actual land, sea, or air domains. And, of course, Trump is the other major reason the GOP is now this way. Though as I’ve extensively documented here since 2015, that’s because he was an early target first for Soviet and then Russian influence, as well as serving as a money laundry for the Russian mob. This is why Paul Manafort is going to be returning to Trump’s campaign.

Which is why we’ve got this:

Rep. Turner says "it's absolutely true" that Russian propaganda has "infected" the GOP:

"To the extent that this propaganda takes hold, it makes it more difficult for us to really see this as an authoritarian versus democracy battle, which is what it is."pic.twitter.com/T3fePMv26g

— Republicans for Ukraine (@GOP4Ukraine) April 7, 2024

Good for Republican Congressmen Turner and McCaul for speaking the truth against their own actual political interests.

At this point, because the US is AWOL, Ukrainian resilience is having to make up for a lack of American support:

Amazed at how this Danube grain terminal, built last September and vital for Ukraine's agricultural exports, has been rebuilt after Russian drone attacks and is now fully operational. 💪🏻🇺🇦 🌾 pic.twitter.com/cq36GgxDoF

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) April 7, 2024

The EU initiatives, either as a whole or by specific member states, all sound great, but they all come with the same caveat: if we can raise the funds.

Estonian defense minister Hanno Pevkur @HPevkur said his own government had found another million 155mm and 152mm shells and rockets for Ukraine.
“If we combine these one million shells, the Czechs' potential purchases, our buying capabilities and also the British”—who… pic.twitter.com/pH5Puq3AxR

— Jaanika Merilo (@jaanikamerilo) April 7, 2024

Estonian defense minister Hanno Pevkur @HPevkur
said his own government had found another million 155mm and 152mm shells and rockets for Ukraine.
“If we combine these one million shells, the Czechs’ potential purchases, our buying capabilities and also the British”—who reportedly are organizing their own ammo-for-Ukraine initiative—“I dare say that it would be possible to send Ukraine two-to-2.5 million shells this year, if the funding were available,” Pevkur told @Postimees.

“…if the funding were available…”

It goes beyond this though. Ukraine is going to need replacement barrels. Those aren’t coming any times soon either.

As Dr. Franklin included in his Poor Richard’s Almanac, though the proverb is much older:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost,
for want of a shoe the horse was lost,
for want of a horse the knight was lost,
for want of a knight the battle was lost.
So it was a kingdom was lost – all for want of a nail.

If Ukraine is lost, it will not be lost on the fields of Donetsk or Luhansk, in the forests of the Donbas, or along the rivers of Kherson. Nor will it be lost because of a lack of will and resilience among the Ukrainians. Rather, it will be lost in Washington, DC, in the capitols of Europe, and in Fox News’s studios in New York.

Russian occupied Kherson Oblast:

Strikes on Russian 2S7 Pion self-propelled 203 mm cannon. Kherson region. https://t.co/Sj8ARgihrA pic.twitter.com/3aHaXZ6BVc

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 7, 2024

/2. Footages from the ground https://t.co/WGR5MA5Dd6 pic.twitter.com/jKfNr7K7ka

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 7, 2024

Russia occupied Donetsk Oblast:

Russian T-90S loss, Donetsk direction. T-90S is an export version of the T-90. This is only the 7th documented loss of the T-90S during the entire war. By the 33rd Brigade of Ukraine. https://t.co/MnZtocKNFK pic.twitter.com/hxpwJH8n8k

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 7, 2024

Belgorod Oblast, Russia:

/2. Additional footages pic.twitter.com/jmO7GaAP8H

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 7, 2024

Orsk, Orenberg Oblast, Russia:

Putin found the money to finance the war, but he has no money for his citizens. Thus, for 3 days now the city of Orsk and the Orenburg Region as a whole have been flooded due to the collapse of a shitty dam on the powerful Ural River. Thousands of houses are under water, the… pic.twitter.com/1ZOvNJ4Fxl

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) April 7, 2024

 

Putin found the money to finance the war, but he has no money for his citizens. Thus, for 3 days now the city of Orsk and the Orenburg Region as a whole have been flooded due to the collapse of a shitty dam on the powerful Ural River. Thousands of houses are under water, the situation continues to worsen.

