Author: David Batashvili, Research Fellow at the Rondeli Foundation

This is a special issue of the Rondeli Russian Military Digest dedicated to the Russo-Ukrainian War, composed on the basis of numerous open sources.

 

All maneuver combat ceased in northern Ukraine including Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy Oblasts by the reported period with Ukrainian military restoring their control in all three provinces. Russia continued to press its offensive in the Donbas area.

 

Donbas Area

Russian forces stubbornly continued their attacks on the Donbas front from Rubizhne in the north to the area west of Vuhledar in the south, as well as to the south of Izyum.

Russians reached the center of Popasna as street battles continued in this town as well as in Rubizhne. No other serious Russian advance was reported during this period.

Ukrainians conducted a counterattack near the town of Kreminna (to the immediate northwest of Rubizhne), achieving a limited advance.

Both sides were sending reinforcements to Donbas during the reported period. Expectations of a large-scale battle impending in this region were voiced both in Ukraine and in the West, with Russians appearing likely to start a new push in their Donbas offensive.

Static shot from the Russo-Ukrainian War interactive map, the Donbas area as of afternoon 8 April. All information on the maps is approximate.

The area of Severodonetsk, Rubizhne and Kreminna

 

Siege of Mariupol

Street fighting continued in Mariupol. What could be discerned though the thick fog of war in the besieged city by 8 April was that while Russians managed to advance into the city center and take over some of the outlying districts, defenders retained control over large part of Mariupol and continued organized positional resistance along the frontline running through the city.

 

Kharkiv Area

Ukrainians conducted a successful attack near the town of Chuhuiv southeast of Kharkiv, achieving a limited advance.

 

Black Sea Area

Fighting continued about 20-30 kilometers to the north, northwest and west of Kherson.

Ukrainians achieved another advance in the north of Kherson Oblast liberating several villages, while Russians counterattacked near the administrative border of Mykolaiv Oblast retaking the town of Snihurivka.

Kherson area

 

No major changes in territorial control occurred in the Zaporizhzhia area.