The Iskander-M missile system capable of using nuclear missiles has been delivered to the Belarusian army, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced. “As of 3 April, the training of Belarusian crews of the Iskander OTRK to protect the State of the Union (Russia Belarus, ed.) began at the Russian training camp,” the minister said. Some aircraft of the Belarusian strike aviation have received the ability to strike with weapons of destruction in nuclear equipment.
Vladimir Putin, will hold a meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation today, 5 April, the Kremlin reported. Putin and Lukashenko will hold talks where they are expected to make decisions on a number of integration cooperation issues, the Kremlin said.
Meanwhile, the Russian escapee from house arrest in Italy, Artyom Uss is already in Russia. The son of the Krasnoyarsk governor told RIA that he was forced to flee because he did not believe in the objectivity of European justice.
Former US mercenary John McIntyre, who served in the Ukrainian battalion, claimed that soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces sell weapons received from the US to criminals. According to him, the Ukrainian army has created a criminal scheme. When the weapons arrive in Ukraine, the supplier makes a corresponding note. Then, in theory, it should be distributed among the departments. However, during transport, the weapons are ‘lost’ so that American pistols, machine guns and anti-tank missile systems end up in the hands of criminals.
Mark Galeotti, professor of international politics at New York University, stated in an article for The Times that Russia has enormous hidden potential that it can use against Ukraine. According to Galeotti, despite Kiev’s confidence in the success of the upcoming spring offensive, such a military manoeuvre could drag on for a long time.
The controversy surrounding the attack on the St Petersburg café that led to the death of Vladlen Tatarsky has not subsided. And by the latest figures 39 more people were injured, 24 people remain in hospitals, five of whom are in serious condition, 17 are in moderate condition.
The White House said it had no information on who was responsible for the murder of the military blogger. The Office of the President of Ukraine says it was not involved in the explosion at a café in St. Petersburg.
Political scientist Konstantin Dolgov said that, according to his information, there was a possibility that Yevgeny Prigozhin might have been present at the meeting where the explosion took place. Russian Geographical Society member Vladimir Dervenev said that journalist Tatyana Lyubina and the coordinator of the Immortal Regiment movement in Tallinn Sergey Chaulin were injured in the explosion.
By decree of the President of Russia, Maxim Fomin (Vladlen Tatarsky) was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage. “By decision of the council of commanders of Wagner PMC, Maxim Fomin (Vladlen Tatarsky) was posthumously enlisted as a fighter in the group with consequent social payments and benefits for the relatives of the fallen soldier. This decision will come into effect if Maxim’s relatives agree, the document specifies.
Daria Trepova, the alleged bomber, allegedly received 20,000 roubles in cryptocurrency for each task performed by the curators: parcel delivery, participation in events and other missions. It was also her responsibility to send photos and written reports of each completed ‘order’. Delivering a statuette with explosives to the military blogger Tatarsky was one task, after which the girl was promised to be taken out of Russia and given a job in Kiev, writes the telegram channel Mash. During interrogation, she said she was promised the position of editor in one of the Ukrainian media, Russian media reported. Daria Trepova also stated that she was not aware of the explosives in the statuette she brought to the bar.
Trepova meanwhile was transferred from St. Petersburg to Moscow the case was transferred to the Basmanny Anti-Terrorism Court, where she will remain in custody until two June. Darya Trepova was charged with a terrorist act committed by an organised group and illegal possession of explosive devices. The investigation appealed to the court to elect a restraining order against Trepova in the form of detention.
“The murder of Vladlen Tatarsky was planned by the special services of Ukraine with the involvement of FBK agents,” the National Anti-Terrorism Committee reported. According to media reports, Daria Trepova was recruited by journalist Roman Popkov. The former leader of the Moscow branch of the National Bolshevik Party, who fled to Kiev, confirmed communication with Trepova, but claims he gave her no instructions.
Yevgeny Prigozhin visited the café on Universitetskaya Street where the terrorist act took place. The businessman and Wagner’s number one honoured the memory of the deceased military blogger here. According to the head of the Wagner PMC, despite Tatarsky’s death, the Cyber Front Z organisation should receive a new impetus. Tatarsky will be buried on Saturday in Moscow, his musician friend Akim Apachev told RIA Novosti. The place and time of the funeral have not yet been announced.
