Victory Chronicles
-DAY 428

Above: Ukrainian kids across the country are trained on public safety and rescue operations.  Here, kids in Kyiv learn the basics of fire fighting. (State Emergency Services)

Above: Armenia said it will take up Russia’s reneging on security guarantees with the UN Security Council, currently chaired by Russia.  One of Moscow’s most devoted allies, Armenia is unhappy that Moscow has redeployed the “peacekeepers” that maintained access to the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave to wage war in Ukraine. The Kremlin has kept forces in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region since the fall of the USSR when ancient enemies Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war again.  On Wednesday, the Kremlin announced that new peacekeepers with a new commander are on the way. (Photo: BBC)

Above: UK Ministry of Defence

• Russia’s Kremlin-controlled parliament approved three bills on April 26 which allow for lengthy incarcerations and revocation of citizenship for slandering the armed services, disrupting national security and “promoting decisions of international organizations in which Russia does not participate”. The new bills give authorities carte blanche to prosecute perceived enemies as Russia steadily builds up its suppression mechanisms.
• In the latest chapter of China’s delicate dance between Kyiv and Moscow, Chinese leader Xi accepted President Zelesky’s request for a phone call. Mr Xi promised that China would send special representatives to Ukraine to discuss peace. “As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a responsible major country, we will neither sit idly by, nor pour oil on fire, much less seek to profit from it.”  Xi also signaled support for the Black Sea initiative on the same day that Moscow once again suspended the agreement.
• The US Supreme Allied Commander in Europe spoke to the US Senate Committee on Armed Services and assessed that preparations for the spring counteroffensive are in good shape. “We sat down with our Ukrainian colleagues, and we calculated the amount of materials they would need for this offensive…And we have been shipping it into [Ukraine]; over 98% of the combat vehicles are already there.” General Cavoli added that a pipeline has been established to sustain operations.  He also assessed that even though Moscow has taken a major casualty hit, the enemy has more forces in Ukraine than at the beginning of the war.
• The International Meteor Organization confirmed that the fireball seen in Kyiv skies on April 19th was a meteor about 50 cm in diameter weighing 200-300 kg.  It most likely broke into small pieces and landed somewhere southwest of the capital.

General Staff’s Daily Video Digest with English subtitles

Above: General Staff

Video: Russia loses a 3rd MiG-31 fighter jet in the last year, to what analysts assume is poor maintenance and lack of spare parts. This incident is near Murmansk, about 170 km (105 mi) east of the Finish-NATO border.  Russian losses caused by Russians are not included in daily updates. 

/2. The pilots of the MiG-31 military aircraft that crashed in the Murmansk region managed to eject pic.twitter.com/kwzu6tbj7C

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 26, 2023

Ukrainian General Staff of the Armed Forces estimated enemy losses since February 24, 2022 (with daily additions)

• Liquidated personnel, 188,920 (+510)
• Tanks, 3,694 (+2)
• Armored personnel vehicles, 7,178 (+16)
• Artillery systems/MLRS 2,887/542 (+10/3)
• Anti-aircraft systems, 293 (+1)
• Aircraft/helicopters, 308/294 (0)
• Unmanned aerial vehicles, 2,461 (+21)
• Cruise missiles, 911 (0)
• Warships/boats, 18 (0)
• Vehicles and fuel tanks, 5,805 (+13)
• Special equipment, 352 (0)

Above:  The enemy hit stables about 40 km northeast of Odesa. (State Emergency Services)

Above: The enemy spent the night sending $6.5 million Kalibr missiles into residential buildings in Mykolaiv.  (Yarema Dukh)

Glory to Ukraine!
The 428th day of the Russian large-scale invasion has begun.

• Despite the significant losses, russia has not abandoned its plans to occupy Ukrainian territory. The invaders target and shell military and civilian targets alike.
• During the day of April 26, the adversary launched 7x missile and 39x air strikes, 61x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and critical infrastructure in various settlements.
• The likelihood of further missile and air strikes across Ukraine remains high.
• The adversary’s main efforts are the offensive operations on Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mar’inka axes. During the day of April 26, Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 54x enemy attacks in these areas of the frontline. The fiercest fighting for Bakhmut and Maryinka continues.
• Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: the adversary shelled the settlements of Zarichchya, Bleshnya, Karpovychi, Medvedivka, Yanzhulivka, Halahanivka, Leonivka, Buda-Vorob’ivs’ka, Hrem’yach (Chernihiv oblast), Znob-Trubchevs’ka, Chernats’ke, Seredyna-Buda, Bachivs’k, Sydorivka, Koren’ok, Khodyne, Shpyl’, Mykolaivka (Sumy oblast), Hur’yiv Kozachok, Hlyboke, Oliinykove, and Zelene (Kharkiv oblast).
• Kup’yans’k axis: The enemy fired artillery and mortars at the settlements of Kam’yanka, Krasne Pershne, Novomlyns’k, Lyman Pershyi, Kyslivka, Berestove (Kharkiv oblast), and Novoselivs’ke (Luhansk oblast).
• Lyman axis: Terny, Tors’ke, Dibrova, Bilohorivka, Verkhn’okam’yans’ke, and Spirne (Donetsk oblast) came under artillery fire.
• Bakhmut axis: Vasyukivka, Zaliznyans’ke, Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Novomarkove, Hryhorivka, Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, Ivanivske, Predtechyne, Kostyantynivka, Dyliivka, Pivnichne, Pivdenne, and New York (Donetsk oblast) suffered from enemy shelling.
• Avdiivka axis: The invaders shelled the settlements of Novokalynove, Berdychi, Lastochkyne, Avdiivka, Vodyane, Pervomais’ke, Karlivka, and Nevel’s’ke (Donetsk oblast).
• Mar’inka axis: Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Mar’inka, Paraskoviivka, and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast) were shelled by the enemy.
• Shakhtars’ke axis: The invaders shelled the settlements of Bohoyavlenka, Novoukrainka, Shakhtars’ke, Prechystivka, and Vuhledar (Donetsk oblast).
• Zaporizhzhia and Kherson axes: The invaders shelled more than 30x settlements, including Vremivka, Novopil’ (Donetsk oblast), Hulyaipole, Zaliznychne, Mala Tokmachka Novoandriivka, Kam’yans’ke (Zaporizhzhia oblast), Beryslav, Kozats’ke, Tokarivka, Antonivka, Bilozerka, Berehove (Kherson oblast), and the city of Kherson.

