War in Ukraine / April 17

The Molfar team sends a daily newsletter about the war in Ukraine. The editorial staff of AIN.Capital publishes the full version of the digest. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.

Paralyzed negotiations

Negotiations between Ukraine and russia, which seemed to be productive in March, have been slowed. It will be recalled that according to the Financial Times, after the talks in Istanbul, the working groups seem to have worked out 15 points on which a peace negotiation process could begin. Weeks passed – and we have no result.

The Russian side is convinced that the “special operation” is going according to plan, and Ukraine does not want to make concessions on issues important to russia. Putin himself, according to foreign officials visiting him, is not ready to meet with Zelensky, adding that “the time has not yet come.”

The Ukrainian side says little about the talks. According to Zelensky, after what he saw in Irpin and Bucha, negotiations have stalled. At the moment, it is only indicated that for the further negotiation process it is important to resolve the issue with Mariupol, namely, to allow the Ukrainian military to leave safely. “Mariupol is ten of Borodyanka. The destruction of our military will put an end to the negotiations” – Zelensky said.

Earlier, Zelensky noted that a good result of the talks will be the return to the borders on February 23. And to return the Luhansk and Donetsk regions completely – it is potentially tens of thousands of victims among the Ukrainian military. That is why the president does not want to hurry with such loud statements.

The international community is surprised by russia’s complete inaction, as in almost two months of war Putin and the russian army have failed to show significant achievements: Kharkiv is standing, Mariupol is holding, landing in Odessa has become virtually impossible. In addition, tens of thousands of russian soldiers were killed and equipment lost $10 billion. However, despite the Ukrainian army’s significant achievements in destroying the occupiers, international partners continue to insist: Ukraine needs to prepare for a major battle for eastern Ukraine. The United States points out that the Armed Forces are already consuming a lot of artillery supplies and may simply not remain until the beginning of a new active phase. The United States is also asking other countries to provide more military aid to Ukraine.

Airstrike, missile and MRL damage

Dnipropetrovsk region:

• Russian troops shelled the village with a Tornado-S multiple launch rocket system with banned cluster shells. 1 resident died. 5 houses, outbuildings and 3 cars were damaged.

Kyiv region:

• Missile attack, 3 missiles were fired. Infrastructure facilities, incl. presumably, a powder metallurgy plant that produced components for tanks, as well as a high-voltage substation, were damaged. Power and water supply was disrupted.
• […]

Luhansk region:

• Artillery shelling, the housing stock was destroyed, 1 person was wounded.
• […]

Kharkiv region:

• Private houses in the village of Dovzhyk were shelled. A shell fragment hit the greenhouse, and a woman, working there, died.
• […]

Donetsk region:

• Shelling of the settlements of Mariupol, Avdiivka, Vuhledar, Dobropillya, Slovyansk, Torske, Novopil, New York. As a result of the shelling, about 20 civilian objects were damaged, including houses, railway infrastructure and a sports stadium. Another 4 people were injured, the exact number is being specified.
• […]

Zaporizhzhya region:

• Shelling of the villages of Staromayske, Makarivka, Storozhove, Neskuchne, Pryyutne, Vyshneve, Malynivka, Poltavka, Novodarivka, Novoukrainske, Stepne. There was destruction of civilian infrastructure. The Orekhiv power grids were damaged, ~1000 houses were de-energized.
• […]

New laws

Ukraine:

• [Martial law] The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine proposes to bring the provisions of the Criminal Code in line with international law. The document has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada.
• […]

Russia:

• [Support for the economy] The Government of the Russian Federation has eased restrictions on the export of mineral fertilizers, the current export quotas for Russian producers have been temporarily increased by almost 700 thousand tons, this decision will be valid until May 31, 2022 inclusive
• […]

This was the free part of the military brief

Read the full text + all archives in the paid version.

In two weeks, the subscription price will be $50/month, subscribe now for $30. We give half of the money for the humanitarian needs of Ukrainians.

In a paid version:

• Airstrike, missile and MLRS damage
• Civilian casualties
• Video of russian prisoners
• New laws
• Occupant’s casualties (est. from Ukrainian General Staff)
• War crimes in a de-ocupied territories
• Alternative loss estimates
• Data archive.
• Analytical charts: occupant losses, chart with known air raid alerts by region and known damage, diagram of known airstrike, missile and MRL damage and known child deaths, diagram of known damage for Ukrainian infrastructure, diagram of average duration of the air alerts in the regions.

War in Ukraine. Weekly digest of the key events