Will Kyiv launch a counteroffensive soon?
Russia is probably already preparing a partial evacuation.
The news ticker on the Ukraine war.
Next strike of Ukraine before offensive?
“Explosive device” derails train in Russia
Missing
structures
in the
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Experts confirm that Vladimir Putin made the wrong decisions
The processed information on the losses of the armies involved in the
Ukraine war comes partly from the warring parties from Russia or Ukraine.
They can therefore not always be verified independently.
Update from May 1, 10:35 p.m .:
According to US information, more than 20,000 Russian fighters have been killed and 80,000 others injured in the Ukraine war and especially in the Battle of Bakhmut since December.
About half of the dead belonged to the Wagner mercenary group, said US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, citing US intelligence information.
Many of the mercenaries were ex-prisoners who were poorly trained and sent to war without adequate military leadership.
"Russia's attempt at an offensive in Donbass, largely via Bakhmut, has failed," Kirby said.
"Russia has not succeeded in conquering really strategically important territory." Russia is paying a "terribly, terribly high price" for this.
Russian units and the Ukrainian army have been fighting bitterly for months over the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Kirby did not provide any information about losses on the Ukrainian side.
Ukraine must decide for itself whether to provide information on dead and injured soldiers, he said.
“They are the victims here.
And Russia is the aggressor.”
Ukraine war: Preparations for spring offensive apparently "in the final phase"
Update from May 1, 6:58 p.m .:
According to Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov, Ukraine’s preparations for the expected spring offensive are “in the final phase”.
"I believe in her," he said on state television on Monday.
"A lot has been done for their success."
"I think that as of today we can turn onto the home straight and say: Yes, everything is ready," emphasized Resnikov.
"And then, based on the decision and understanding the situation on the battlefield, the General Staff, the Commander-in-Chief and his team will decide how, where and when," the minister said.
After his troops reconquered the occupied territories, Reznikov decided to condemn Russia's political and military leadership.
"There must be a verdict from an international tribunal for the Kremlin's military criminals and this mafia gang," he demanded.
Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin "and those around him have to be seated".
A conviction would be the most important signal for all successors and descendants in Russia: "Don't think about revenge." Rather, the leadership in Russia must change fundamentally so that normal people can live in a civilized world, he said.
Update from May 1, 5:16 p.m .:
Russia is apparently preparing to evacuate the occupied areas in the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine.
This is reported, among other things, by Ukrinform, citing the website of the “Center of National Resistance”.
Here it says, citing underground information: "The occupation administrations have drawn up evacuation plans." Accordingly, Russia is preparing to evacuate workers and their families.
"Instructions for destroying documents and devices are also distributed."
This could be in preparation for Ukraine's counter-offensive, which is apparently approaching.
According to current reports, Putin's army is building large defense systems in other occupied areas.
Still, Wagner boss Prigozhin warns of a possible "tragedy" for Russia as the country would lack equipment to withstand the offensive.
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Ukrainian units are practicing offensive actions in the Zaporizhia region.
(Photo from April 28)
© IMAGO/Dmytro Smolienko
Next strike of Ukraine before offensive?
“Explosive device” derails train in Russia
Update from May 1, 3:20 p.m .:
In Russia, according to the authorities, a freight train derailed near the border with Ukraine due to an “explosive device”.
There were no casualties, said the governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomas, in the online service Telegram.
The governor of the northern Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, said power lines there had been blown up by an "explosive device".
The Russian State Railways said the locomotive caught fire and derailed.
As a result, seven wagons derailed.
During the more than year-long Russian offensive in Ukraine, there have been multiple reports of acts of sabotage on railways in Russia and Belarus, which is allied with Moscow.
According to the governor, in the case of the power lines destroyed in the Leningrad region, according to Drozdenko, the domestic secret service FSB initiated criminal proceedings for “sabotage”.
Ukraine War: Russia builds strong defenses, London says
Update from May 1, 1:09 p.m .:
The regular Ukraine war update from Great Britain attracts attention worldwide.
Since the beginning of the fighting, the Ministry of Defense in London has been publishing information on the course of the war - citing its secret services.
According to British secret services, Russia built strong defenses at the front during the Ukraine war, but also in occupied Ukrainian areas and sometimes deep within its own country.
"Images show that Russia has made special efforts to fortify the northern border of occupied (Ukrainian peninsula) Crimea," the British Ministry of Defense said.
Hundreds of kilometers of trenches have also been dug on internationally recognized Russian territory, including the Belgorod and Kursk oblasts that border Ukraine.
Two possible reasons for the defensive investments were given in London.
"The defenses underscore the deep concern of the Russian leadership that Ukraine could make a major breakthrough," it said.
"But some work was probably commissioned by local commanders and politicians to support the official line that Russia is 'threatened' by Ukraine and NATO."
Ukraine war: Prigozhin warns of 'tragedy' for Russia
First report from May 1st
: Kiev – Yevgeny Prigozhin is already expecting a “tragedy” for Russia.
The Wagner boss said in an interview with Russian military blogger Semyon Pegow published on Sunday (April 30) that he expects the start of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in mid-May.
"This counter-offensive could become a tragedy for our country," he added.
Prigozhin is an ally of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, but is involved in a power struggle with the Russian Defense Ministry and the top military.
In Ukraine, the Wagner group is currently primarily involved in the Battle of Bakhmut.
The fighting for the city in eastern Ukraine has been going on for months.
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
Ukraine war: Putin 'fragmented' his military, experts say
Putin's decision to "invade Ukraine without a clear and doctrinaire command structure" is now affecting Russian soldiers in the war zone.
This has now been analyzed by the US Institute for War Studies (ISW).
"Putin's regular shifts in command have resulted in an increasingly fragmented Russian military and disorganized command structure," the military experts write.
A "coherent" campaign is not possible.
While disparate factions within the Russian military are not uncommon, they said, the current dynamic is "unusual."
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Picture taken April 27: Putin visits an industrial park in Moscow.
© Artem Geodakyan/Sputnik/AFP
War in Ukraine: Train derails after being blown up near Ukraine border
According to the authorities, a freight train derailed after a rail blast in Bryansk, Russia, near the border with Ukraine.
There are no injuries.
Traffic on the route has been temporarily suspended.
According to media reports, the train was loaded with oil and timber products.
A fuel depot in Sevastopol in Crimea, annexed by Russia, was set on fire by a drone attack at the weekend.
According to observers, the attacks on the Russian supply lines are in preparation for an imminent counteroffensive.
(frs with dpa material)
List of rubrics: © IMAGO/Dmytro Smolienko