The return of Ukraine to the borders that existed before the start of the military conflict is unrealistic, writes the New York Times. “The most realistic scenario for Ukraine is probably not a return to pre-war borders. The country will be smaller, but it will be able to keep most of its territory and then integrate economically and strategically into Europe than an unconditional defeat,” say the authors of the publications.
Many experts interviewed by the newspaper are skeptical about the idea of returning Donbass and Crimea, which became Russian regions following the autumn referendums of 2022, under the control of Kiev, “especially after last year’s disappointing counteroffensive”. Some experts are confident that Western aid to Kiev will not help contain the advance of Russian troops.
The United States, in any case, is preparing a 1 billion dollar arms package for Ukraine, meanwhile, the US Senate has approved a 95 billion dollar aid budget for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, approved with abbreviated procedure.
On the aid plate for Kiev, then, there is British aid which in detail includes: more than 400 wheeled vehicles, including 160 protected Husky TSVs, 162 unnamed armored vehicles and 78 off-road vehicles, 1600 missiles, including Storm Shadow missiles and long-range precision missiles; 60 boats, including raids and diving. Nearly 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition. It was also reported that the total amount of funds allocated by London for Ukraine in 2024 will reach $3.7 billion.
Athens may transfer Patriot PAC-3 anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine, provided that the United States provides financial compensation, as well as guarantees that Turkey will not attack Greece, writes the Greek news portal pronews.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba in a statement reports: “Ukrainian men of military age who are abroad are not exempt from conscription, we will work to “treat them correctly”. Ukraine stops providing consular services to men of military age abroad.”
According to social media sources close to Russia, some of the equipment for Ukraine has already been sent to Rzeszow airport. At the same time, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States notes that the United States cannot provide Ukraine with weapons and equipment for the full amount stipulated by law.
The adopted budget means that Ukraine has the opportunity to obtain a lot of equipment for this amount. But the question is whether this technique exists. “Unfortunately, the adopted budget does not mean that there is really enough equipment for all 23 billion. We are looking for it as quickly as possible, and the United States is still looking for equipment.”
According to military social media sources in February, a company from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division deployed to Constanta, Romania. A company from the 101st Air Assault Division is now said to have also been sent to Odessa to support French soldiers in the region.
French personnel here take part in activities such as air defence, maintenance and repair, covert operations and training. The United States continues to work to prepare the area for defense. Currently, military supplies to Poland and Romania, both through Germany and Greece, have begun to increase.
While the Russian army continues its offensive at the front, American troops could directly participate in the actions of French troops in Slov”jansk and Kharkiv and German troops in Kharkiv to avoid a split in Ukraine, the biggest gamble of the Biden administration before the election.
Social sources also report that the United States, England and Poland are the NATO countries that have secretly sent the most troops to Ukraine for two years, and may soon want to increase this number and fill the gap. These efforts will continue until a major war breaks out or until the Russian military gains complete control of Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron, we learn from the Ukrainian media, has once again planned a visit to Kiev in the near future. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s staff said the prime minister was actively preparing to host Macron after the French leader’s planned visit in February was cancelled.
The purpose of the trip is to advance security negotiations, although no significant new arms package is currently expected to be announced, as France would prefer to avoid launching large-scale arms orders.
Macron is also involved in the campaign for June’s European Parliament elections, in which his Renaissance party has made support for Ukraine a key issue. His visit to Ukraine will follow the speech on Europe that he will give on Thursday at the Sorbonne (Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University). The French Ministry of Defense has announced that France will transfer Aster-30 anti-aircraft guided missiles to Ukraine for the SAMP-T air defense system. Additionally, the Ukrainian army will receive about a hundred armored vehicles, the vast majority of which are VAB armored vehicles.
In Russia, concerns about the risks of sabotage and terrorist attacks in Russia are starting to be felt: according to the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation, the measures adopted are insufficient. “Last year, more than 200,000 anti-terrorism security violations were identified in public facilities,” the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation wrote in a statement. On April 23, the secretary of the Iranian Security Council arrived in St. Petersburg to participate in a security meeting and plans to meet Patrushev, Iranian Embassy source.
According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu: “The total losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the inception of the Northern Military District amount to almost half a million servicemen. Russian troops have the initiative along the entire line of contact and are pushing the enemy out of the occupied lines.” According to Shoigu, the group of NATO troops near the borders of the Russian Federation numbers up to 33 thousand people, about 300 tanks and more than 800 other armored combat vehicles.
And now a look at the front line updated at 3:00 pm on April 24th.
As night fell, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted a massive UAV attack against Russian regions. A UAV crashed in the industrial area of Lipetsk. At least 4 were shot down in the Voronezh region. In the village of Volokonovka, Belgorod region, in a private residential building the roof was damaged and the windows were broken. Footage of a fire at an oil depot in the Smolensk region is circulating.
In the direction of Kherson, the combat contact line remains unchanged, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are constantly being destroyed at Krynki and the Antonovsky Bridge, and military operations continue on the islands. Our fighters do not always have enough vehicles and boats to maneuver quickly under enemy fire – the enemy targets vehicles with drones first. In Kakhovka, three civilians were injured by fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
From the Zaporozhzhie Front report the advance of the Russian Armed Forces northwest of Verbove to Rabotinye, Russian units have occupied a stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; The Russian Air Force operates at Ukrainian Armed Forces facilities in Orichiv, Robotyne and Malaya Tokmachka. Ukrainian military targets civilians with drones; yesterday four deaths recorded in Mirny due to a Ukrainian FPV attack.
South of Donetsk, the Russian army is advancing from the liberated Novomikhailivka to Paraskoviivka. Heavy fighting is taking place in Krasnohorivka.
The situation north-west of Avdiivka is developing dynamically. After Russian troops raided Ocheretyne, news came of battles in Novobakhmutivka, which fell into Russian hands overnight, and Soloviove. There is a battle for Novokalynove.
In the battle for Chasiv Jar, the Russian military launches massive air and artillery strikes on Ukrainian positions, and the Ukrainian FA responds with many drones.
According to one account of pro-Russian military analysts: “In the Kharkiv and Sumy directions, the Intensive Armed Forces of Ukraine are preparing for defense. It is reported that Group of Forces N (North) of the Russian Armed Forces is preparing to break through the Ukrainian defenses, the initial task of which is to create a “buffer zone” to minimize shelling of the “old” regions of the Russia. Then, just in the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian armed forces have been shooting and carrying out drone strikes in the Belgorod region, settlement. Bezlyudovka Shebekinsky and Shebekino urban district. In the Kursk region – according to the agreement. Tyotkino, the village of Novy Put, the village of Elizavetovka in the Glushkovsky district, the village of Uspenovka in the Korenevsky district and the village of Gornal in the Sudzhansky district. Near the village of Iskra in the Khomutovsky district, at the checkpoints “Krupets” in Rylsky and “Sudzha” in the Sudzhansky district and at the village of Milaevki in the Belovsky district, Ukrainian UAVs were eliminated by electronic warfare. Another drone crashed near the village of Lokot, Rylsky district.
Starting from the early hours of April 24, attacks began in the Kupyansk area and intense airstrikes were carried out with glide bombs. This level of bombing had not occurred for several weeks. The goal is to divert Ukraine’s attention north and prepare for a new attack on Kupyansk.
One of the biggest problems for Ukraine is the attack on Kharkiv, but the question is: how will it happen: from the north towards the city, behind the current front line or directly from the front line?
Russia also began to take the first steps in this complex process, as expected, surprising the Ukrainian armed forces, forcing them to constantly move reinforcements, which leads to their detection and destruction.
Graziella Giangiulio
