WAR IN UKRAINE: April 12, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 413
Ukraine is at a critical juncture in the war and both the country and its allies must not lose sight of the path to victory, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on April 11 - Kyiv Independent
Ukraine says its forces have repelleddozens of attacks as the invading Russian military pressed on with its offensive in the eastern Donetsk region with air strikes and artillery attacks - RFE/RL
Serbia, the only country in Europe that has refused to sanction Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, agreed to supply arms to Kyiv or has sent them already, according to a classified Pentagon document.
Eurocontrol predicts restrictions on Ukrainian airspace to remain until 2029. According to a seven-year forecast by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol), restrictions on flights over Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Moldova will remain until 2029 - Kyiv Independent
More than 13 months after the United States and its allies blocked Russia from accessing an estimated $300 billion in central bank assets to punish the Kremlin for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Washington and Brussels are still struggling with the questions of whether and how to use the enormous pile of frozen funds to help Kyiv. A satisfactory legal solution is becoming more urgent by the day as Moscow pushes ahead with its war on Ukraine and questions grow about the staying power of public support in the West for large-scale aid for the embattled country.The United States and its European allies have allocated nearly $200 billion in military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since Russian forces poured over its border on February 24, 2022 - RFE/RL
Required reading…
Human wave tactics are demoralizing the Russian army in Ukraine
It is no secret that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has not gone according to plan. Nevertheless, with the conflict now in its second year, Vladimir Putin still hopes to break Ukrainian resistance in a long war of attrition.
This may be easier said than done. While Russia enjoys significant demographic, industrial, and economic advantages over Ukraine, questions remain over the ability of the once-vaunted Russian military to achieve the Kremlin’s goals. Crucially, an apparent reliance on human wave tactics during Russia’s recent winter offensive has led to catastrophic losses which threaten to undermine morale within the ranks of Putin’s invading army.
There is currently no confirmed data regarding losses on either side of the Russo-Ukrainian War. At the same time, most independent sources agree that fighting in recent months has resulted in some of the worst carnage of the entire war. In mid-February, Britain’s Ministry of Defence reported that during the previous two weeks, Russia had likely suffered its highest rate of casualties since the initial stages of the invasion almost one year earlier.
Read the full Atlantic Council analysis here