Brutality continues. The complexity of the Ukraine War includes insurgent elements in Belarus and elsewhere, including Russians and foreign fighters on the Ukrainian side as well as foreign mercenary groups from Russia (Wagner) and Syria. Some of the atrocities may have come from those disparate groups even as the fog of war certainly includes Ukrainian troops wanting to punish invaders.
Fighting in the Donbas has never ended because its affinity with Russia overlaps with its separatist interests, not unlike the Crimea. The attack on the Kramatorsk train station may have been a ghastly example of how cluster bomb submunitions work, killing at least 50 and wounding a hundred evacuees.
Likely this is the time for Ukraine to declare itself as a de-Nazified democracy on the German model and fully disband all anti-Ukrainian(sic) nationalist groups within the territorial boundaries which should include all neo-Nazis. That may be an impossible task when the Russians also promote neo-Nazi groups and incorporate them in the invasion force. And within such divisions, it’s possible to have varying opinions on being pro-/anti- the EU and/or NATO.
Ukrainian forces retain control of defensive positions in eastern and southwestern Mariupol, despite Russian claims to have captured most of the city. ISW was able to confirm the specific locations of ongoing Russian assaults on April 8 for the first time in several days. Russian forces continue to attempt to regroup and redeploy units withdrawn from northeastern Ukraine to support an offensive in eastern Ukraine, but these units are unlikely to enable a Russian breakthrough and face poor morale. Russian forces along the Izyum-Slovyansk axis did not make any territorial gains in the last 24 hours. Ukrainian counterattacks toward Kherson continue to threaten Russian positions around the city.
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Key Takeaways
- Ukrainian forces continued to hold out against Russian assaults in areas of southwestern and eastern Mariupol, notably in the port and the Azovstal Metallurgy plant, respectively.
- Ukrainian forces continued to repel daily Russian assaults in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.
- A Russian Tochka-U missile struck a civilian evacuation point at the Kramatorsk rail station in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 50 and wounding around a hundred evacuees.
- Russian forces continued attacks south of Izyum toward Slovyansk and Barvinkove but did not take any new territory.
- Ukrainian counterattacks have likely taken further territory west of Kherson, threatening Russian control of the city.
Main effort—Eastern Ukraine
Subordinate main effort—Mariupol (Russian objective: Capture Mariupol and reduce the Ukrainian defenders)
Ukrainian forces continued to hold out against Russian assaults in areas of southwestern and eastern Mariupol as of April 8. The Ukrainian Mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andryushenko, issued a statement on April 8 denying Russian claims that they captured central Mariupol on April 7.[5] Andryushenko said Russian forces control a quarter of the city, including the Drama Theater and SBU headquarters, but that this does not constitute the entire “city center.” Andryushenko highlighted that most videos of Russian forces have been geolocated to Mariupol’s outskirts and said Ukrainian forces control the Primorsky District (southwest Mariupol), part of the east bank of the Azovstal District (central Mariupol), the coastline southwest of the city down to Azovs’ke, and several factory areas.
Social media footage depicted Russian and proxy forces conducting assaults on the Azovstal Steel Plant from April 7-8 and pro-Russian sources claimed 3,000 Ukrainian forces remain in the facility, confirming that Ukrainian forces retain a foothold in eastern Mariupol, which Russian forces previously claimed to have captured.[6] Ukrainian forces additionally released footage geolocated to eastern Mariupol of combat with Russian forces on April 8.[7]
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As Deputy Minister of the Interior and Chief of the Criminal Police, Henadz Arkadzievich Kazakevich ( Kazakevich) was responsible for the actions of the Criminal Police in their role of carrying out previously sanctioned Alyaksandr Lukashenka's policy of violently cracking down on pro-democracy protests in Belarus.
Much of the rail war is being carried out by the 'Cyberpartisans', a group of 35 hackers who shut down entire systems or infect them with ransomware.
Belarusian human rights activists say that at least 11 people who are believed to be involved in the "railway war" have been detained.
Euroradio reports about sabotage at the Belarusian railway. The aim is to disrupt the transportation of Russian troops and weapons in Belarus. Operations aimed at blocking traffic were carried out in the service areas of the Baranavichy and Homel branches of the Belarusian Railways. The work of traffic lights and switches was disrupted there.
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On 13 December 2021, the Council of the European Union imposed restrictive measures against Dimitry Utkin and other individuals associated with the Wagner Group. In relation to Utkin, he was accused of being "responsible for serious human rights abuses committed by the group, which include torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings."[31][32]
The opinions of the ultra-right in Europe are divided between supporting or opposing Russia, which by many is seen as a beacon in the struggle against NATO and the European Union.
MSM could be misusing various narratives and underreporting others, for example the use of mobile crematoria and the numbers being deported to Russia.