• ABOUT US
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE
Sunday, 22 May, 2022
  • Login
topfmonline.com
 
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Technology
  • Foreign
No Result
View All Result
topfmonline.com
No Result
View All Result
Home Foreign

Ukraine braces for new Russian assault in the east

TOPFM NEWS by TOPFM NEWS
April 14, 2022
in Foreign
A A
0
Ukraine braces for new Russian assault in the east
0
SHARES
1
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Ukraine has spent much of the seventh week of the war asking for more weapons donations, as it prepares for a renewed Russian offensive in the east of the country.

Russian forces took control of the city of Izium on April 6, and bisected Ukrainian defences in the port city of Mariupol, reaching the Sea of Azov on April 10. Between these two locations, Russia was building up its forces in a crab’s claw around the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, in what Ukraine expects will be an attempt to join its northern and southern fronts in a pincer movement to isolate Ukrainian elite units in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in eastern Ukraine.

Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai posted a message on April 6 saying, “I appeal to every resident of the Luhansk region – evacuate while it is safe. While there are buses and trains, take this opportunity.”

The following day, Russia was accused of firing a missile at the Kramatorsk train station as thousands of civilians waited to evacuate the city. At least 52 people were killed.

“If at the beginning they exclusively … targeted railway tracks, then now it’s not only tracks, but also firing a missile containing cluster munitions which are meant for people,” said regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. He said the missile fired was a Tochka U, which explodes midair spreading bomblets over a wide area.

The spent missile casing has had the words “for children” written on it in Russian. Russia’s defence ministry said it does not use Tochka U missiles and had assigned no targets in Kramatorsk on the day of the attack.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he believed Russia has targeted civilians in the war.

“Usually, whenever any political leader of Russia is saying that they are not shooting at civilians … I think that at that moment, the population should be preparing themselves,” he said.

A war of attrition

Battles escalated in the east during the week, with Ukraine saying on April 8 it had destroyed nine tanks, seven armoured vehicles and two helicopters. Russia targeted Ukrainian air defences and aircraft, claiming it had destroyed two SU-25 fighter jets, a MiG-29 jet, a helicopter and four S-300 anti-air missile batteries throughout the week. It also destroyed the airport in the central Ukrainian city Dnipro.

“Ukraine has suffered significant attrition over the course of the war in terms of both fighter aircraft, usable airbases and – crucially – long-, medium- and short-ranged surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems,” said Justin Bronk, senior research fellow for airpower and technology at the Royal United Services Institute.

“As a result of these losses, although the airspace over most of Ukraine is still very dangerous for Russian aircraft, the front-line areas in the east and the south, which are close to Russian controlled airspace anyway, have seen increased Russian use of airpower against battlefield targets in recent weeks,” Bronk told Al Jazeera.

“Nevertheless, the Russian air force still struggles to achieve particularly accurate results against battlefield targets en masse due to the limited numbers of precision-guided munitions which its fast jet and helicopters can use. They can achieve accuracy with unguided bombs and rockets only by attacking down to low level where MANPADS and ground fire pose a significant threat.”

Bronk said resupply efforts by Western nations to provide Ukraine with new mobile SAM systems that they can use immediately, such as S-300 long-range and SA-8 short-range SAMs, would be crucial to maintaining the risk to Russian medium-altitude sorties deeper into Ukraine, as would the resupply of surface-to-surface munitions.

“The deciding factors [in the battle for the east] will be whether Ukraine receives sufficient supplies of ammunition – especially artillery and anti-tank ammunition – to repel the Russian offensive in Donbas, and whether the depleted Russian units withdrawn from the northern axes can provide sufficient usable combat power in Donbas to generate a decisive local Russian advantage in the face of Ukrainian reinforcements,” he told Al Jazeera.

Zelenskyy asked national parliaments in Ireland, Greece and South Korea to approve weapons donations. In his interview with Al Jazeera, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin has not given up on his original plan to take all of Ukraine, despite the withdrawal of Russian forces from around Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy in the north. “If our forces in Donbas won’t be able to hold their positions, then the risk of a repeated offensive against Kyiv is probable,” he said.

