Russian push for new key city in eastern Ukraine

Russian forces intensified their operations on Friday towards the town of Chasiv Yar, a locality. key to advance in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk and which, according to kyiv, now finds itself “under constant fire”.

The authorities installed by Moscow announced that the Russian army was progressing little by little towards Chassiv Yar, located west of Bakhmut and which is the last important locality before the large city of Kramatorsk.

For a week, “the situation has been heating up” in this area, the head of the military administration of Tchassiv Iar, Serguiï Tchaous, admitted to AFP, stressing that the city was under “the constant fire” from the Russian military.

The DeepState Telegram channel, close to the Ukrainian army, reported that Russians had “penetrated houses” on the eastern outskirts of this devastated locality, where only 770 people now live, according to Mr. Tchaous, compared to some 13,000 before the war.

This city, perched on a height, extends less than 30 kilometers southeast of Kramatorsk, the main city in the region under Ukrainian control, and an important logistical node for the Ukrainian army.

Continuing this slow progression, the Russian army also claimed on Friday the capture of the village of Vodiané, west of the town of Avdiïvka conquered in February.

– Airfield targeted in Russia –

Despite its difficulties on the front, Ukraine continues its attacks on Russian territory.

Ukrainian soldiers head towards the front line, towards Avdiivka, Donetsk region, April 3, 2024 © AFP – Roman PILIPEY

A source within the Ukrainian defense told AFP on Friday that the security services (SBU) and the army had carried out a “special operation” against the Morozovsk airfield overnight , in the Rostov region.

“At least six Russian military planes were destroyed and eight others were considerably damaged,” said this source, without specifying the mode of operation of the attack.

Russia has not mentioned such a strike but its Defense Ministry claimed to have repelled a major Ukrainian drone attack, claiming to have shot down 53, including 44 over the Rostov region.

A Ukrainian soldier trains with a drone in the kyiv region, February 29, 2024 © AFP – Genya SAVILOV

Ukraine, faced with the Russian invasion for more than two years, has promised to bring the fighting to Russian soil in retaliation for the numerous deadly bombings on its territory.

His army has increased operations in Russia in recent months using drones, but also missiles, targeting military or energy sites, sometimes several hundred kilometers from the border.

– Four dead in Zaporizhia –

A crater near a fire engine damaged by a drone attack in Kharkiv, April 4, 2024 in Ukraine © AFP – SERGEY BOBOK

On Friday, Moscow claimed that its recent massive strikes on Ukraine were a “response” to Ukrainian attacks on “facilities in the oil, gas and energy sectors” in Russia.

The Russians have also recently intensified strikes on energy targets, causing major power outages and causing several casualties.

At least four people were killed on Friday and around twenty others were injured in a Russian missile attack on Zaporizhia, a large city in southern Ukraine, the regional governor announced.

According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia carried out a double strike there, a type of attack which consists of bombing a place first time, then a second time when emergency services and the press arrived on place.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Roustem Oumerov discussed recent Russian attacks against civilian targets in a telephone conversation with his American counterpart, Lloyd, on Friday Austin.

“I emphasized it once again: Ukraine needs more air defense and missile systems,” Mr. Umerov said, in a statement released by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

Photo released by the Ukrainian National Police on April 5, 2024, of a damaged building after a missile attack in Zaporizhia © National Police of Ukraine – Handout

In the Donetsk region, the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières declared that its office in Pokrovsk had been “completely destroyed” on Friday around 3:00 a.m. by a missile strike which injured five civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, inspected military fortifications under construction in the Chernihiv region (north).

At the end of February 2022, Russian troops attacked this region, bordering Belarus and Russia, when they unsuccessfully attempted to seize Kiev.

In another area plagued by high tensions, in Transdniestria, pro-Russian separatists claimed Friday that a drone had struck a radar station on one of the military bases in this region of Moldova bordering Ukraine. Three weeks ago, a similar incident was described by Ukrainian authorities as a Russian “provocation”.

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