Fighting until the afternoon of April 27: fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine, fear of spreading conflict

Ukraine admits to losing some towns and villages in the east

Ukraine’s military admitted on April 27 that it had lost control of several towns and villages in the east as Russia stepped up its offensive in the region.

According to a spokesman for the Ukrainian military, fierce battles are taking place on three fronts, in which Russian forces are reinforced and supplied from bases inside Russia.

Despite losing control of some parts of the territory, Ukrainian officials say their forces have repelled nine enemy attacks in the two regions of Donetsk and Luhansk alone, destroying Russian assets – including 9 tanks and 11 artillery systems. Russia has not commented on this information.

A female Ukrainian soldier in Luhansk. reuters

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Russian air force attacked 59 facilities military of Ukraine during the night, including a Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile system. These attacks killed 120 Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed 35 mobile and combat vehicles. In addition, Russia’s artillery and missile forces also conducted 573 missions during the night, hitting 432 targets. Ukraine has not commented on this information.

The Russian Defense Ministry also released a video showing a Russian warship in the Black Sea launching four Kalibr missiles at a site believed to be storing Western weapons aid to Ukraine.

See more: Ukraine says Russia is going deeper and controlling many villages in the east

Transnistria says the drone was launched from Ukraine

In a statement on April 27, the interior service of the breakaway Transnistria region in Moldova said it had detected a number of drones flying over the village of Cobasna during the night and that they had come from Ukraine. The village is home to an ammunition depot that Transnistria says is the largest in Europe.

Transnistria breakaway region witnessed tension in recent days. screenshot nyt

The statement raised concerns about the risk of hostilities spreading beyond Ukraine. Transnitria is a pro-Russian separatist region of Moldova, bordering western Ukraine. Russia has a military base here.

Earlier, Russia and Ukraine made conflicting comments about the consecutive explosions that occurred in Transnistria in recent days. Moldova and Ukraine have not yet commented on Transnistria’s latest statement.

See more: Tensions rise in Moldova’s pro-Russian breakaway region

Russia accuses Ukraine of preventing people at the Azovstal factory from accessing the humanitarian corridor

Talk on the radio Sputnik, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Kyiv did everything to prevent the forces entrenched in the Azovstal steel plant from escaping through the humanitarian corridor. Russia accused Kyiv of wanting to keep these people at the factory as long as possible to “attract the attention of world“.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova. duty

According to Ms. Zakharova, the Ukrainian authorities are trying to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit, smear Russia’s image in the eyes of the international community and hide the fact that the humanitarian corridor in Mariupol is still open every day.

Meanwhile, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol accused Russia of launching new attacks on the Azovstal factory, which is under siege by Russian forces, and that the two sides failed to reach an agreement on the evacuation of civilians. from Mariupol on April 27.

Britain will urge allies to send fighter jets to Ukraine

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will urge Western allies to supply Ukraine with fighter jets and other heavy weapons, according to a statement from the UK Foreign Office.

In the keynote speech about policy Foreign affairs that Ms. Truss is scheduled to present at the Madison House in London on April 28, the British foreign secretary will say there is a need to “increase” support for the Ukrainian military.

“We cannot be complacent – Ukraine’s fate is hanging in the balance,” Truss is expected to say. “We must prepare for the long haul and increase our support for Ukraine.” Ms. Truss will urge allies to send Ukraine “heavy weapons, tanks, planes”.

The British Ministry of Defense said that Ukraine still controlled most of the airspace after two months of hostilities, and that Russia had failed to neutralize the Ukrainian air force or contain the country’s air defenses.

In March, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that 90% of Ukraine’s military airports, the main garrison of combat air forces, were inoperable. Russia also said that a significant part of Ukraine’s air defense system was destroyed.