Political strategic level
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikoff has announced that his country's armed forces will launch a counter-offensive closer to the summer - in April or May. According to Reznikoff, the counter-offensive will see German Leopards and the military operation itself will be conducted in several directions. The weather conditions are also a factor in delaying the counter-offensive, as the soil is wet in spring and the armoured vehicles sink into the soil.
It is the right thing to do to take our time and to prepare properly. The statement by the President of Ukraine that Ukraine cannot launch a counter-attack because it does not yet have the necessary military equipment for this purpose is also timely. It has stirred up the West, which has accelerated the sending of tanks, fighter jets and other front-line weapons to Ukraine. We await (as you do) the crushing attack on Ukraine and the images from the battlefield of the scared and terrified Drisksies running away from the roaring and fire-spitting Leopards.
More good news from the West. The European Union has confirmed its decision to transfer 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine per year. This will allow the Ukrainian army to be more effective on the battlefield. Kyiv is particularly grateful for this decision to Estonia, whose defence ministry pressed its partners for this support. Ukraine fires between 4,000 and 7,000 projectiles a day, while the Russian army fires up to 20,000 projectiles a day. The projectiles used by Ukraine are in line with NATO standards, and are much more accurate and effective than the Russian ones.
The Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhnyj, discusses the supply of weapons to Ukraine with the Commander-in-Chief of NATO Forces in Europe, Kristofer Kavol. They also discussed the situation in Bakhmut and agreed to continue to cooperate actively in the future. The Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces thanked his partners for their support. "We agreed to continue our active cooperation in the future. Ukraine needs victory," Zaluzhnyy stressed.
We believe that General Zaluzhnyj has explained why it is important to defend Bakhmut and why it will continue to be defended until the last drop of blood of the occupier.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that it "welcomes" President Zelensky's proposal to hold talks between Ukraine and China, but it is premature to talk about a concrete date for the meeting.
Beijing will start to hear Kyiv as Washington clicks and Putin's hordes flee the battlefield.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has said that Asia must avoid "chaos and conflict" or the future of the region will be lost. According to the Chinese premier, the country is facing fierce competition from the US at the same time as the task of revitalising the world's second largest economy after almost three years of isolation under Covid-19 is on the table. Speaking to an international audience of political and business leaders, Li said China can be an "anchor of world peace and stability". Dozens of business leaders attended the forum, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who will become EU President in July.
China's economic growth was 3% in 2022, the weakest in decades. President Xi Jinping's confidant, the No.2 official in Communist China, said China would remain committed to "reform and opening up" despite the "changing" global situation.
If China is interested in stability in Asia, then why is it supporting Russia's war in Ukraine and fomenting chaos in Europe? Economic and political stability will only return to Asia when stability returns to Europe. Beijing is well aware of this, but apparently it cannot help thinking about Taiwan. What is the saying there? In cloudy waters, crooked fish.
At a five-hour hearing last week with TikTok's executive director, United States lawmakers were outraged that China might be using this popular, partly Chinese-owned app for spying purposes. According to US officials, TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is a threat to Americans.
While it is common for national governments to spy abroad, Washington has an advantage that other countries do not: the US has jurisdiction over several companies that effectively control information on the World Wide Web, including Google, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft. These are extremely powerful tools in everyone's smartphones and computers. The difference with China is fundamental here - the US and the West are on the side of good and light.
Operational level
The occupiers are concentrating their main offensive forces towards Bakhmut. Moscow is also launching a massive propaganda effort in the fight for Bakhmut, reports Deputy Defence Minister Anna Malyar. According to the official, the Russians are using these actions to demotivate and psychologically weaken Ukrainian troops and to provoke the military leadership into misguided actions. Moscow is trying to turn the battle for Bakhmut into an apocalyptic event that will determine the whole course of the war. At the same time, it is trying to break the spirit of the Ukrainians by claiming that there is no point in holding Bakhmut, where almost everybody is surrounded, and that Ukrainian propaganda is exaggerating the heroism of Ukrainian fighters.
The Ukrainian army has decided to defend Bakhmut loyally, like any other settlement. By preserving Bakhmut, the Ukrainian army aims to prevent the enemy from advancing deeper into the country.
The Ukrainian President says that although the town of Bakhmut is not of major strategic importance, a defeat at this stage of the conflict could jeopardise Ukraine's hard-won momentum. "We cannot lose stages because war is a cake - pieces of victories. Small victories, small steps," the President said.
It is the will of Ukraine and Ukrainians to defend their land in the way they believe is best. They are also defending the freedom of all of us, and for that we bow our heads to them.
The Wagner criminal formation, according to its chief recidivist, Prigozhin, was hit very hard during the months of fighting over Bakhmut. "The battle for Bakhmut has today practically destroyed the Ukrainian army and unfortunately has also severely damaged the private military company Wagner," said the cook and apartment thief.
According to the US Institute for the Study of War, Wagner forces now control most of Bakhmut.
"Dozens" of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles have arrived in Ukraine. The flow of armoured vehicles into Ukraine is reportedly increasing. 21 Leopard 2 tanks and 40 Marder APCs are said to have arrived in Ukraine. Ukraine has already received 14 British Challenger 2 tanks and several American Stryker armoured personnel carriers, with at least 90 in the queue.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces will also very soon receive more than 100 American Bradleys, 50 Swedish CV90s and 40 French AMX-10RC light tanks.
It is hoped that when all this Western equipment arrives in Ukraine, the horde will be crushed. Putin can start praying now, although it will not help him.
The US sees no irregularities or evidence of misuse of military aid by Ukraine, US National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said. "Of course, we all want as much oversight and accountability as possible. Equipment and systems bought with taxpayers' money are coming to Ukraine, but this is war. Real people are fighting and dying. In battle, it is impossible to perfectly predict the movements of every unit that each soldier takes with him into battle," he said.
Tactical level
During 29 March, the Russian occupiers carried out 5 rocket and 25 air strikes, and 34 attacks with volley rocket systems. The likelihood of missile and air strikes across Ukraine remains high.
Air strikes on the infrastructure of the towns of Beryslav and Druzhkivka resulted in injuries to civilians, damage to private homes and civilian infrastructure.
The horde is killing in the axes of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka. Ukrainian Defence Forces units have repelled more than 60 enemy attacks here.
Bakhmut is the most actively attacked. During the offensive, Ukrainian forces repelled 28 attacks by the Drisks.
Yesterday the Russians attempted to completely encircle Avdiivka and to close it in a ring (the so-called cauldron). As a result, the Horde units were crushed in the north and south and forced to retreat in the south-west due to the threat of their own encirclement. The Russian tactic of covering the battlefield with meat did not work against HIMARS artillery.
On the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson axes, the Russians are defending themselves but have shelled more than 20 settlements.
In occupied Crimea, the local population is forced to work on defensive installations; violence, bullying and beatings of civilians are used.
Last day, the Ukrainian Air Force launched 5 air strikes against Russian military concentrations. Air defence units destroyed a Russian Su-24M bomber, rocket and artillery strikes hit 3 enemy troop, weapons and equipment sites, an electronic warfare station, an ammunition depot, and 2 enemy fuel and lubricant depots.
In this photo, Zelensky presents a medal to a serviceman in Ochtyrka, Sumy region, Tuesday, March 28, 2023 (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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