Zelensky: Kiev started «war with Russia» before the start of the special operation

1 Donbass

New photos of the “Ilyich factory” in Mariupol have appeared on the Internet. The pictures show captured and destroyed Ukrainian military equipment. The military vehicles belonged to the Ukrainian 36th Marine Brigade, which surrendered recently. The Ukrainian military hid the vehicles in the factory to protect them from the Russian artillery and air forces. However it didn’t save most of the vehicles. The storming Russian troops identified the places of deployment, and destroyed the vehicles. Some Ukrainian military vehicles did survive. The Ukrainian forces wrote letters ’Z’ on their vehicles, and tried to escape the encirclement by posing as the DPR or the Russian forces. They failed. Military reporters published footage of captured and destroyed Ukrainian military equipment on the territory of the «factory of Ilyich». Currently the main fight in Mariupol takes place over the last pocket of resistance in the «Azovstal» factory. The Ukrainian nationalistic regiment «Azov» took positions in the factory.

2 Russia — Ukraine

The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, stated that the Russian air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter that attacked the inhabitants of the village of Klimovo in the Bryansk region on 14th of April. Igor Konashenkov stated that the Russian forces in the Kharkov region shot down a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter. «An Su-27 fighter of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down near the village of Lozovaya, in the Kharkov region» — end of quote. According to him, 8 Ukrainian UAVs were also shot down near the settlements of Izyum, Levkovka, New Astrakhan, New Kuban, Schastlivoe, and Chervony Oskol.

3 Donbass

From 8th to 14th of April, 209 DPR’s security personnel and 105 civilians were killed. 691 employees of law enforcement agencies and 184 civilians were wounded — the Ombudsman of the Republic reported. According to the official information — the total number of deaths since 2014 is 6585 people, including 98 children.

4 Russia — Ukraine

The Russian Investigative Committee will study the information from the Russian Ministry of Defense about the Polish and French mercenaries, fighting on the side of Ukraine — the TASS reported. «These facts will be documented and investigated as part of the criminal case on the recruitment and participation of foreign mercenaries in the special military operation, conducted by the Russian forces, to protect Donbas» — the official representative of the Russian Investigative Committee, Svetlana Petrenko, stated on 15th of April. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the missile forces killed up to 30 Polish mercenaries in the village of Izyumsky, in the Kharkov region of Ukraine. The Ukrainian territorial defense forces also have soldiers of the French Legion.

5 Russia — Ukraine

On 14th of April, the Russian missile cruiser ’Moskva’ sank while being towed to a port during a storm, likely due to the damage, sustained by an ammo detonation that resulted from a fire. The crew has been evacuated — the TASS reported while citing the Russian Ministry of Defense. «The warship lost stability while being towed to the port of destination due to the damage to the hull, received during a fire, caused by an ammo detonation. The warship sank in stormy sea» — the sources of the TASS in the ministry stated. The missile cruiser Moskva was launched in 1979. The main weaponry was the P-1000 ’Vulkan’ anti-ship missiles. The cruiser had 8 twin launchers, capable to launch 16 missiles at once. Sea-based anti-aircraft missile systems S-300 ’’Fort’’ and the anti-aircraft missile systems ’Osa’ protected the warship from air attacks.

6 Ukraine

Vladimir Zelensky stated that Ukraine started a “war with Russia” even before the Russian special operation. Ukraine began the preparations for active hostilities in advance. Vladimir Zelensky stated that the agreements on the supply of weapons by the West to Ukraine were made long before February. He added that the militarization of Ukraine was carried out as a result of «non-public agreements». He added that back in December of 2021 and January of 2022, Ukraine was negotiating with some countries on certain topics. «That’s why we wanted to join the NATO. That’s why we stabilized the situation in Ukraine. That’s why we needed a strong leadership of my team. That’s why we had clashes with some political groups inside Ukraine. We started this war early» — end of quote. He stated that the Donbass region will become the central place of the fighting, which will affect the course of the conflict in Ukraine. «The number of Ukrainian forces in Donbass is 44,000 of servicemen. The region will decide the course of the conflict in Ukraine» — end of quote. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS