Xi Jinping had a telephone conversation with Volodimyr Zelensky, Chinese TV reports. Apparently China will seek an early ceasefire in Ukraine. The Chinese president told Volodymyr Zelensky that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, China Central Television reported.
The Russian Foreign Ministry released a note on the conversation between Zelensky and Xi Jinping: “We note China’s willingness to make efforts to establish the negotiating process. At the same time, Kiev demonstrates its rejection of any valid initiative aimed at a solution.” The Ukrainian authorities and their Western enforcers have already demonstrated their inability to carry out peace initiatives,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
News comes from the United States that Washington will produce 80 nuclear warheads this year, according to the US National Nuclear Security Administration.
At the front, the Russian armed forces have started using “T-14 Armata” tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions, but these tanks have not yet participated in direct assault operations, an insider told RIA Novosti. According to him, “Armata in the special operations zone received additional side protection from anti-tank ammunition, and since the end of last year the T-14 crews have been coordinating combat at training grounds in Donbass”.
Russian National Security Advisor Dimtry Medvedev said Russia has not run out of missiles and tanks; The Russian Federation Council approved the law providing for life imprisonment for high treason.
Kiev denies using the grain corridor to attack the Black Sea Fleet base in Crimea, the Ukrainian presidential spokesman said. And again Adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, Mikhail Podolyak, said that, in his opinion, Ukraine “has the right to destroy everything” in the new regions of Russia.
And also from Ukrainian sources we learn that the commander of the MTR Viktor Khorenko has arrived in Bachmut. General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky, responsible for the defense of Bachmut, admitted that with the withdrawal from the city, the stability of the defense of the entire Ukrainian army would collapse.
Al Washington Post Bohdan Krotevich, spokesman for the Azov battalion reported that: “Ukraine is ready to seize small Russian cities to use them as leverage to return the territories controlled by the Russians”.
PMC founder “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin said he was not part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. He stressed that he has nothing to do with the Kremlin. “I’ll tell you that the rumors about my acquaintance with President Putin are very, very exaggerated. Of course, I have talked to him, but the rumors about our acquaintance are just rumors,” he said.
Again Prigozhin stated that May 2 will be the day of the Ukrainian counteroffensive: “The Ukrainian armed forces can launch a counteroffensive in May: the last rain should fall on the 2nd, it will take another week for the ground to dry, so they will be ready to move”
The explosions in Zaporozhya were caused by Russian Geran 2s hitting Ukrainian forces. As reported by the Ukrainian social sphere, the Armed Forces of Ukraine unsuccessfully tried to shoot down the drones with small arms.
The artillerymen of the airborne troops of Moscow withstood the Ukrainian attack in the direction of Bachmut. The hammering of 120-mm self-propelled guns “Nona” destroyed the troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On the morning of April 26, 2023, the situation along the front line was as follows: direction Bachmut, Russian troops are attacking near the settlement. Khromovo. Fighting in the area of the high-rise buildings is recorded in Bachmut. The Ukrainians have turned almost every building into a stronghold. The rear areas of the enemy near Konstantinovka, Druzhkovka, Chasov Yar are constantly being fired upon. On the southern ledge of the Avdiika direction, heavy fighting is reported near the settlement. Nevelsky.
In the Kherson direction, the Ukrainian armed forces continue to drop small groups of men in the Dach area and on islands in the floodplain of the Dnieper River controlled by the Russians. The Russian military would respond by using guided bombs, and the Solntsepok heavy flamethrower. The 205th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces destroyed a battery of M777 155mm howitzers during the engagement.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces would have opened fire against the civilian population of the DPR; Gorlovka, Yasinovataya, Donetsk, Aleksandrovka, Vladimirovka, Nikolskoye under fire.
Russian Pacific Fleet Marine Corps snipers reported in Vuhledar direction.
Donetsk direction. The Russian army is advancing in the area of Keramik and Severny. Fierce battles are underway in the direction of Pervomaisky and Nevelskoye. In Marinka, Russian troops continue to storm the western quarters of the city between them taking one of the most important positions in front of the settlement. At Nevelskoye, the battle lasted more than 10 hours.
