WAR IN UKRAINE: April 2, 2022 — Michael Bociurkiw

Humanitarian caravan of 42 buses from Berdiansk and 5 from Melitopol in an evacuation process organized by the International Red Cross in coordination with the Ukrainian Red Cross arrive in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on April 1. (Andre Luis Alves/Anadolu Agency)

SUMMARY:

Here's my latest instalment on the war in Ukraine. Bombardment of key cities such as Dnipro, Kryvyj Rih, Poltava and Kremenchuk continue as another attempt is made to evacuate innocent civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol. Though the Russian strategy going forward is unclear, many analysts, including me, believe that the Kremlin will focus their efforts on consolidating territorial gain in the Donbas, as well as the coveted southern land corridor linking mainland Russia with Crimea. However I do not rule out further use of long-range rockets to target oil storage depots and military infrastructure elsewhere in Ukraine. Separately, footage broadcast by the BBC shows stark evidence of war crimes committed by the Russian side in areas of fighting near Kyiv - including the deliberate shooting of innocent civilians. On a 100 meter stretch of one road, the BBC counted as many as 20 bodies.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 38

Russian forces hit Dnipro, Kryvyj Rih, Poltava and Kremenchuk overnight. Late on April 1, at least 10 explosions were reported in eastern Ukraine’s city of Dnipro. There is no immediate information about possible casualties. Grad multiple rocket launchers at night on the outskirts of Kryvyj Rih caused a gas station to catch fire - Kyiv Independent
The International Committee of the Red Cross is making another attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol after failing yesterday, reports the BBC. The organisation said it did not get sufficient security guarantees in two prior attempts bring aid to the besieged port. More than 3,000 people have managed to leave the besieged southern port city anyway, Ukraine's President Zelensky says.
Seven humanitarian corridors have been planned for today, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. She said the list includes the route from the besieged southern city of Mariupol to the government-held city of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine. Private transport will travel along the evacuation route, stopping in Mangush, Berdiansk, Tokmak, Vasylivka and Kamyanske, before reaching the final destination of Zaporizhzhia - CNN
Russian forces have shelled 274 hospitals since beginning of the war. Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko made the announcement in a televised addressed on April 1. Of the 274 targeted hospitals, 13 have been completely destroyed. A total of 70 ambulances have also been destroyed. Six medical workers have also been killed, and 20 seriously injured. “These are all the consequences of the war, the terrorist actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine,” Lyashko said.
A pull-out of Russian troops is "slow but noticeable" in the north, according to Zelensky. He warns Ukrainians, however, that "hard battles lie ahead" in the east of the country around Donbas and Kharkiv - BBC
British deliveries of long-range artillery weapons and anti-ship systems to Ukraine would be "legitimate targets" for Russian forces, Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrei Kelin told Russian state news agency TASS in an interview published on Saturday. “Any weapon deliveries are destabilizing, especially the ones mentioned by (Ben) Wallace (the British Defense Secretary)," said Kelin. "They exacerbate the situation and make it bloodier….Apparently, these are new, rather high-precision weapons. Of course, they will be legitimate targets for our armed forces if they cross the border of Ukraine. I have a feeling that London’s idea of what is happening in Ukraine militarily is formed on the basis of the bravado reports of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Ukrainian leadership.”
A Ukrainian official on Saturday accused Russian forces of opening fire on peaceful demonstrators, injuring four with "severe burns", in the southern city of Enerhodar occupied by Moscow's forces. "Today in Enerhodar, city residents gathered again for a rally in support of Ukraine, singing the anthem," Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, said on Telegram. "The occupiers used light and noise grenades and opened mortar fire on the residents, four people were injured and severely burned." She said some of the protesters were "forcibly put in paddy wagons and taken away in an unknown direction".
In the last three days there have been two derailments of trains in Belarus carrying Russian military equipment. Belarus railway workers are reportedly sabotaging the lines out of support for Ukraine.
UNESCO says that over fifty internationally recognized and protected historical monuments and buildings have been damaged since the start of the war in Ukraine. Another 85 historical monuments of national significance have also been damaged by the war.