Ukraine focuses on defense amid Russia’s increased firepower

On April 10, President Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky warned in his nightly address to the nation that next week is as important as any moment of the war, saying “The Russian army will turn to even larger operations east of the country. our country”.

He also accused Russia of trying to shirk responsibility for “war crimes” in Ukraine. “When people lack the courage to admit mistakes, apologize, adapt to reality and learn, they turn into monsters.

And when the world ignores it, the monsters decide that the world itself has to adapt to them,” Zelensky said. “The day will come when they have to admit everything. Accept the truth,” he added.

Experts say that the next phase of the battle could begin with an all-out attack. The outcome could determine the course of the conflict, which has flattened many cities, left thousands dead and isolated Moscow economically and politically.

In an interview that appeared on the television program “60 Minutes” on the evening of April 10, President Zelensky said that the fate of Ukraine as the war moves south and east depends on whether the United States will help. deal with the expected proliferation of Russian weapons in those regions.

“Honestly, whether we can ‘survive’ depends on this,” Zelensky said through an interpreter. “I have 100% confidence in our people and our armed forces. But unfortunately, I don’t have confidence that we will get everything we need.”

Mr. Zelensky thanked President Joe Biden for the US military assistance to date, saying, “Mr Biden can go down in history as the man who stood shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainian people to win and choose. the right to have one’s own country”.

Following questions about the ability of Russia’s exhausted and demoralized forces to conquer much of the stronghold after their advance into the capital Kiev was repulsed by Ukrainian defenses, The British Ministry of Defense reported on April 10 that Russian forces were trying to make up for casualties by summoning veterans who had been discharged from the military over the past decade.

A woman walks past a building damaged by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine (Image: AP)

In Washington, a senior US official said Russia had appointed General Alexander Dvornikov, one of its most seasoned military commanders, to launch the operation. The official was not authorized to be identified and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Until now, Russia has not had a central war commander on the ground. The new battlefield leadership comes as the Russian military prepares for a massive, focused effort to expand its control over eastern Ukraine.

Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces in the Donbass region since 2014 and have claimed some territories there as independent.

Dvornikov, 60, is best known as the head of Russian forces deployed to Syria in 2015 to support President Bashar al-Assad’s government in the country’s brutal civil war.

Russian authorities typically do not confirm such appointments nor reveal the new role of Mr. Dvornikov, who received the medal of heroism – one of the country’s highest awards from the president. Vladimir Putin in 2016.

Speaking on April 10 on CNN, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan downplayed the importance of the appointment. “What we knew in the first few weeks of this war was that Ukraine would never submit to Russia,” Mr. Sullivan said. “It doesn’t matter which general President Putin tries to appoint.”

Western military analysts say the Russian offensive is increasingly focused on a crescent-shaped arc in eastern Ukraine – from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, in the north to Kherson in the south. .

Efforts on a narrower scale could help solve Russia’s problem because it has previously carried out a large-scale attack. “Just looking at the map, you can see that they’re going to be able to bring more power in a much more centralized way,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

Newly released Maxar Technologies satellite images show an 8-mile (13 km) long military convoy traveling south through Ukraine to the Donbass, recalling a convoy that has been stalled on its way to Kyiv for several years. last week when Russia gave up trying to capture the capital.

The Ukrainian military command said that Russian forces had shelled government-controlled Kharkiv and sent reinforcements to Izyum in the southeast to disrupt Ukraine’s defenses on Sunday. 4). The Russians also continued to lay siege to Mariupol, an important southern port that had been attacked and besieged for almost a month and a half.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that the Russian military used an air-launched missile to hit Ukraine’s S-300 air defense missile system in the southern region of Mykolaiv and at a airbase in Chuhuiv, a city not far from Kharkiv.

Konashenkov said a Russian sea-launched cruise missile destroyed the headquarters of a Ukrainian military unit stationed further west in the Dnipro region. Neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian military claims could be independently verified. According to the regional governor, the airport in Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth largest city, was also hit by rockets twice on April 10.

On the evening of the same day, President Zelensky again called for Western countries to give more support to Ukraine.

During talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he said he discussed “how to strengthen sanctions against Russia and … force Russia to seek peace”. “I am pleased to note that Germany’s position has recently changed in favor of Ukraine. I consider it completely reasonable,” Mr. Zelensky said.

The President of the European Commission said on CNN on April 10 that Ukraine’s response to the questionnaire given to Zelensky would help her decide whether to recommend Ukraine as a candidate to join the EU.

The process usually takes years, but Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine’s application could take several weeks to review. “Yesterday someone said to me: When our soldiers are dying, I want them to know that their children will be free and part of the European Union,” von der Leyen said. .

Ukrainian authorities have accused Russian forces of committing war crimes against civilians, including airstrikes on hospitals and a missile attack that left at least 57 people dead at a train station. Trains and other incidents of violence were discovered as Russian troops withdrew from the outskirts of Kiev.

A day after meeting Zelensky in Kyiv, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced that he would meet President Putin on April 11 in Moscow. Austria, a member of the European Union, is militarily neutral and is not a member of NATO.

Ukraine has blamed Russia for killing civilians in Bucha and other towns outside the capital, where hundreds of bodies, many with their hands tied and showing signs of torture, were found after the army Russia withdrew. Russia has denied the allegation and falsely claimed that the scenes in Bucha were staged.