NATO foreign ministers meeting on April 7 agreed to step up immediate supplies of weapons to Ukraine.

“There was support for countries to supply new and heavier equipment to Ukraine so that they can respond to these new threats from Russia. We’ve agreed to help Ukrainian forces move from their Soviet-era equipment to NATO-standard equipment on a bilateral basis,” said British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

Alleged atrocities bring further sanctions

A string of dignitaries paraded through Kyiv during the week after Ukrainian officials alleged that Russian forces carried out mass killings of civilians when they occupied areas around Kyiv. European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen on April 8 called the killings “unthinkable”.

She handed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a questionnaire that starts off Ukraine’s process of joining the European Union. “It will not as usual be a matter of years to form this opinion, but I think a matter of weeks,” she said. Ukraine applied to join the EU on February 28, four days after a full-scale Russian invasion.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer also stopped over in Kyiv on his way to meet Putin in Moscow, in an attempt to bring hostilities to an end. He declared he had “no optimistic news” after the meeting.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also met Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

“What Putin has done in places like Bucha and Irpin is war crimes that have permanently polluted his reputation and the reputation of his government,” Johnson said, referring to places where teams of experts are gathering evidence of alleged atrocities carried out by Russian forces against civilians.

Western countries reacted to the alleged atrocities by imposing more punitive sanctions on Russia and the UN General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the organisation’s Human Rights Council, the world’s top human rights body.

As a permanent Security Council member, Russia has managed to block two resolutions reprimanding it for its invasion of Ukraine, but it has been condemned in three separate three votes at the General Assembly.

US President Joe Biden issued an executive order on April 6 prohibiting US persons from investing in Russia, financing activities there by third country nationals or exporting services to Russia.

Two days later the European Union banned Russian coal imports, worth eight billion euros ($8.7bn) a year, as well as other Russian imports. It barred Russian ships from entering EU ports, and Russian-registered trucks from EU roads.

The EU’s Freeze and Seize task force, formed to coordinate the implementation of Russian sanctions among member states, says 29.5 billion euros worth ($32bn) of Russian assets have been seized so far, and 196 billion euros worth ($212bn) of transactions blocked.

NATO expansion?

Sweden and Finland appeared to be moving closer to NATO membership as a result of the war in Ukraine. The leaders of both countries have said a decision on joining the transatlantic military alliance could come by the end of June. Opinion polls suggested that pro-NATO sentiment has doubled in both countries since Russia invaded its neighbour.

“I expect that all allies will welcome them,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. “We know that they can easily join this alliance if they decide to apply.”

A March poll for Finnish broadcaster YLE showed that more than half of Finns would support the move for the first time in the country’s history. Russia has warned both countries against NATO membership.

Related Posts

US panel recommends COVID booster jab for children aged 5 to 11

US panel recommends COVID booster jab for children aged 5 to 11

May 20, 2022
2
Greek composer Vangelis dies aged 79

Greek composer Vangelis dies aged 79

May 20, 2022
1
Source: John Psaropoulos
Via: Aljazeera
Tags: Ukraine braces for new Russian assault in the east
Previous Post

Russian flagship Moskva ‘seriously damaged’ by explosion

Next Post

Biden announces additional $800m in US military aid to Ukraine

Related Posts

US panel recommends COVID booster jab for children aged 5 to 11
Foreign

US panel recommends COVID booster jab for children aged 5 to 11

May 20, 2022
2
Greek composer Vangelis dies aged 79
Foreign

Greek composer Vangelis dies aged 79

May 20, 2022
1
US offers ‘complete backing’ for NATO bids by Sweden and Finland
Foreign

US offers ‘complete backing’ for NATO bids by Sweden and Finland

May 20, 2022
0
Russia says opening Ukraine ports would need review of sanctions
Foreign

Russia says opening Ukraine ports would need review of sanctions

May 20, 2022
1
Russia has turned Ukraine’s Donbas into ‘hell’, Zelenskyy says
Foreign

Russia has turned Ukraine’s Donbas into ‘hell’, Zelenskyy says

May 20, 2022
2
Russia expels dozens of diplomats from France, Italy and Spain
Foreign

