The first wave of attacks of a long-awaited Kremlin offensive in the eastern Donbas sector was repelled with at times heavy Russian Federation (RF) losses, but fighting is still in progress at some locations, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday, April 20.
Moscow on Tuesday launched a new wave of assaults in a bid to capture and occupy all of Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and to destroy Ukraine Armed Forces (UAF) units defending the territory, Kremlin officials have said.
Ukraine’s Army General Staff (AGS) in a Wednesday morning situation report said one wave of RF attacks hit along a line of UAF positions near the villages Kreminne, Torske, and Zelena Dolyna. Ukraine Presidential Administration spokesman Oleksiy Arestovych said UAF defenses held across the sector. Independent news reports said fierce fighting on Wednesday was still in progress in Kreminne, and the UAF was possibly losing ground.
Serhiy Haidai, head of the Luhansk regional defense command, in a Wednesday morning statement said a second, southern wave of RF attacks, targeted UAF defenses in the vicinity of the towns Popasna, Zolote, and Rubizhne, and was stopped cold, at times suffering heavy losses.
RF commanders deployed armored columns numbering more than 100 armored vehicles in this sector, but strong UAF defenses blocked their advance, he said.
“You have to remember that the orcs (RF military units) have been attacking Popasna and Rubizhne almost daily for the last two months, and they have never managed to capture these places,” Hadai said in a 1+1 television interview. “Our defenses are very strong there.”
UAF intelligence estimates reported RF personnel and equipment losses in these assaults likely were heavy. Hadai said that in the RF-controlled town of Novoaidar the town hospital overnight received “around 130 wounded enemy service personnel”. All had been hit during failed attacks on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning , he said.
Ukraine’s Joint Command East (JCE) on Tuesday evening announced that, even as the RF assault was in progress, UAF forces launched a limited and successful counterattack to capture the town Marynka. There was no outside confirmation and Wednesday morning news reports said fighting there was continuing.
According to the latest AGS situation report, over the previous 24 hours UAF forces deployed to Donbas repelled ten full-dress RF attacks, destroying 12 tanks, 28 infantry fighting vehicles, two trucks and one artillery system. If confirmed that would indicate fighting intensity in the region has tripled, in comparison to firing levels a week ago.
Pentagon spokesmen on Tuesday said that US intelligence has not confirmed that the RF’s Donbass offensive has started, and suggested the latest round of attacks were possibly probes to find weak points in UAF defenses. Ukrainian officials led by President Volodymyr Zelensky have said they are confident the RF assault, intended to defeat Ukraine conclusively by no later than early May, is now in progress.
US intelligence has estimated the Kremlin is operating some 78 battalion tactical groups or around 55,000 men in Ukraine, and that only a portion of that force is committed to combat. UAF estimates have suggested the RF attack force may not be that big, due to heavy combat losses and desertions.
