Russia continues offensive as focus shifts to separatist regions

The offensive continues in major cities

The Russian Army continued to blockade Kharkiv, upping artillery shelling and further destroying the city’s residential neighborhoods and infrastructure, according to an intelligence report by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine circulated on Tuesday.

In the Donetsk and Luhansk separatist areas, among other operations, the Russian forces focused their efforts on establishing full control over Mariupol, which was struck with massive artillery and airstrikes.

In addition, Russian troops carried out attacks of Mykolayiv with cluster munitions forbidden by international law, the report said. Civilian quarters and medical facilities, including a children’s hospital, came under fire, and there were dead and wounded among the non-combatants, including children.

Russian Army faltering

The report added that Russian forces continue to suffer losses and are experiencing big problems with the staffing of combat units and support units. Russian personnel were demoralized, which has led to an increase in the number of desertions and the refusal of Russian servicemen to take part in the war.

Bucha Massacre

Ukraine said 50 bodies found in Bucha had been victims of extra-judicial killings by Russian troops. Reuters could not verify the events, but its journalists saw the bodies of civilians scattered over the town at the weekend. Satellite images showed a 14-meter-long trench dug in the grounds of a church where a mass grave was found.

A view shows buildings damaged in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 3, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)According to the UK’s intelligence update on Tuesday, Ukrainian forces retook key areas in northern Ukraine, and while low-level fighting will probably continue, it will diminish significantly.

Many Russian unit withdrawing from northern Ukraine probably will need to re-equip and resupply in order to launch a new offensive, the update said.

The Kremlin has categorically denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians in the town, saying the graves and corpses had been staged by Ukraine to tarnish Russia and were present only after Russian troops withdrew from the area.  Russia said it would present to the UN Security Council “empirical evidence” of what it called lies by Ukraine and its Western sponsors, while the US said it would push for Russia to be suspended from the UN Human Rights Council.

New York Times visual investigators estimated, from the satellite images circulated on Monday, that the corpses had bee there for at least three weeks, dating the dead bodies to a time when the area was controlled by the Russian military.

Red Cross team blocked

A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been released after being stopped during an attempt to reach the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol and held in nearby Manhush, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

“After negotiations, they were released during the night and sent to Zaporizhzhia,” said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, referring to a nearby city.