War in Ukraine / April 20

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.

The situation in Mariupol at the time of preparation of the mailing remains unclear.

Russia. On the afternoon of April 21, a video appeared in which russian Defense Minister sergei shoigu reported to russian President vladimir putin that Mariupol was captured, but said that it took “only 3-4 days” to capture it completely. Putin himself said that the lives of soldiers should not be risked and the force of the pressure could be reduced, the press wrote that putin “canceled the assault on Azovstal” – a plant with about 1,000 civilians and 500 wounded soldiers. The head of Chechnya, ramzan kadyrov, said that Azovstal would fall on April 21.

Ukraine. Traditionally, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine does not provide information on the situation in Mariupol, citing the war. As far as we know, a small group of Ukrainian troops remains in Mariupol, continuing to fight against russian troops. Three more tanks and several infantry fighting vehicles were destroyed today. However, there are virtually no stocks left, as well as access to food, medicine and drinking water. At the same time, everyone who can is sounding the alarm and asking the president to do everything possible for the safe release of people from Mariupol, including the military. The country’s leadership is also demanding a humanitarian corridor, but today we have no results.

World. The main goal of the European community is to enable the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol. Initially, assistance was offered by Turkey – by sea. The next option is a 4-day humanitarian corridor for Easter. All options were rejected by russia.

As of now, the city has about 50,000 civilians and an unknown number of Ukrainian servicemen. There is no food, medicine, electricity, heat or drinking water in Mariupol. Due to the latter, an epidemic and the spread of diseases could start in the city, which is emphasized by the international community. Russian troops have almost completely captured the city and continue to bomb Azovstal, where still stay part of a Ukrainian military contingent. Despite its small number, it is believed that Mariupol during the two months of the war attracted a lot of enemy attention. However, the possible reason for the delay of russian troops in Mariupol is not related to the war at all: according to the Mariupol City Council, the occupiers are robbing museums and taking out exhibits.

The occupiers took Yukhym Harabet’s unique collection from the Mariupol Museum of Medallion Art to Donetsk. The museum had more than 700 exhibits on 16 stands.

Grain theft

According to Ukraine, the russian army is stealing significant stocks of grain from local warehouses. Earlier it was reported that huge stocks were taken in an unknown direction from the port of Berdyansk. Advancing to the Zaporizhzhya region, where there are a large number of elevators, the russians began to export grain from there. This will be a significant loss for the Ukrainian economy: before the war, Ukraine had $7 billion worth of grain to sell. It is too early to talk about the size of the loss.

Airstrike, missile and MRL damage

Dnipropetrovsk region:

• As a result of the shelling, the windows were blown out in the infrastructure building in the town of Zelenodolsk, utilities were damaged, power and water supply was damaged as well.
• […]

Kherson region:

• Russian troops shelled the village Nova Zorya in Bilozerka district. The missile hit a residential building where 2 people were killed, including a 16-year-old teenager.
• […]

Luhansk region:

• A strike on the residential districts, 2 houses caught fire, the gas pipeline was breached.
• Russian troops hit three towns. Consequently, the water supply is completely unavailable in Rubizhne and Popasna, partially in Severodonetsk. There are dead and wounded people, the information is to be clarified.
• […]

Kharkiv region:

• Over the day Russian forces made about ~15 strikes on Saltivka, KhTZ, Pyatykhatky, Novi Domy, Cold Mountain, Oleksiivka and the city center. As a result of the shelling and the fire that caught consequently, multi-storey residential buildings, a kindergarten, a market and the cars were damaged. The restricted cluster munitions were used. 3 people were wounded.
• Russian troops shelled the settlements of the Derhachi community. In Derhachi 3 ambulances, as well as the building of the House of Culture, electrical distribution equipment and a public toilet were damaged by shell fragments and a blast wave.
• […]

Donetsk region:

• The town center was hit, transmission tower, gas pipeline, residential buildings, an agricultural company and medical facilities were damaged. 3 people died, 6 people were wounded. 
• […]

Mykolaiv region:

• As a result of the shelling, civil infrastructure, the local yacht club and multi-storey residential buildings were damaged. The dental clinic caught fire. The Russians used cluster munitions.
• […]

New laws

Ukraine:

• [War] A draft law has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which proposes to determine the payment of monetary rewards to war veterans and victims of Nazi persecution at the legislative level.
• [War] A draft law has been registered regarding the establishment of the State holiday of the Day of Remembrance and victory over Nazism in World War II on May 8, and Europe Day, which is planned to be celebrated jointly with other European countries, on May 9.
• [War] President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees №261/2022 and №262/2022 on awarding Ukrainian servicemen with state awards.
• […]

Russia:

• [Other] The State Duma in the second reading adopted a bill №1193544-7, which limits the ability of Russian banks to provide data to the competent authorities of foreign states, including courts.
• [Other] The State Duma in the first reading adopted a bill №94227-8, according to which refugees from the territory of Ukraine, the LPR and the DPR are granted a delay in issuing an OSAGO insurance policy for 10 days.
• [Support for the economy] The State Duma in the first reading adopted a bill №106868-8 aimed at supporting Russian suppliers and consumers of energy resources by reducing the interest rate for penalties and fines in case of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of obligations.
• […]

This was the free part of the military brief

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

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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-occupied territories
• Alternative loss estimates
• Data archive.
• Analytical charts: occupant losses, a 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 / April 19