Russia expels dozens of diplomats from France, Italy and Spain

May 19, 2022
0
Next Post
Biden announces additional $800m in US military aid to Ukraine

Biden announces additional $800m in US military aid to Ukraine

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RECOMMENDED NEWS

SoftBank’s sale of Arm to Nvidia collapses – source

SoftBank’s sale of Arm to Nvidia collapses – source

3 months ago
0
Alpha Blondy drops stunning visuals for ‘Love Power’ tune featuring Stonebwoy

Alpha Blondy drops stunning visuals for ‘Love Power’ tune featuring Stonebwoy

1 month ago
0
Tesla will no longer include mobile connectors with every car

Tesla will no longer include mobile connectors with every car

1 month ago
1
To Hell With Corona? – Shatta Wale And Medikal’s Chalk Big Success As Their #SammerTex Concert Gets Thousands Of People Packed At One Venue For Fun

To Hell With Corona? – Shatta Wale And Medikal’s Chalk Big Success As Their #SammerTex Concert Gets Thousands Of People Packed At One Venue For Fun

5 months ago
0

FOLLOW US

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

  • Business
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Foreign
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized

BROWSE BY TOPICS

5G 2022 Budget Afghanistan akufo addo Amazon Apiate explosion Appiate apple AT&T Bawumia speaks on the Economy Black Stars covid COVID-19 COVID 19 E-Levy facebook Ghana Police Service Google Hackers health Intel iphone manchester united meta Microsoft Nvidia OMICRON OnePlus 10 Pro Parliament police Qualcomm Russia Samsung South Africa Taliban tech TESCON Tesla twitter US UTAG vaccine Verizon WHO Xinjiang

POPULAR NEWS

  • Dr. Lawrence Tetteh Gives Brand New Car To Taxi Driver Who Returned GH¢8,400 To Market Woman

    Dr. Lawrence Tetteh Gives Brand New Car To Taxi Driver Who Returned GH¢8,400 To Market Woman

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Half-nak3d Photo Of Funny Face’s Baby Mama, Venessa Surfaces Online

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How I ended up in American prison for trafficking cocaine – Popular actress Maame Kumiwaa

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • List of individuals who donated to honest Taxi Driver who returned GH¢8,400 he found in his taxi to the owner 

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Truth about John Dumelo’s rumoured death revealed

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

ABOUT US

topfmonline.com

Top FM is a subsidiary of Top Media Group Ltd. Top Fm is a household radio name that has been operating for the past twenty years. The media house informs, entertains and educates the people of the capital city and its neighbouring regions.

Follow us on social media:

RECENT NEWS

  • Russia Picks a Slow Chinese x86 CPU to Replace Intel/AMD Chips May 20, 2022
  • Canada Bans Huawei From 5G, Ending Years-Long Impasse May 20, 2022
  • ASUS Announces ROG Strix Scar 17 Special Edition (2022) Gaming Notebook May 20, 2022
  • Apple has halted card payments for its in-app subscriptions in India May 20, 2022

MAIN CATEGORIES

  • Business
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Foreign
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized

RECENT NEWS WITH IMAGE

Russia Picks a Slow Chinese x86 CPU to Replace Intel/AMD Chips

Russia Picks a Slow Chinese x86 CPU to Replace Intel/AMD Chips

May 20, 2022
Canada Bans Huawei From 5G, Ending Years-Long Impasse

Canada Bans Huawei From 5G, Ending Years-Long Impasse

May 20, 2022
ASUS Announces ROG Strix Scar 17 Special Edition (2022) Gaming Notebook

ASUS Announces ROG Strix Scar 17 Special Edition (2022) Gaming Notebook

May 20, 2022
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE

© 2021 Top Media Group - Powered by BackUp Data Systems

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
  • News
  • Business
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Education
  • Opinion

© 2021 Top Media Group - Powered by BackUp Data Systems

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
LIVE UPDATES ON COVID-19 CASES
  • Ghana
    Confirmed Cases 161,325
    Active Cases 54
    Recovered Cases 159,826
    Death Cases 1,445