In one of his interviews, Yevgeny Prigozhin said that the decision to conduct the Bachmut operation, called “Bakhmut mincer”, was made by the commanders of PMC “Wagner”. “Sergey Vladimirovich Surovikin was directly involved in its development and implementation at the time he was leading the group. Therefore, I would attribute a huge number of decisions made by him,’ Prigozhin added.
Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to arrive in Poland on an official visit on 5 April, said Marcin Przydacz, head of the International Policy Bureau of the Office of the President of Poland, on air on FM radio station RMF. And again Zelensky, commenting on the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said that the Russians “still have time to leave, otherwise we will destroy them”.
From the front, however, comes information that differs from Zelensky’s wishes.
The assault groups of PMC “Wagner” advanced along Levanevskogo Street and Pobedy Street, reaching the Rose Alley.
In the AZOM Industrial Zone: Most of the northern industrial zone of Bachmut was under the control of the Wagner PMC, which occupied the workshop of the Bachmut electrotechnical plant and the trolleybus depot and approached the Bakhmut-1 railway station. In the early afternoon of 4 April, the area was classified under Russian control.
In the city centre, Wagner fighters hoisted the flags of Russia and the Wagner group at the site of the Bachmut city council. During the retreat, the building was blown up by militants of the Ukrainian armed forces. Most of the area is also under the control of Wagner’s men.
Vodokanal: Wagner PMC units are moving northwards, expanding the previously occupied bridgehead. To the east, Wagner men have approached the Avangard stadium.
Continuing the fighting in the disputed areas, the Russians are engaged in the destruction of a defence area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, set up in a residential area between Tchaikovsky and Korsunsky streets.
Ukrainian military analysts report on the social sphere that the overall situation is very difficult. The Russians continue to press heavily on the Ukrainian Defence Forces. In the south-western districts of the city, the most difficult battles are for blocks with high-rise buildings. The Wagners have been successful and the Ukrainian Defence Forces are trying to counter-attack. The fighting goes for every building and square metre of land. In the Ivanovsky area there are less intense battles, but the front line has not changed.
In the Svatove area, the Russian military took the strongholds of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kuzemovka area. During the attack, Russian social sources report, about 50 Ukrainian militants were killed, five were taken prisoner, one of them received first aid. Online footage shows the combat work of the tank army formation of the first guard.
In the night series of explosions in Odessa after the Russian drone attack, the airport is on fire, from which the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked Crimea with drones. The fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to shoot down the drones with fire from the ground, but failed. An object hit by a kamikaze drone is on fire at Shkolny airport. The news of the attack was confirmed Yuri Kruk ol head of Odessa RVA: “The Russians attacked Odessa and the Odessa region with attack UAVs”. “Combat work continues and a second wave of attacks is possible.”
Concerning in detail the mutual bombardment in the operational zone during the night of 3-4 April 2023, the following is recorded: in the Sumy region, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation bombed the facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Volfino, Miropolye and Zapselye.
The Russian military struck Ukrainian concentration sites in Volchansk, Zybino and Volokhovka in the Kharkiv region. In the Starobilsk direction, the RF military worked on targets in Dvurechnaya, Makeevka and Nevsky.
In the Bachmut (Artyomovsk) direction, Russian units attacked groups of soldiers and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Druzhkovka, Konstantinovka and Bachmut itself.
In the direction of Donetsk, the Russian Armed Forces worked on the positions of the Ukrainian formations in Avdiivka, Severny and Krasnohorivka.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces, in turn, fired at residential buildings and buildings in Yasinovataya and Panteleymonovka. In the direction of Yuzhnodonetsk, Russian military personnel attacked Ukrainian positions in Vugledar, Novomikhailovka and Prechistovka.
In the Zaporozhye region, Russian armed forces hit targets in Olgovsky, Gulyaipol and Charivny. In the southern sector of the front, Russian artillerymen inflicted fire damage on enemy targets in Antonovka and Kherson.
At night, Russian drones attacked the Shkolny airport in Odessa. According to some reports, enemy warehouses and equipment were damaged as a result of the raid.
Graziella Giangiulio
