The Russians continue to push on the Ukrainian Eastern Front. They have notably intensified their pressure around Chassiv Iar in recent days, a key locality now finding itself “under constant fire”, according to kyiv. Moscow, despite losses within its army, is deploying “new armored units”, according to the Ukrainian commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, which allows it to achieve “tactical successes”. Ukraine, already under-equipped with munitions and an air defense system, is also struggling to recruit.
Information to remember
⇒ The situation on the Ukrainian Eastern Front has “significantly deteriorated”
⇒ The Russian army claims the capture of a village near Avdiïvka
⇒ Ukrainian fighter pilots trained in France
Russian army claims capture of village near Avdiivka
The Russian army claimed this Saturday, April 13, the capture of a village near Avdiïvka, in eastern Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that its soldiers had “liberated” Pervomaiské, southwest of Avdiïvka conquered in February. Russia regularly claims advances in the area in the face of a Ukrainian army lacking ammunition and struggling to recruit.
Ukraine: the situation on the Eastern front has “significantly deteriorated”
The situation on the Eastern Front has “deteriorated considerably over the past few days”, said Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky this Saturday, April 13, noting an “intensification” of the Russian army’s offensive, which pushes in particular towards Tchassiv Iar.
“The situation on the Eastern Front has deteriorated significantly in recent days. This is mainly due to a significant intensification of the enemy’s offensive after the presidential elections in Russia,” he wrote on Telegram, saying that the “most problematic” areas had been reinforced, in particular with anti-aircraft defense means.
The Russian army is attacking Ukrainian positions in the Lyman and Bakhmut sectors “with assault groups supported by armored vehicles”, as well as in the Pokrovsk sector, he said. “This is made possible by the hot and dry weather, which made most of the open areas accessible to tanks,” explained Oleksandr Syrsky. Despite the losses, the Russian army deploys “new armored units”, which allows it to achieve “tactical successes”.
“Chinese and Russian entities were working to produce drones together” on Russian soil, assures a senior American official
China is helping Russia carry out “its largest military expansion since the Soviet era, and at a greater pace than we thought possible” at the start of the war in Ukraine, a senior US official warned on Friday. The United States encourages Beijing to instead play “a constructive role” in the conflict, he said, adding: “We hope that our allies will join us.”
This call comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country maintains particularly close economic ties with China, is due to go there starting this Saturday for a three-day visit. As examples of Beijing’s support for the Russian military-industrial complex, another senior US official cited massive purchases by Moscow of Chinese electronic components, machine tools and explosives, adding that “entities Chinese and Russian companies were working to produce drones together” on Russian soil.
In detail, the information available to the Biden administration shows that over the last three months of 2023, “more than 70% of Russia’s machine tool imports came from China”, which according to them allowed Russians to increase their production of ballistic missiles. The Americans named the Chinese company Dalian Machine Tool Group among Russia’s suppliers. The senior officials already cited also indicated that the groups Wuhan Global Sensor Technology, Wuhan Tongsheng Technology, and Hikvision supplied optical systems used for example in Russian tanks. They also gave the names of the Chinese companies iRay Technology and North China Research Institute of Electro-Optics.
Ukrainian fighter pilots trained in France
Future Ukrainian fighter pilots likely to drive American F-16 planes are trained in the south of France by the Air Force, announced Friday the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, in an interview with the newspaper West France. The pilots receive “general training, on Alpha Jet (military plane of Franco-German design, editor’s note), which allows Ukrainian pilots to acquire fundamentals of piloting a fighter plane”, declared the minister.
Around ten Ukrainians, some of whom received prior training in the United Kingdom, are currently in “advanced training” for “several months” to learn how to pilot a fighter plane in an undisclosed location, according to a military source . They will then join specific training programs on F-16 in Ukraine’s allied countries possessing such aircraft, from which kyiv is awaiting delivery, added the same source. Sébastien Lecornu also recalled that the French armies had succeeded in adapting AASM guided air-to-ground bombs on Soviet-class aircraft held by the Ukrainians.
The United States bans the import of several Russian metals
“This new action prohibits the importation of Russian-origin aluminum, copper and nickel into the United States and limits the use of Russian-origin aluminum, copper and nickel in global metal and in over-the-counter derivatives trading,” the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement, as part of additional sanctions taken with the United Kingdom. Metals are Russia’s main export after energy, although their value has declined since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the British government said in a separate statement.
“By taking joint measures, the United States and the United Kingdom are depriving Russia and its metal producers of an important source of income,” specifies the American Treasury. In addition to banning the import of these metals into the United States, the two countries have also taken measures to limit the trade of these metals on world markets. “Metal exchanges, such as the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), will not be allowed to accept aluminum, copper and nickel produced by Russia. Metal exchanges play a role central role in facilitating trade in industrial metals throughout the world”, underlines the Treasury. These measures take effect from this Saturday.