War in Ukraine on Day 789: Russia said it would take 2 villages in 2 days; Kyiv intelligence worried about May

Kyiv [Ukraine], April 23: The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had taken control of a second village for two consecutive days in an attack effort before Ukraine received new weapons from the United States.
On April 22, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the army had taken control of the village of Novomikhailovka in Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine and improved the tactical situation along the front line after successful actions, according to Sputnik news agency.
Spokesman Yaroslav Chepurnyi of Ukraine's 79th Airborne Brigade denied the above information, saying that the situation in Novomikhailovka was tense but still under control.
According to Moscow, Russian combat units in the area repelled three Ukrainian counterattacks, causing the enemy to lose 410 soldiers. Another Russian unit in the same area repelled nine counterattacks, killing 365 Ukrainian soldiers.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also lists 24-hour combat results in other areas. Moscow announced that its air defense forces shot down 240 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in 24 hours.
Previously, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on April 21 that units of the southern fighting group took control of the Bogdanovka settlement in the Donetsk region. Bogdanovka is a small village less than 3 km northeast of the town of Chasiv Yar that Russia is trying to control. Chasiv Yar has been severely damaged by fighting, but control will pave the way for Russia to advance to other strongholds in eastern Ukraine, according to Reuters.
The Kyiv Independent website quoted a Ukrainian military spokesman as saying that about 20,000-25,000 Russian soldiers are trying to attack Chasiv Yar and surrounding settlements.
On the other hand, a Russian airstrike on April 22 destroyed a television tower in Kharkiv city, causing signal disruption. "At this time, there are disruptions of digital television signals," Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said, adding that there were no casualties in the airstrike.
Reuters reported that the 240 m high tower was partially collapsed. Kharkiv prosecutors said Moscow may have used a Kh-59 cruise missile in the attack
Ukraine forecasts difficulties from mid-May
In an interview with British media published on April 22, head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said the situation on Ukraine's front lines is likely to gradually worsen in the coming weeks.
"From our point of view, a rather difficult situation awaits us in the near future. But it is not a disaster and we need to understand that. The end of the world will not happen as many people are saying . But there will be problems starting from mid-May. I'm talking specifically about the front... It will be a difficult period in mid-May, early June," the intelligence general predicted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said Russian forces wanted to capture Chasiv Yar before May 9, the time the Kremlin marked the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War 2.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW, USA) also assessed the possibility that Russia will step up its attacks to take advantage of its existing advantage before Ukraine receives new weapons from the West.
Russia downplays the influence of US aid to Ukraine
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on April 22 that the new US military aid package for Ukraine, if approved, would not change the front-line situation, where Moscow is in the upper hand, according to Reuters. The US House of Representatives last weekend approved a nearly $61 billion aid package for Ukraine after months of delay.
"The Russian armed forces are improving their position on the front. The amount of money allocated and the weapons that will be provided will not change this trend. They will lead to new victims for the Ukrainian side. More Ukrainians will die, Ukraine will suffer greater losses," Mr. Peskov said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the US Senate to quickly pass an aid package and provide weapons to give Kyiv a chance to win, and emphasized that Ukraine will not become "the second Afghanistan". According to Mr. Peskov, the US defense industry will be the real beneficiary of this aid package.
During a meeting on the same day, foreign ministers and defense ministers of European countries said they were urgently looking for ways to provide more air defense weapons to Ukraine but did not make any specific commitments regarding the possibility of sending the Patriot system. , something Kyiv desperately needs.
During a meeting in Luxembourg, European Union (EU) ministers said that the region should not be complacent about the US House of Representatives passing an aid package for Ukraine. "I don't have Patriot systems in Brussels, Patriots are in the capitals of countries. The decision lies with them," EU Foreign Policy Commissioner Josep Borrell said angrily after the meeting, as reported by Reuters.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper