General Staff: Russian troops fail to gain foothold in Luhansk region

Anastasiia Kalatur – Monday, 18 April 2022, 06:50

Russian troops unsuccessfully attempted to gain a foothold near Kreminna and Rubizhne; their attempts to capture Novotoshkivske, Popasna, Avdiivka, and Maryinka also failed.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on Monday, 18 April

Details: The forming of an offensive group of Russian troops is almost complete in the Eastern Operational Zone. Russian troops continue to carry out missile and bomb strikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.

There has been no action on the Volyn and Polissya fronts and no evidence of the formation of offensive groups. Units of Belarusian troops continue to cover the Ukrainian-Belarusian border in the Brest and Gomel regions. Russian troops are undertaking radio-electronic reconnaissance activity in the area. Damaged Russian armoured vehicles and equipment in Belarus are being transported by rail [presumably, to Russia – for repair].

On the Siverskyi front, Russian troops are intensifying their control over some parts of the Ukrainian-Russian border. They continue fitting out their positions at checkpoints and in the Bryansk and Kursk regions of the Russian Federation where they border Ukraine. It is possible that sabotage and reconnaissance groups are operating in the area; it is also possible that missile strikes from the territory of Russia will be carried out on targets in Ukraine.

Russian troops conducted reconnaissance-in-force near the villages of Zavody, Dmytrivka, and Dibrovne with a view to expanding the springboard for a possible future attack on the left bank of the Siverskyi Donets river and to determining the conditions for the rapid deployment of troops there. Their operation was unsuccessful; Russian troops suffered losses and retreated.

On the Slobozhanskyi front, Russian occupying forces continue to partially blockade Kharkiv and to inflict fire damage on Ukrainian troops.

On the Donetsk and Tavriia fronts, Russian troops are restoring their combat capability and replenishing reserves. They are trying to improve the tactical position of their units and intensify the fighting. Russian occupying troops also continue shelling the towns of Siversk and Pokrovske.

Russia’s main efforts are concentrated in the areas of Lyman, Kreminna, Popasna, and Rubizhne. Russian troops continue trying to establish full control over Mariupol. They conducted offensive operations on the Sievierodonetsk, Popasna, and Zaporizhzhia fronts.

On the South Bug front, Russian troops focused their main efforts on holding their current positions and continued to fire on the positions of Ukrainian troops on the Mykolayiv and Oleksandrivka fronts.

It is expected that Russian troops will continue battles in an attempt to reach the administrative borders of the Kherson region.

In the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Armed Forces of Ukraine repulsed 12 Russian attacks, destroyed 10 tanks, 15 units of armoured and 5 units of automotive equipment, and 5 artillery systems.

Armed Forces of Ukraine also hit 5 Russian air targets: 1 plane, 3 helicopters, and 1 UAV.

A total of 87 Russian battalion-tactical groups were involved in carrying out combat missions in Ukraine.