The Russian Armed Forces are ready to ensure the entry of ships into and out of the port of Berdyansk for evacuation
The Russian armed forces continue to destroy the military infrastructure of Ukraine. On April 4, the Russian military struck 31 targets. Buk-M1 anti-aircraft complexes, command posts and communication centers, fuel and ammunition storage facilities were hit. Fighting continues in Mariupol. The command of the Russian Federation offered the Ukrainian militants to lay down their arms and go in the direction of Zaporozhye to the territories controlled by Kiev. Meanwhile, the Russian servicemen who returned from captivity confirmed the facts of torture, bullying and murder.
Daylight strikes
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, during the day, units of the People's Militia of the Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), continuing the offensive, advanced 2 km and blocked the settlements of Novotoshkovskoye, Borovskoye and Metelkino. A group of DPR troops captured the fortified area and liberated the settlement of Novobakhmutovka.
— During the fighting, up to a company of the enemy's 25th airborne brigade was destroyed, - said the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov.
In the area of Lisichansk, as a result of an air strike, the control point of the 24th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was destroyed, the department reported.
During the day, the operational and tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 31 military facilities of Ukraine, including two Buk-M1 air defense missile launchers, an artillery battery, two command posts and communication centers, four ammunition depots and four fuel storages, as well as 17 strong points and areas of concentration of Ukrainian troops.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Vitaly Timkiv
Image source: iz.ru
— Russian air defense means shot down two unmanned aerial vehicles in the air near the settlement of Severodonetsk and six more near Nikolayev, Kherson, Kurakhovka, Industrialny, Velikaya Novoselka, — said Igor Konashenkov.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 125 Ukrainian aircraft, 91 helicopters, 394 unmanned aerial vehicles, 226 anti-aircraft missile systems, 1,948 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 212 multiple rocket launchers, 838 field artillery and mortars, as well as 1,842 units of special military equipment have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation. automotive equipment.
Humanitarian situation
On April 5, Russia reopens humanitarian corridors to rescue foreign citizens and civilians from Mariupol, and is also ready to ensure that ships involved in the evacuation enter and exit the port of Berdyansk in compliance with the norms of international maritime law, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation, said on Monday.
At the same time, the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, territorial defense battalions and foreign mercenaries were asked to stop fighting, lay down their weapons and go out along the route agreed with the Ukrainian side in the Zaporozhye direction to the territories controlled by Kiev. All those who have laid down their weapons are guaranteed the preservation of life.
From the intercepted radio conversations of the scattered groups of nationalists remaining in Mariupol, it became known that a fierce struggle has unfolded between them for the order of exit along the humanitarian corridor: the militants threaten each other that they will shoot the column if they are not on the evacuation lists in the nearest humanitarian convoy, said the head of the National Security Center of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image source: iz.ru
16,648 people, including 2,442 children, were evacuated to Russia from the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics and dangerous regions of Ukraine during the day, and a total of 602,106 people have already been evacuated to Russia since the beginning of the special military operation, of which 119,847 are children. 72,800 units of personal vehicles crossed the State border of the Russian Federation, of which 2,805 units per day. 125,616 people have already been rescued from Mariupol through the humanitarian corridor in the eastern direction without any participation of the Ukrainian side, including 1,784 over the past day, Mikhail Mizintsev noted.
According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, in the Kharkiv region, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine blew up the Oskol reservoir dam. More than seven settlements located along the Seversky Donets River were under the threat of flooding, and the city of Svyatogorsk in the Kramatorsk district with a population of more than 4 thousand people has already been flooded.
On April 4, the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Colonel General Alexander Fomin, met with the UN Deputy Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths. The military department informed him that it was increasing humanitarian aid to the population of Ukraine in the territories controlled by the Russian military.
— Kiev uncontrollably distributed weapons to the population, which led to an increase in banditry and looting. Moreover, the number of incidents involving the use of weapons is steadily increasing, which can lead to the death of UN staff," Alexander Fomin warned.
It is also noted that the Ukrainian authorities have launched an information campaign to discredit Russian servicemen. For this purpose, provocations are used and staged incidents are created. A striking example is the accusation of the Russian Armed Forces in an airstrike on a maternity hospital in Mariupol. On the eve it became known that the main character of the reports in the media denies the version of the air raid on the maternity hospital from the Russian side. According to her, nationalists from the Azov units (criminal cases have been initiated against him in Russia) used several women in labor to film a report in a hospital allegedly destroyed by Russia according to a pre-prepared scenario. False information was disseminated by Western media, the Russian military department said in a statement.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Ilya Pitalev
Image source: iz.ru
The Deputy Defense Minister said that the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is deteriorating: Ukrainian authorities and militants are blocking civilians in cities.
— The UN Deputy Secretary-General has been informed about the situation that has developed in connection with Kiev's sabotage of the regime of open humanitarian corridors. It is indicated that the Russian side has been creating every day since March 4 all conditions to ensure the safety of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians and foreign citizens in the eastern and western directions. However, the columns of refugees are subjected to intense fire from the AFU units and the National Security forces, including from mortars and large-caliber small arms. At the same time, despite this opposition, more than 123 thousand people were rescued only through the humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to the east without the participation of the Ukrainian side," the Defense Ministry said.
67 foreign vessels continue to be blocked in Ukrainian ports, the ministry said. The Russian Armed Forces are opening a humanitarian maritime corridor in the south-west direction every day. However, the threats of shelling and the high mine danger created by the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not allow ships to safely go to the open sea.
For his part, Martin Griffiths noted the importance of such contacts in order to solve complex humanitarian issues in crisis regions of the world.
— An understanding has been reached on the continuation of regular interaction, — the military department reported.
Evidence from the dungeons
On April 4, the Russian Defense Ministry published a video in which a serviceman named Maxim recalls the moment of capture: "I was lying face down in the ground, my hands were tied with tape, they started lifting me, they asked where I was wounded. I said in the left thigh. I flew there from my foot. I, of course, started screaming in pain. They dragged me, my shoes came off."
According to Maxim, every day the prisoners were taken to record videos according to the text submitted by the Ukrainian military. They were beaten for hitches.
A Russian soldier said that a man was beaten to death in front of him.
— On the first day of our stay in the gym, one person was brought there, and the doctor who examined me said that he would not live until morning, — Maxim recalls. — And this man was beaten all night, beaten to death. You're lying down, you have a blindfold over your eyes, and the whole gym is screaming from the pain of this person. Soon they subsided, and the next morning we were told: "Do you even know that you slept with a corpse all night?"
The attitude of the Ukrainian military towards officers was much tougher than towards soldiers and sergeants, said a released serviceman named Daniel.
"The screams are non—stop, people are being beaten, they're not even screaming, they're howling," he said. — I haven't even heard of people being beaten, but they were howling. It's not even a groan, it's a person who even makes such sounds, like not a person, from how hard he is being beaten. I heard a man's ribs being broken, I heard his hands being broken. I know we had a commander, a major. He was captured and refused to tell what was happening. No one else saw him.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Viktor Antonyuk
Image source: iz.ru
A soldier named Pavel recalls that a Russian officer with the rank of major was beaten in his presence.
"Then they brought him down to the basement. Then they said he was dead. They beat the gunners very badly. Intelligence was also very disliked," he said.
Omar, a serviceman, tells about the beatings he was subjected to: "They tied his arms and legs, they started beating him. I had a beard. I remember how they told me: "He is a Kadyrovite, a Kadyrovite, a Chechen." I understood that they have a special attitude towards Chechens, "Kadyrovites". And they started — kicking in the face, hitting on the head. Then, when they gave me a kick in the face, I remember, I passed out."
The pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces were subjected to special bullying, said a soldier released from captivity named Andrey.
— We were kept in some kind of gym, sleeping on the floor. It was cold at night, and when some kind of shell flew in and an explosion was heard, it was heard how the door opened and men came in and started beating the pilots. We had two pilots there, and they were constantly beaten. At any moment, you could hear how they asked: "Pilots, are you asleep?" And they were forced to answer: "We are not sleeping, we are guarding the sky." And they constantly mocked and said that if the pilots returned to Russia, they would only be disabled," Andrey recalls.
Moscow should bring information about the mockery of prisoners of war to the whole world, says former UN Deputy Secretary General Sergei Ordzhonikidze. In his opinion, to begin with, the Russian side could hold a press conference with the invitation of media representatives from different countries and present there the testimonies of released prisoners of war and other materials.
"In addition, this issue should be raised through international organizations, in particular the Red Cross," the diplomat told Izvestia. — This organization will conduct its own investigation. We can provide them with all the necessary materials.
In battles with saboteurs
On April 4, the Russian Defense Ministry told about Russian servicemen who showed courage and dedication in the battles. Guards Colonel Alexander Shipov headed a tactical group that ensured the movement of a reserve command post to a given area.
— Moving along the route, Alexander Shipov's group uncovered a sabotage and reconnaissance group of Ukrainian nationalists operating in this direction, which has combat vehicles and artillery guns in its composition, - the department said. — Having assessed the forces of the enemy, Alexander made the only right decision — to impose a fight on the enemy, despite unequal forces, and struck a preemptive strike on the neo-Nazi unit, thereby throwing them into the adjacent forest. Continuing to conduct heavy fire on the enemy by the forces of his unit, Alexander allowed the reserve command post to occupy a given line and strengthen itself.
Major Igor Lyapunov serves as the deputy commander of the engineering and sapper brigade. He and his subordinates were engaged in mine clearance of the area.
— During the demining of the area of one of the settlements, Igor Lyapunov's group found a detachment of nationalists. Having assessed the enemy's strength, Igor decided to impose a fight on him. Thanks to his high command qualities and excellent knowledge of combat tactics, Major Lyapunov competently built a fire system taking into account the terrain features and identified the firing sectors. Under heavy fire, the enemy had to defend themselves for four hours. After dark, the remaining nationalists attempted a counteroffensive, the Defense Ministry said. — Thanks to the pre-formed zones of continuous multi-layered fire, Major Lyapunov's mine clearance group did not allow itself to be encircled, defeated the Ukrainian unit, capturing prisoners.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image source: iz.ru
Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Khokhlov led a group of paratroopers, which ensured the safety of the movement of the column of the battalion-tactical group. At night, he found camouflaged fortified positions in the forest belt.
— Having secretly approached the guards exposed by the militants, the paratroopers under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Khokhlov attacked the unsuspecting enemy. During the clash, the militants were neutralized. Some of the fiercely resisting radicals were destroyed. During the inspection of the structures occupied by paratroopers, documents were found revealing the position and nature of the actions of enemy units, the Ministry of Defense reported.
Later, paratroopers under the command of Khokhlov discovered and captured two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups that had phones with photo and video recording of the results of shelling, coordinates of firing positions and schemes for adjusting artillery fire.
Anton Lavrov