Don's Weekly, 15 April 2024: Part 1

Hello everybody!

‘Back’ to the war in Ukraine, where the fighting on approaches to Chasiv Yar, and west of Avdiivka is getting ever more bitter. Indeed, after something like 16 months of relentless Russian efforts in that area, even the situation east of Terny (west of Kremina) is coming to a head.

In that sense, it’s fascinating to watch how many here in the West are - once again - expecting Ukraine to ‘fold’, ‘collapse’, and whatever else of that kind. Seems, some have still not learned anything about this country and its people at all, while others can’t do anything better than mirror their own exhaustion by this war.

But, don’t let me not hold you up with ‘introduction’, and lets move ‘straight to the business’…

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Western Luhansk

The bigger the bulge west of Kreminna gets, the more Ukrainian troops are necessary to hold the interior. On the positive side, the drone teams of six brigades can engage any of the Russia vehicles moving within that bulge and there are more reconnaissance drones available to spot them. The drone teams have to coordinate so they don’t use the same frequencies and interfere with each other’s operations.

Russian attacks were hit hard again and survivors sought cover in the woods. Ukrainian infantry from Terny and from the north attacked both rows of woods with fire support from a tank and a BMP. Ukrainian limited counter-attacks are often used to prevent Russian infantry from massing for a future assault rather than reclaiming territory.

The Russians bombed Kupiansk, killing a woman in her apartment…

https://twitter.com/UKikaski/status/1777303833850380452

Bombing Russian infantry around Kupiansk to slow down any massing of troops…

https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1777745862023626803

Russian assaults on Terny…

https://twitter.com/UKikaski/status/1777295783672336423

In between Russian assaults, a Ukrainian tank advances to fire on the Russian survivors in the woodline to prevent a build up for a large assault. When the mission is complete, the tank withdraws…

https://twitter.com/Bielitzling/status/1777794923007267094

A brief animation showing Russia’s advance to Terny over three months…

https://twitter.com/UAControlMap/status/1777676907833655535

A breakdown by month of the 107 vehicles lost in front of Terny over the last four months…

https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/status/1778071808840769692

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Bilohorivka

Russia has been attacking Bilohorivka with infantry but the area has good defensive terrain for Ukraine. The place was a village with 800 inhabitants before 2022. To the east are open fields, and Russian troops can be engaged as they advance. To the north are woods, small hills and a river. And to the south is a large slagheap from a chalk quarry that is called the “White Mountain”.

The war has gone on long enough for Google Maps to capture shell holes and the damage of some areas. Here’s a view from the eastern side of the slag heap looking directly at one of the locations where the Russians were bombed by a drone in the video below. Between the pond and the slagheap, Ukrainian infantry were attacked by drones. From that view, the Russian infantry that were bombed by a drone would be on the other side of the tree on the left. This suggests that both sides are patrolling this area with infantry. On the southern end of the slag heap, you can see Lysychansk 9 km to the east. Scroll right to see the open fields to the south and the chalk quarry to the west.

Drones attack Russian troops that climbed the eastern edge of the slag heap…

https://twitter.com/giK1893/status/1777426538083807240

***

Bakhmut

Pairs of Russian SU-25s were active over the Bakhmut area on two separate days to conduct bombing missions. On the ground, reconstituted Russian airborne troops are moving through treelines to conduct front line assaults. Bohdanivka was heavily bombarded before Russians seized the southern half of the village and then the northern half, as well.

Once Russia gained a foothold in the forest in front of the canal district, they were able to reinforce it through the tree lines connected to it. HE and thermobaric shelling prevented the Ukrainian infantry from pushing them out. The Russians are digging in and massing their troops for a push through the forest and into the canal district itself.

Russia is still holding on to eastern and southern Ivanivske, but last week it was too dangerous for either side to move around in western Ivanivske. After heavy bombardment, Russia moved 2000 meters along the higher ground north of the village. They tried to move by BMPs across the open fields to the south of the village but those assaults were stopped with losses.

Two SU-25s fly over the middle of Bakhmut and within 8 km of the front lines…

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1777677544742936809

For those that have Telegram, another pair of SU-25s…https://t.me/vdd98/3103

North of Bakhmut, a small Russian depot is detected and attacked…

https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1777397563429191808

The drones of the 92nd helps out the defenders of Chasiv Yar…

https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1779050630692184575

A Ukrainian tank engages Russian infantry in a building…

https://twitter.com/UKikaski/status/1777656150818725949

This is a view of the southern half of the Chasiv Yar canal district, looking west…

https://twitter.com/UKikaski/status/1778778725431071167

Near Ivanivske, the 80th Brigade hunts Russian infantry…

https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1777639398525247701

A Russian recovery vehicle is destroyed while towing a damaged T72…

https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1778355603406012587

Two French bombs hit Ivanivske…

https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/1778449975665401896

4 km east of Klishchiivka, an MT-LB carrying infantry is attacked by drones…

https://twitter.com/GermanObserver1/status/1778783393506807937

When a BMP runs over a mine, there are at least three survivors, but two objects fly quite a long way from the vehicle…

https://twitter.com/alexdp66499795/status/1778714582392963572

This image was taken in 2014 at an unknown location along the 131 km long Siverskyi Donets-Donbas Canal. The canal was built between 1954-58 and ends in Donetsk, providing that city with water. Since the Russian invasion of 2014 it has been repeatedly damaged and the water supply in Donetsk has been chronically low. The width of the canal at the bottom is 1.5-3 meters, but the water level in the canal is very low due to the damage…

https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CD%5CO%5CDonets6DonbasCanal.htm

(…to be continued…)