Russo-Ukraine War - 15 April 2022 - Day 51

According to the Russian defense ministry, they will increase the scale of their missile attacks on Kyiv should there be any attacks on Russian territory. This came after reports of two incidents alongside Russia’s border with Ukraine. According to the local governor of Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine and Belarus, Ukrainian helicopters entered Russian air space on Thursday and carried out at least six missile strikes on residential areas. The Ukrainian security service SBU has denied firing on Russian territory, calling Moscow’s accusations false. “The incident was planned by Russia as a provocation,” the intelligence service said.

Moscow’s defence ministry warned it will intensify attacks on Kyiv in response to attacks on Russia’s soil. “The number and scale of missile strikes against targets in Kyiv will increase in response to any terrorist attacks or sabotage committed by the Kyiv nationalist regime on Russian territory,” the ministry said in a statement. The Ministry of Defense clarified that since the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 456 drones, as well as 2,213 armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

With 44,000 Ukrainian military forces in the Donbass, the region will be the focus of fighting that will affect the course of the conflict in the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Jerome at Military Land reported Russian troops have advanced deeper into Mariupol and started to dig trenches in the vicinity of Kherson. The situation on other frontlines remains without change. Russian troops attempted to break through Ukrainian lines in Marinka. They didn’t succeed. Russian army captured the base of 12th Operation Brigade (National Guard) in the western part of Mariupol. The base was abandoned some time ago. The Illich Metallurgical Plant, from where 36th Marines Brigade withdrew a few days ago, has been captured by the advancing Russian troops from the north.

There are reports of ongoing fierce fighting in pockets in Mariupol, specifically in and around a steel plant in the besieged city, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reported from Kyiv. “We understand that there’s fierce resistance there by Ukrainian marines, and Ukrainian members of the Azov Battalion … we understand that there are still tens of thousands of people trapped inside the city,” he added.

Viktor Baranets, a military observer for Komsomolskaya Pravda, told journalist Roman Golovanov about the use of a special gas to save their fighters. This is not about some horror like unconventional weapons. In service there is quite a legal gas with the romantic name "Bird cherry". It is able to paralyze consciousness for about an hour, which is enough to bring Ukrainian militants to the surface. There will be a lot of work, but none of the Russian military will suffer during the storming of the intricate underground labyrinths.

The head of the UN World Food Program has said people are being “starved to death” in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol and predicted the country’s humanitarian crisis is likely to worsen as Russia intensifies its assault in the coming weeks. “It’s not just going to be the next few days – but the next few weeks and few months … it’s getting worse and worse, concentrated in certain areas, and the front lines are going to be moving,” David Beasley said in an interview with The Associated Press news agency. Approximately 100,000 civilians remain trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol, in desperate need of food, water and heating. Beasley noted the lack of access to the city for aid workers and called the situation “devastating”.

Russia warned the United States of “unpredictable consequences” should US President Joe Biden’s administration continue to transfer weapons to Ukraine, The Washington Post reported. A diplomatic note that Russia sent the US this week warned that US and NATO shipments of the “most sensitive” weapons systems to Ukraine could bring “unpredictable consequences”. the note, which was dated 12 April 2022, stated “We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and international security”. The shipments were “adding fuel” to the conflict, the note also said.

The report came days after the Biden administration announced an additional $800m in military assistance to Ukraine, which has been fighting Russian forces since Moscow launched its invasion of the country on February 24. The military aid package included artillery systems, artillery rounds, armoured personnel carriers and helicopters – and brought the total tally of US aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began to more than $2.4bn.

Citing two unidentified officials, the New York Times and CBS News also reported on Friday that Moscow had warned Washington against further weapons shipments to Kyiv. CBS said the note was sent to the US Department of State, which said it could not “confirm any private diplomatic correspondence”. “What we can confirm is that, along with allies and partners, we are providing Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of security assistance, which our Ukrainian partners are using to extraordinary effect to defend their country against Russia’s unprovoked aggression and horrific acts of violence,” the department said in a statement to CBS.