Support the Armed Forces! United we will win! Glory to Ukraine!

Above: Spring 2023 – invincible Kharkiv tulips.  Kharkiv city employees are in charge of planting over 100 municipal flower beds each year.  Kharkiv News

Above: “Luhansk at the beginning of the 20th century”. Despite the russo-soviet ethnic cleansing campaign that thoroughly russified eastern Ukraine and Crimea, the northern half of small town-rural Luhansk maintained its Ukrainian ethnic identity despite the extra pain that Moscow piled on.  It’s no wonder that Luhansk is the current center of Moscow’s latest ethnic cleansing campaign. The Kremlin is trying to once again change the ethnic composition of occupied territory through large-scale deportation of Ukrainians and importation of Russians to and from far flung underdeveloped regions.  Putin is scrambling for a redo since he annihilated his substantial Russian-heritage base in eastern and southern Ukraine with his Napoleonic fantasies.  (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

• Russian forces did not conduct any offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on April 26. Russian forces have not conducted offensive operations along this sector of the front for “some time” but Russian forces are continuing to conduct heavy indirect fire in this sector of the front.

Above: Service members and volunteers loading abandoned horses for evacuation from the Avdiivka area. (RFERL)

• In an interview with Interfax, the AFU Commander of the Eastern Group General Oleksandr Syrsky explained the importance of defending Bakhmut.  “The plan to conquer Ukraine in three days was transformed into nine-month attempts around a small town.” General Syrsky said that by holding at Bakhmut, the enemy hasn’t been able to expand the front.  He also pointed to topographic features that give Bakhmut a defensive advantage like hills, rivers and tall buildings.  It forces the enemy into difficult urban combat that increases the casualty rate.
• Russian forces continued making gains in Bakhmut as of April 26. Geolocated footage posted on April 26 shows that Russian troops have advanced to Persha Lisova Street in western Bakhmut (within a few blocks of the Yuvileina 00506 road that runs into Khromove). Russian and Ukrainian forces engaged in 17 combat clashes in the Bakhmut direction over the past day.  Russian troops conducted unsuccessful offensive actions northwest of Bakhmut near Orikhovo-Vasylivka (10km northwest) and Bohdanivka (6km northwest); west of Bakhmut near Ivanivske (5km west) and Khromove (3km west); and southwest of Bakhmut near Klishchiivka (7km southwest).
• Russian forces continued ground attacks along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City frontline on April 26 and have made a marginal advance north of Avdiivka. Geolocated footage posted on April 26 shows that Russian forces have made limited gains west of the N20 Donetsk City-Kramatorsk-Slovyansk highway about 10km north of Avdiivka. Russian forces conducted unsuccessful ground attacks towards Avdiivka itself; west of Avdiivka near Sieverne (5km west of Avdiivka); on the northwestern outskirts of Donetsk City near Pervomaiske; and on the southwestern outskirts of Donetsk City near Marinka.

Above: “Junior Rescuers”. Ukrainian kids in Odesa Oblast take part in classes offered by State Emergency Services and UNICEF on how to be safe, both physically and emotionally.  (State Emergency Services)

• In an interview with Glavred, Viktor Andrusiv, head of the president’s office and active AFU officer, discussed the challenges of taking back Crimea and suppressing the Black Sea Fleet. Mr Andrusiv said that if the BSF tries to interfere in the coming counteroffensive, it will all join the Moskva on the bottom of the sea. “We have had Harpoon missiles and other weapons since April of last year that would sink this fleet should it come any closer to our shores. The actions of the Russians are not rational, but even if they were to take an absolutely senseless and suicidal step, the whole Black Sea Fleet will be sunk.”
• Ukrainian forces continue to target Russian logistics on the east bank of Kherson Ukrainian forces are already quietly conducting counteroffensive activities in Kherson Oblast by targeting Russian ammunition depots as well as equipment and manpower concentration areas.
• A russian official said the most difficult stage of the restoration of the railway section of the Kerch Strait Bridge has been completed, slated to open in May. Russian officials plan for more than 80 inspection points along the approaches to the Kerch Strait bridge by April 28.
• Satellite imagery shows that Russia has emptied a substantial military depot 21 km east of Dzhankoy, Crimea. A photo on February 11 shows lots full of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery systems.  Satellite snaps on April 25 show empty fields.

Russian forces have emptied out this military depot in northern Crimea, new satellite imagery shows.

This site was used to store tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery. pic.twitter.com/3uIc4GI5ac

— Brady Africk (@bradyafr) April 26, 2023