Update on conflict in Ukraine for April 23-24, 2023:

- Most of Bakhmut is now under Russian control;

- Ukraine & Western media report increasing use of precision-guided bombs by Russian military aviation;

- Russian bombing is increasingly effective owed to dwindling Ukrainian air defenses;

- Recent Ukraine Contact Group in Germany admit air defenses in Ukraine are a priority, fail to commit to any possible solution;

- US announces acceleration of its shipments of 31 M1-Abram tanks to Ukraine after a 10 week training course, less than half the training an entry-level US tank crew receives;

- Despite growing doubts of a Ukrainian offensive, it will likely unfold and may even have success in taking territory but will leave Ukraine at a further disadvantage in what is otherwise a war of attrition;

- Ukraine faces critical shortages in arms, ammunition, & trained manpower;

- US claims sanctions against Russia are “working,” yet data to substantiate that claim appears deliberately cherry-picked and taken out of context;

References:

DW - Guided bombs — new Russian tactics in the Ukraine war? (April 23, 2023):
https://www.dw.com/en/guided-bombs-new-russian-tactics-in-the-ukraine-war/a-65378079
US DoD - Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A. Milley Hold a Post-Ukraine Defense Contact Group Press Conference, Ramstein Air Base, Germany (April 21, 2023):
https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3370530/secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-and-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-sta/
Ukrinform - Ramstein countries deliver over 230 tanks to Ukraine (April 21, 2023):
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3699025-ramstein-countries-deliver-over-230-tanks-to-ukraine-pentagon-chief.html
RFE/RL - U.S. Military Chiefs Say Increasing Ukraine's Air Defense Capability Most Urgent Critical Task (April 21, 2023):
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-bakhmut-drones-kyiv-russia-nato/32373294.html
History Legends - Ukraine is Running Out of Soldiers (April 17, 2023):
https://youtu.be/lcN5K0KhOSA
Washington Post - As spring offensive nears, Ukraine is drafting reinforcements (April 11, 2023):
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/10/ukraine-draft-troops-reinforcements-training/
Guardian - Nato ‘confident’ Kyiv can retake territory in new offensive; Moscow issues warrant for Ukrainian spy chief – as it happened (April 22, 2023):
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/apr/21/russia-ukraine-war-live-moscows-accidental-strike-on-belgorod-injures-two-china-says-it-is-not-inflaming-conflict
NYT - U.S. Says It Will Begin Training Ukraine on Abrams Tanks Within Weeks (April 22, 2023):
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/04/21/world/russia-ukraine-news
Washington Post - Wounded Ukrainian soldiers reveal steep toll of Kherson offensive (September 2022):
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/ukraine-kherson-offensive-casualties-ammunition/
NPR - Ukraine's offensive in Kharkiv was hard and bitter, say soldiers who did the fighting (September 2022):
https://www.npr.org/2022/09/29/1125278321/ukraine-offensive-russia-borshchova-kharkiv-oblast

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