It is very strange that the authorities have not yet found a “Ukrainian trace” in this story. It would be absolutely their style.

The ongoing floodings in the Russian city of Orsk, Region Orenburg, which were caused by collapsing dams, rendered the local oil refinery (Orsknefteorgsintez) inoperable.

It is kind of ironic that Russia's crumbling infrastructure is joining ranks with the Ukrainian fight for… pic.twitter.com/9Mfkf0DZE9

— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) April 7, 2024

The ongoing floodings in the Russian city of Orsk, Region Orenburg, which were caused by collapsing dams, rendered the local oil refinery (Orsknefteorgsintez) inoperable.

It is kind of ironic that Russia’s crumbling infrastructure is joining ranks with the Ukrainian fight for freedom.

Source of news: Telegram / Uniannet

That’s enough for tonight.

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Open thread!

I thank everyone who preserves normal living – address by the President of Ukraine

6 April 2024 – 20:47

Dear Ukrainians!

Important words of gratitude for today and this week. Gratitude to everyone in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Donetsk region, and all border communities. To those who work after Russian strikes, who help people, who clear debris, who restore normal living. To all our rescuers from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, medical workers, police officers, energy workers, repair teams, municipal crews, and volunteers. I thank everyone who preserves normal living.

Last night and this afternoon – new Russian strikes on Kharkiv. Cruel, vile strikes. Almost everything they have was used: surface-to-air missiles, Shahed drones, and aerial bombs. Another missile strike on Odesa. Just a vile strike yesterday on Zaporizhzhia. Among the victims were journalists who were on the scene, documenting the aftermath of the first strike. And then there was a repeated strike.

Currently, correspondent Olha Zvonariova from the Ukrinform agency is still in intensive care. TSN correspondent Kira Oves was also injured. I wish them and all affected a speedy recovery.

We will strike back at Russia for every attack, for every act of terror against our people and state. Ukraine’s defense and security forces are working on this.

Now I want to personally single out those of our people who have particularly distinguished themselves these days, helping save lives after Russian strikes.

Zaporizhzhia – these are rescuers Borys Serdiuk, Dmytro Borodatyi, Oleksandr Kulenko, and our police officers Andrii Hrachov and Mykhailo Malakhov. They were among the first to arrive and provide assistance even despite the repeated strikes. Emergency workers from Zaporizhzhia, Olena Kostriukova, Yaroslav Bardakov, and Olena Starykovska. Thank you!

Kharkiv – our rescuers Vitalii Shkola, Volodymyr Tyshkov, Maksym Ashymkhin, and Maksym Vasyleha, emergency medical workers Marharyta Artemenko and Oleksandr Bairachnyi, our police officers Ruslan Osmanov and Roman Shapovalov. I thank all of you and your colleagues!

Every week there is a reason to commend the workers in Kherson region. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, particularly firefighters, our rescuers Artem Kovalchuk and Dmytro Pryshko, Oleksii Fedko. Police sergeants Serhii Drozd and Bohdan Kot. I thank all the doctors, all the hospital nurses, and all the volunteers who support healthcare in Kherson region. And especially deserving of gratitude this week are Yurii Shashkin, Viktoriia Hanzha, Oksana Horban. Thank you!

Our state’s resilience is made up of the expertise and dedication of people like you throughout the country, many of those who do everything within their power to ensure that life prevails despite all the circumstances of war.

We’ll go above and beyond to ensure that the world continues to support Ukraine and truly sees how heroic our people are, how Ukrainians defend their state, their cities, and villages, how they rebuild their lives despite everything, and how they defeat the occupier. That’s exactly what Russia deserves – Russia deserves to lose for what it is doing, for its terror.

I thank every our soldier who fights for Ukraine. I thank everyone who works to ensure that Ukraine can endure and prevail. I thank everyone who cares for their neighbor and all of Ukraine.

Glory to Ukraine!

Thank you!

He also sat for an interview with the Unified News Telethon.

Ukraine is expecting a positive decision from the U.S. Congress regarding the adoption of a comprehensive aid package. This was stated by Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with the Unified News telethon.