Russia's special operation in Ukraine is holding back NATO's expansionary policy and helping to establish a new world economic order. This was stated by the deputy of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jesús Farias. According to the deputy, all of humanity should have joined the task that Russian President Vladimir Putin is now implementing. Farias stressed that Russia is opposing the "war machine" that has provoked most of the catastrophes on the planet. “With the initiative taken by Russia, the NATO expansion policy is limited and a new history begins, a new world economic order is born, for this we thank Russia,” said a civil servant from Venezuela.

The special operation of the Russian Federation prevented a treacherous attack by Kyiv, which would have resulted in a large number of victims, now it is important to achieve the set goals - the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, ensuring the protection of Russian citizens and compatriots in the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics. This was announced in his Telegram channel by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. “The Ukrainian government has committed a crime against humanity, for which it will have to be punished,” the speaker continued. “Think about it: what would have happened if Russia had not launched a special military operation?"

"The answer is obvious. The treachery of Kyiv - with a huge number of wounded and dead - was prevented," Volodin is sure. It is now "important to complete what has been started" in his opinion. "Achieve the implementation of the tasks set: the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, the protection of our citizens and compatriots in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Ensure the safety of the citizens of the Russian Federation," the Chairman of the State Duma concluded.

Finland and Sweden “should understand the consequences” of joining NATO, Russia’s foreign ministry warned. “The choice is up to the authorities of Sweden and Finland. But they should understand the consequences of such a step for our bilateral relations and for the architecture of European security as a whole,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The Kiev regime is preparing another provocation to accuse the Russian military, to this end, in the near future, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will strike with the Tochka-U complex on the accumulation of refugees at the railway station in the village of Lozovaya, said Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation.

The armed forces of the Russian Federation with Kalibr sea-based missiles attacked a military facility on the outskirts of Kiev, destroyed the workshops for the production and repair of anti-aircraft missile systems of the Vizar plant. Responding to Russian defense ministry claims that they had hit a weapons producing factory on the outskirts of the capital last night, a statement from the Kyiv regional military administration says “three objects” were targeted by Russian forces.

Biden's statements about the genocide in Ukraine, which deviate from Washington's official position, are erroneous and potentially harmful. That opinion was expressed by National Review editor-in-chief and political commentator Rich Lowry in an op-ed in the Politico newspaper headlined "Russia is not committing genocide in Ukraine."

The special operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine will end quite soon, said Andrei Klimov, deputy head of the United Russia commission for international cooperation. During a briefing with the media in Africa and Asia, the senator said that the Russian side was not interested in dragging out the special operation. According to him, Ukraine must be made safe for Russia and the whole world. In addition, Moscow needs to ensure the safety of nuclear facilities and study the biological laboratories operating on Ukrainian territory.

NATO servicemen were taken prisoner during a special operation by Russian troops to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, Andriy Klimov, deputy head of the United Russia commission for international cooperation, said. According to him, Western countries use mercenaries to counter Russia on Ukrainian territory. Klimov said that during the special operation they managed to capture the military personnel of the North Atlantic Alliance. “We already have prisoners among the military personnel of NATO countries, we will show all this when we conduct trials, and the whole world will see what really happened,” the senator said.

More than 4.79 million refugees from Ukraine have arrived in neighboring countries since the beginning of the special military operation of the Russian Federation. During the day, this number increased by more than 56 thousand, reported the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

More than a thousand surrendered Ukrainian servicemen are being held in Russia, the Russian Investigative Committee reported. "Work continues with servicemen who have surrendered. There are more than a thousand of them on the territory of Russia. The vast majority have been interrogated by investigators," the Investigative Committee noted. Among them are five commanders of brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who took part in the hostilities against the population of Donbass.

Zelensky said that the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the conduct of a special military operation by Russia amount to about 2.5-3,000 soldiers killed and 10,000 wounded.

The decision of the Ukrainian Parliament to ban the symbols Z and V, which denote the military equipment of the Russian special operation, creates some difficulties for President Volodymyr Zelensky. This was announced by the head of the Crimea Sergey Aksenov. The politician drew attention to the fact that now it is not entirely clear how to "write Zelensky's first and last name in English."