War for Ukraine: 55 days of invasion. The great battle for Donbas began.

The great battle for Donbas, which has already begun and will continue in the coming weeks, will be decisive. The Russians are unlikely to give up the occupied territories if a peace treaty is approved, so they must be expelled from our land by force. Our Armed Forces are ready for this.

We summarize the fifty-fifth day of the war and briefly describe our victories and losses.

The second phase of the war began in Ukraine – the great battle for Donbas. The military analysts we spoke to believe that the coming weeks will be decisive in this confrontation, but the war is unlikely to end quickly.

The russians focused their efforts on breaking through the defenses in the Donbas and capturing Mariupol. The shelling of Kharkiv continued on the night of April 19, and fighting broke out in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The Ukrainian military repulsed russian attacks in Rubezhnoye and Popasnaya in the Luhansk region and regained control of Marinka in the Donetsk region.

The кussian occupiers are again shelling residential areas of Kharkiv, in particular Kyiv and Industrial districts. They use rocket-propelled grenade launchers from a distance of 35-40 km. This was announced by the head of the Kharkiv OVA Oleg Sinegubov. As of now in Kharkiv, unfortunately, 16 wounded, 3 people died, the information is still being clarified. Dergachiv and Chuhuiv districts were also shelled. Emergency medical teams are working heroically in an intensive mode.

Due to enemy shelling in the Luhansk region, almost all civilian infrastructure was destroyed: private houses, high-rise buildings, kindergartens, swimming pools, shopping malls, schools, and civil communications. In Kreminna, rescuers put out five fires in private homes. In Novodruzhesk, firefighters extinguished coal in an open area near the mine and evacuated two people. Emergency workers of Lysychansk extinguished the fire of two private houses, which were hit by enemy shells. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured.

Also, units of the occupiers tried to launch an offensive and storm south of Izyum in the Kharkiv region, but also suffered losses and were forced to retreat to previously occupied positions.

Fighting continues in the area of Oleksandrivka in the South Bug area, the enemy is unsuccessful. He tries to reach the administrative border of the Kherson region, does not stop shelling settlements. Mykolayiv was fired at from MLRS, the Dnipropetrovsk region from Gradiv, and artillery also operated throughout the Kherson region.

As for Mariupol, the russians destroyed the city’s oldest enterprise, the Azov Shipyard, and burned the museum of local lore. The Mariupol Azovstal plant was bombed and almost completely destroyed. This was stated today in a comment to Radio Svoboda by Deputy Commander of the Azov Regiment Sviatoslav Palamar.

In the Volyn, Polissya and Seversky directions, the enemy did not take active action. The movement of damaged equipment of the military units of the Eastern Military District by rail from the territory of the Republic of Belarus to the russian federation continues. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to use the airfield network on the territory of the Republic of Belarus in order to launch air strikes on civilian infrastructure in our country.

Soldiers of the Zaporizhzhya separate brigade of territorial defense continue to fight fierce battles! The confrontation is taking place along the entire front line of the brigade’s area of responsibility. The occupiers regularly shell the villages of Staromayorske, Makarivka, Storozheve, Neskuchne, Vremivka, Pryutne, Vyshneve, Malynivka, Poltavka, Novodarivka, Novoukrainske and Stepove. Used tanks, ridges, armored personnel carriers, infantry, missiles. Our brave soldiers are selflessly defending themselves, carrying out counter-offensive operations in some places, destroying enemy personnel and equipment.

A truck exploded on a mine in Irpen, Kyiv region. The driver of the vehicle died.

Another exchange of prisoners took place. This was announced by the Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk. “Today we exchanged 60 servicemen, 10 of them officers. 16 civilians are also returning home. This was the fifth exchange of prisoners. A total of 76 people,” she said.

Losses of the russian occupiers:

The Ukrainian military destroyed a warehouse of Russian ammunition, and our paratroopers defeated a unit of the elite brigade of the Russian Federation from Tomsk. Mykhailo Kishchyk, one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed “LPR” militants, also died in the fighting on the territory of Ukraine.

A National Guard fighter also shot down a Russian UAV in the Luhansk region with a machine gun shot, and an enemy spy drone was shot down over Odessa.

As of the morning of April 19, russia’s casualties totaled more than 20,800. Also destroyed: