Ukraine: Russia pushes towards Chassiv Iar, kyiv awaits American aid

Russia said on Sunday it had taken control of a town in eastern Ukraine, increasing its pressure in the direction of Chassiv Yar, the day after a vote by the American House of Representatives which validated the decision. new military aid à kyiv, whose army is in difficulty.

“Units of the +South+ group of troops have completely liberated the locality of Bogdanovka (Russian name, editor's note) in the Donetsk People's Republic,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Bogdanivka, a very small town of less than 100 inhabitants before the war, is located less than 10 kilometers from Chassiv Iar, a target town for the Russian army after the conquest of Bakhmut, further east, in spring 2023.

The town of Chassiv Yar, a hot spot on the eastern front, extends mainly less than 30 kilometers southeast of Kramatorsk, the main town in the region of Donetsk under Ukrainian control, which is an important railway and logistics hub for the Ukrainian army.

Seizing it would offer Russian soldiers a chance to advance in the region.

Smoke near Chassiv Iar after a bombing, April 11, 2024 in Ukraine © AFP – Anatolii STEPANOV

The Ukrainian army did not mention Bogdanivka in its morning report, but its representatives have already mentioned a “tense” situation in the wider area, with Russian troops there being “in numerical superiority “, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Roustem Oumerov.

Moscow's announcement comes the day after the House of Representatives voted in Washington in favor of military and economic aid of nearly $61 billion to kyiv.

“It's finally here!”, says Oksana, a 50-year-old nurse met by AFP on Sunday in downtown Kiev. “It will help a lot,” she wants to believe.

Photo released by the Ukrainian presidency on April 19, 2024 of President Volodymyr Zelensky inspecting defensive structures under construction in the Donetsk region © Press service of the Ukrainian presidency – Handout

Stepan, a 61-year-old employee of the national railway networks company, hopes for “immediate” deliveries of shells and ammunition. “Because the guys are suffering at the front.”

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Saturday evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that the adopted text, which has yet to pass the Senate, “will save thousands and thousands of lives”.

“This is very important help which will be felt by our soldiers on the front line”, he insisted . His American counterpart Joe Biden spoke of a “crucial” envelope, at the “meeting of History”.

– “Not for several weeks” –

Because on the ground, the Ukrainian forces lack ammunition, in addition to having difficulty recruiting new volunteers, after more two years of a war which exhausted the troops and damaged morale.

< img alt = "Ukrainian emergency services" SRC = "https://img-4.linternaute.com/s2dgmgccskxfqbbvpiSzjqbmo8=/600x/smart/d93e40d8fcfa437eb4238290bf404289/ccmcms- 53.jpg " />Firefighters battle a fire after a Russian strike on Kherson, April 21, 2024 in Ukraine © Ukrainian emergency services – Handout

Russia still occupies nearly 20% of the national territory and seems in a favorable position in recent months, following the failure of the Kiev army's counter-offensive in the summer of 2023 .

However, if the American envelope should allow the Ukrainian troops to catch their breath in the face of a larger Russian army, the first deliveries of shells and ammunition promised will not affect the fighting “for several weeks”, warned the American Institute for the Study of War in its latest bulletin.

In the meantime, the Russians could take advantage of the window left for a few weeks to continue shelling Ukrainian energy infrastructure, in addition to ground assaults, particularly in the Donbass, a priority target for the Kremlin.

The Kremlin has already warned that the new American aid would change “nothing” on the front.

The burned control room of a power plant of the supplier DTEK, destroyed after an attack, in an unspecified location in Ukraine, April 19, 2024 © AFP – Genya SAVILOV

The aid “will further enrich the United States of America and further ruin Ukraine, killing even more Ukrainians because of the Kiev regime”, the spokesperson assured on Saturday of the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov.

Europeans and Americans want to see “a clear message” sent to Russia, according to the words of Charles Michel, the President of the European Council.

A Russian strike also injured two police officers and an elderly woman in the southern region of Kherson, Ukrainian police said on Sunday.< /p> All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. © (2024) Agence France-Presse