The President emphasized that assistance from the United States is crucial for our country.

“We understand when the Russians could start counteroffensive actions. So, here is your answer, when it is critical to receive the necessary weaponry being in low supply. Without this money, we cannot obtain such volumes. And I still believe that we will be able to achieve a positive vote from the U.S. Congress,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukraine regularly informs the American side about the situation on the front line and the defense forces’ urgent needs. Macro-financial assistance from the United States will strengthen the economy of the state and our Armed Forces.

Here’s the video with English subtitles:

 

The reason:

This is what Ukraine is fighting for.

Warrior Dad meets his baby daughter for the first time.

📹: yulychka__/TikTok pic.twitter.com/h0z5ww4Y53

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 5, 2024

"That's our job, you know? Someone is fighting on the frontline, and we have our own front."

Workers of Ukrainian thermal power plants speak about Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.

📹: DW https://t.co/0WjniJANXI pic.twitter.com/xVP45kwGpz

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 6, 2024

The price:

The filmmaker will need around EUR 9.300 to get this film going. Roman is such a fantastic kid and one of the reasons why I‘m helping 🇺🇦 How he manages his life with his dad is so unbelievably encouraging. Please friends and #NAFO fellas BOOST 🙏🏻 2/2

https://t.co/DpCEle5jOa

— La.K.Leu🎗 (@La_K_Leu) April 5, 2024

Unfortunately, it does still not look like a supplemental aid package is going to be brought up in the House. The Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Congressman McCaul, states that this is because the GOP is now en thrall to Russian propoganda.

When a top Republican says Russian propaganda has infected the GOP https://t.co/KGAFIUwIoW

— Loren Jenkins (@lbjenkins) April 6, 2024

The Washington Post has the details:

During the first impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump in 2019, former Trump national security aide Fiona Hill made an extraordinary plea. Seated in front of congressional Republicans, she implored them not to spread Russian propaganda.

“In the course of this investigation, I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests,” she told them. She was referring to comments they had made during her earlier deposition breathing life into a baseless, Trump-backed suggestion that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.

“These fictions are harmful even if they’re deployed for purely domestic political purposes,” she added.

Republicans on the committee blanched at the suggestion that they had served as conduits for Russian misinformation, but Hill refused to back down.

Five years later, Republicans are starting to grapple more publicly with the idea that this kind of thing is happening in their ranks.

The most striking example came this week. In an interview with Puck News’s Julia Ioffe, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) — none other than the GOP chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — flat-out said that Russian propaganda had “infected a good chunk of my party’s base.”

McCaul suggested conservative media was to blame.

“There are some more nighttime entertainment shows that seem to spin, like, I see the Russian propaganda in some of it — and it’s almost identical [to what they’re saying on Russian state television] — on our airwaves,” McCaul said.

He also cited “these people that read various conspiracy-theory outlets that are just not accurate, and they actually model Russian propaganda.”

Asked which Republicans specifically he was talking about, McCaul said it was “obvious,” before staff intervened and asked that the conversation go off the record.

These comments are the most significant to date, but they’re not the only ones.

A GOP impasse over additional funding for Ukraine’s defense against Russia — combined recently with Tucker Carlson’s deeply weird promotion of Russia and Trump’s comments about not defending NATO allies from Moscow — has apparently occasioned some self-reflection among Republicans about their colleagues and allies:

Here’s some more evidence of the negative effects that are occurring:

"If we have shells, we will have everything. The situation is bad, not enough shells. They were scarce before, and now…"

Ukrainian Defender Oleksandr shares about the situation on the frontlines.

📹: DW pic.twitter.com/bjbTy6rs7y

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 6, 2024

Lithuania:

We are grateful for your steadfast support!
🇺🇦🤝🇱🇹 https://t.co/AoOdAJOIH8

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 6, 2024

Holland:

The Netherlands will provide 24 F-16 aircraft to Ukraine – Dutch defense minister Kajsa Ollongren.