The Russian 110th motorized rifle brigade, covered with tanks, occupied the stronghold of the 59th rifle brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the Nevelsky settlement.
In the direction of Kremensk, intense Russian artillery fire.
In the Kherson direction on April 26 along the Dnieper River the situation escalated. In recent weeks, the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been trying to gain a foothold on the Left Bank, sending reconnaissance parties and probing the defense of the Russian Armed Forces in this area. For several days, the main events unfolded on Bolshoi Potemkin Island – in the south, near Kindiyka – in the east, and near Veletensky in the west of the administrative center. The districts have long been partly in the “grey zone”.
In the Golopristansky sector, the Russians with MANPADS shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 over Veletensky, and a Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft struck with FABs in the landing area of the SOF of Ukraine south of Kizomys. At the same time, yesterday the Armed Forces of Ukraine forcibly evacuated civilians from Veletensky and Kizomys in preparation for the landing of special forces assault groups on the left bank of the Dnieper. Over the Kherson and Nikolaev regions, Bayraktar UAVs operate almost continuously.
In the Kherson region, Russian artillerymen, supported by aviation, carried out several massive attacks on Ukrainian positions on Bolshoy Potemkin Island, in Antonovka, Vysuntsy and in the coastal area of Dach and Kindiyka. From the Tyaginka-Berislav-Zmievka line, the crews of the 124th and 126th territorial defense brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to shell mortar and artillery positions of the Russian Armed Forces. Target designation is provided by reconnaissance helicopters.
In the Kryvyi Rih sector in the Dudchan area, Zolotoy Balka and Maryansky, assault groups of the 121st Defense Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being trained to force water barriers. In addition, forces of the 71st “jaeger” brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine conducted a training session on storming strongholds in urban areas together with TRO forces on the Pokrov-Nikopol-Marganets section.
At the moment, significant Ukrainian formations, more than 15 thousand people, are concentrated in the Kherson direction (at least 20 battalions of troops with attached artillery units, one brigade of the National Guard and 71 brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine).
At the same time, the transfer of new formations to the Zaporozhzhia region continues. Today, a mechanized battalion of the 118th Ombr of the 10th CA of the Armed Forces of Ukraine arrived at Tavriyskoe north of Orekhov. By April 30, the 116th, 118th Ombr and 46th Ombr from Pavlograd should arrive at Orekhovsky and Gulyaipolsky sectors.
The current maneuvers of the Ukrainian DRG in the Kherson region are similar to attempts to divert the attention of the Russian command from preparing an attack in the Zaporozhzhia direction. And, most likely, in the event of an attack on Tokmok and Melitopol, one should expect synchronized actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the right bank of the Dnieper to pin down the RF Armed Forces.
We close with a look in the Vuhledar direction at 14:00 on April 26: assault groups of marines of the 155th brigade of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Armed Forces are engaged on the outskirts of the city, as well as in the forest strip north of Nikolsky’s dachas .
Artillery clashes continue along the entire front line, which significantly limits the offensive capabilities of the sides. In the air, even helicopters.
In recent weeks, the Russian Aerospace Forces has increased the use of FAB-500 high-precision bombs with planning and correction kits against enemy strongholds located in multi-story buildings in Vuhledar. To keep the lines busy, the Ukrainian command transferred AGS-17 heavy grenade launchers and self-propelled howitzers to Yelizavetovka and Zolotaya Niva.
In the area of the Vremyevka ledge, the Ukrainians strengthened its positions on the Vremyevka-Bolshaya Novoselka line. The 1st rifle battalion of the 1st detachment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was transferred in the Shakhtyorsky direction, and the 2nd rifle battalion was deployed towards Burlatsky. In addition, a jet battalion of the 1st detachment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine arrived in the Novogrigorovka area, and a self-propelled howitzer battalion of the formation arrived in Novopol.
Graziella Giangiulio
