Ukraine Conflict Update: 15-21 April 2023

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Situation Summary

In the Donetsk region, Russian forces and Wagner Group continued their siege of Bakhmut and its environs, with Russian sources claiming that over 80% of the town was under Russian control as of 21 April.¹ Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces also continued along the Kreminna-Svatove-Kupiansk line in the Luhansk and Kharkiv regions. Clashes resumed in the Zaporizhia region, with Russian forces reportedly advancing their positions near Huliaipole. Ukrainian forces may have established positions on the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the Dnipro river facing the recently liberated Kherson city, as well as on nearby islands in the Dnipro river delta.²

Russian forces continued to target civilian infrastructure with shelling, missile attacks, and drone strikes, killing over a dozen civilians in the Chernihiv, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhia regions. Russian drone strikes also targeted regions further from the frontline, including Odesa, Poltava, Vinnytisia, and Zhytomyr; Ukrainian forces intercepted several drones in the Kyiv region.