"Ukraine is fighting but it's a war for freedom, democracy, rule of law and against illegal aggression. And that's why we're ready to support Ukraine and that's why we're doing… pic.twitter.com/Q3Qp8mblyW

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 6, 2024

Trerny, Kreminna front:

Azov and 95st Brigade of Ukraine repelling Russian attack on Kreminna front, Trerny area. 11 Russian AFVs were lost during this attempted attack.

Also, the tank crew of the @azov_media managed to capture one of the Russian tanks. Which is a very rare case in the current period… https://t.co/ItYFTEczfj pic.twitter.com/BSGSPPJlDb

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 6, 2024

Azov and 95st Brigade of Ukraine repelling Russian attack on Kreminna front, Trerny area. 11 Russian AFVs were lost during this attempted attack.

Also, the tank crew of the @azov_media
managed to capture one of the Russian tanks. Which is a very rare case in the current period of war.
It’s even more interesting that Azov managed to capture the tank with “Monster EW system”, which attracted a lot of media attention recently.

(Tank is being evacuated by Azov starting from 1:52 on the video)

https://t.me/azov_media/5634

/3. Captured components of the Russian “Monster EW”. The system was damaged by FPV drone strikes, which were published earlier. https://t.co/yugzl2BKFD pic.twitter.com/CcK8da2J0o

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 6, 2024

Here’s the full text of the second tweet:

/2. “The Monster EW system” footages that appeared a day ago.

This system consists of many EW systems/drone jammers that operate at different frequencies. Unlike the already classic version when the EW system is powered directly from the equipment on which it is installed, in this case an additional external generator can be seen on the tank. This means that the electronic warfare system can operate after the tank itself is disabled and abandoned, as long as the generator continues working.

https://t.me/serhii_flash/2693

Russian IFV hits a mine after which artillery targets infantry which left the vehicle. Terny area, Kreminna front, by the 45th Brigade. https://t.co/QeAcYDQhMl pic.twitter.com/Zwymp3Hezh

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 6, 2024

The Bakhmut front:

Russian losses during recent attempted attack on the Bakhmut front shown in the Achilles video.

14 total losses identified on the video:
1x BTR-MDM – destroyed;
6xBMP-2 – destroyed;
1xBMP-2 – damaged;
5xBMD-2 – destroyed;
1xBMD-2 – damaged. https://t.co/iCjq0hh0MX https://t.co/yXPFfL8T1Z pic.twitter.com/b0Q5SD0UBb

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 6, 2024

Here’s the full text of the quoted tweet:

Footages of the repelling of the recent Russian attack on the Bakhmut front, by the Achilles unit of the 92nd Brigade of Ukraine.
The video shows 14 Russian IFV losses as a result of this attack. Fighters of the Achilles say that their unit destroyed 10 AFVs during the day of the attack, which is their record by now.
Russian column consisted mainly of BMPs and BMDs.
Desertcrosses also took part in the attack. The destruction of one of those along with Russian infantry on board can be seen on video (0:58)
https://t.me/fedorenkoys/285

Orsk, Russia:

On April 5th, a dam breach occurred on the Ural River near Orsk, Russia, after water was released from the reservoir. Satellite images from Planet Labs show severe flooding of residential areas. If Russia cared more about its people and not war, such incidents could be prevented pic.twitter.com/puLzd9b1mZ

— Tatarigami_UA (@Tatarigami_UA) April 6, 2024

That’s enough for tonight.

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Here’s some adjacent material from United24 Media, Maria Avdeeva, and the Ukrainian MOD:

For Ukrainians, storks are symbols of birth, family, and love for their homeland.

So when a viral video of a stork mourning its burned nest went viral, Ukrainians decided they had to help. pic.twitter.com/mxyuGTPf8s

— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) April 6, 2024

These storks are coming to Izmail for three decades, symbolizing the city’s resilience. Just like border guard, who redirected Russian warship. His iconic image now covers Shahed drone’s impact on the Danube Shipping Company’s building. pic.twitter.com/gUlv1PzdkF

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) April 6, 2024

-Will you drive the enemy out of Ukrainian land?
-For sure, fluffy!

📷: Burevii Brigade pic.twitter.com/0dYNhBfaQK

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 6, 2024

Open thread!