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VIDEO WITH COMMENTARY

03 Apr: LAST RESORT. Russians GO ALL-IN TO CRUSH UKRAINIAN DEFENSE | War in Ukraine Explained
Reporting from Ukraine
April 3, 2023 9:00 p.m. DST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpIOZPXAmL8

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“I am a Ukrainian. My country has been invaded by Russia. In this video I will tell you what happened on the four hundred and fourth day of the war.

Day 404: April 03

Due to the recent snowfall and rain, all clashes moved from the fields to the city. Russians took advantage of the increased availability of artillery and focused their fire on the central part of the city. However, such abuse of artillery put a stick in the wheel of their own assault units because all it led to was a creation of a pile of rubble that separated Ukrainian and Russian positions.

Yesterday night, the Head of the Wagner forces, Prigozhin, announced that they had successfully reached another street in the central part of the region, established total control over the City Hall, and raised Russian and Wagner flags on top of it. Later, it was revealed that the City Hall was completely demolished, and the Russian flag was stuck on the pile of rubble. For now, it is not known whether it was destroyed by an explosion, artillery, or other means. It is possible that due to heavy fights, the walls did not withstand the fire and collapsed.

And the fights in the central part of the city are incredibly heavy. Wagner forces have to deal with battles for each house in their way. And each building is a well-fortified position because Ukrainians started digging trenches on the main streets already in December. The Head of the Wagner forces, Prigozhin, said that the tempo of advance is slow because each window is a potential firing point and machine gun nest, which Ukrainians can assume and use at any time.

But Ukrainians also receive heavy fire. That is why all streets are covered in debris. Due to the constant use of artillery by Russians, whenever Ukrainians get out of cover, they are always running, even when they are not in the combat zone. The recent deterioration of weather conditions actually helped Russians a lot. Since infantry fights became almost impossible on the fields, all Russians artillery in the region could concentrate their fire just on Bakhmut. With an increased rate of shelling, the useful life of buildings that Ukrainians are using for cover rapidly shortened. This is the main factor that contributed to recent Russian gains in the central part of the city.

In the southern part, the Ukrainian 93rd Mechanized Brigade still continues to hold the line. Recent footage shows that they are in active defense and try to counterattack Russian positions whenever possible. Today drone operators from the 93rd Mechanized Brigade helped to eliminate yet another Russian squad that tried to hide in the house on the outskirts. The continuous high level of coordination between drone and artillery crews has already resulted in the elimination of hundreds, if not thousands, of Russian assaultmen only in the southern suburbs because they have been releasing new footage of such operations every day for an extended period of time.

In the northern part of the city, the most intense fights are taking place on the territory of the industrial area. Recently released footage indicates that the fights are taking place in the workshops located on the 4th Sadovyy Provulok. The footage also perfectly displays why moving from one workshop to another is such a difficult task and why the attackers usually sustain much higher losses than the defenders. Ukrainian fighters from the 1st Border Detachment made holes between the concrete wall plates to throw grenades through them and fire with guns and even RPGs.

Overall, the changing weather conditions fostered rapid intensification of fights inside the city because it is the only place where they could continue. The altered setting allowed Russians to focus artillery fire on one place instead of numerous targets along the flanks, and a focused fire started destroying houses much more rapidly.

Nonetheless, Ukrainians are keeping the northern and southern front lines very stable. The limited gains that Russian forces managed to secure by totally demolishing the area may actually become their biggest handicap. As they reduced the houses in front of them to marble, it became an additional obstacle in the way of the assault units rather than a useful position where they could hide.